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This had to work.
I couldn’t lose him. Even though I hardly knew him, even though he was a confusing, grouchy jerk, he’d helped save me, and now it was my turn to return the favor. We were in this together, whether he liked it or not.
The flame on the burner burned blue. I stuck my Yakku blade directly into the flames and held it there until it started to smoke, then I pulled it out and climbed the ladder enough that I could reach Zane. I lifted the bunched and soaked fabric and pressed the scorching knife to his wound, watching the steam rise and having to stifle my urge to gag at the smell of burning flesh.
He cried out in agony and tried to move, but I held the blade down for a moment longer, pulled it away, replaced the fabric, then went back to the flame.
I did this repeatedly, burning the wound and stopping the blood flow. He passed out from the pain the third time I did it, which in the end made it easier. It took me seven attempts until the blood stopped enough that I could draw the suture through his skin and close up the wound. Blood still seeped through, since the wound was deep, but I knew it hadn’t hit his femoral artery. If it had, he’d be dead by now.
I cleaned the wound as best I could, using what little fresh water we had on board since Jorik and Rix had taken our bottles ashore to fill.
I applied antiseptic ointment from the first aid kit to the area and wrapped it up with gauze and tape. It was a well-stocked kit, but it wouldn’t last us forever.
If he had my blood, he should heal quickly.
Then again, he’d also lost a lot of blood.
I glanced at the black canvas bag that contained the vials.
He’d lost so much blood. He needed strength, and if they were sharing doses like I saw them doing, what he’d taken today wouldn’t be enough. It’d have seeped out of him. He was no better off than an Amlin at this point, and an Amlin would probably die.
So I did what I knew deep down in my heart would work. I opened up the canvas bag, pushed the syringe into one of the vials, and pulled out a full dose of serum.
Using the elastic band in the kit, I created a tourniquet around his bicep, but since he’d lost so much blood already, his veins didn’t rise nearly as much as they had before. But it was enough for me to slide the bevel in. I pressed down on the top of the syringe and watched as my blood slid into his veins, drop by drop.
Instantly, I felt his heart rate pick up, and color returned to his complexion.
Zane’s eyes flashed open a second later, startling me. He sucked in a breath like he’d just emerged from under the water and grabbed my wrist in a vice-like grip as he took in the needle in his arm and me with my thumb on the plunger, the barrel of the syringe empty. “Haina, what have you done?”
