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“Davian, it’s going to be okay. I know it hurts, but you’re tough. Take slow breaths. Chase is coming.” Eliana kneels beside me, running her fingers through my hair. “We’re going to get you fixed up. It’s just a flesh wound.”
I can’t stop my exasperated laughter. It’s all I can manage.
She continues to play with my hair, the sensation helping to distract me from the fire licking down my arm. “And once you’re taken care of, I’ll be your nurse. I’ll get you back into good shape, okay? If you need me to kiss you to make you feel better, I’ll do it. I heard that’s what kisses are good for.”
I open and close my eyes, feeling my mouth stretch at the thought. Thinking about her lips on mine helps ease the pain.
“Fuck, he’s been bitten.” Evander’s voice cuts through me like a knife. “Maybe we should en—”
“Don’t you fucking say it. He’s still a man.” Eliana raises her hand to Evander.
“But for how long?” Evander heeds Eliana’s warning to stay back, and he stands upright and crosses his arms over his chest. “If I were him, I wouldn’t want to even experience this kind of torture for a second.”
“I’ll remember that.” Eliana glares and turns her attention back to me. “Don’t listen to him. It’s going to be fine. You’re not going to turn into one of those things.”
Except we all know I might. It’s hard to even process. If that happens...Evander is right. Maybe I shouldn’t wait. The pain coursing through me now is already unbearable.
“Davian, please. Please, keep your eyes open. Chase is going to fix you up next.” Eliana cups my cheeks in her hands.
I hadn’t realized I closed my eyes. I blink a few times, the weight of my body making it hard to stay awake. I just want to go to sleep. The burden of the pain and the terror gets to me, making me feel weak when I know I’m stronger than this. I don’t think I’ve ever been so close to death before.
Eliana pulls me closer, cradling my head on her lap. She combs her fingers through my hair, trying to distract me the best she can. Tears swell in her eyes, and a few slip free and splash on my forehead. I can’t get my arms to move anymore to wipe them away. She shakes, unable to keep herself together.
I don’t think anyone has ever cried over me like this. My heart aches for her. Because I know that once this is over for me, that’s it. But for Eliana? She’ll keep going. She’ll have to live with this even if it was out of her control.
It makes me want to fight harder just so she doesn’t have to. There is something about this incredible, compassionate yet fierce woman that draws me to her. I know that there is still a lot to learn about each other, but the situation has brought all of us close together. And I can’t help the feelings rising inside me for her. All I can think about is how shitty it would be if my life ended here and I never got the chance to see where things could possibly go with her. I know she wants to keep things casual and not start anything romantic with any of us, but that’s just now. That doesn’t mean the future. It’s a hope of such a future that helps me focus on her and stay awake. It prevents me from succumbing to the pain and anguish rolling through me trying to steal my life away.
“Please, Davian. We can’t do this without you. Who will be my farm boy? I never even got the chance to see what it’s like to kiss my Ginger of Gilligan’s Island.” Eliana laughs through her tears, the sound melodious yet heartbreaking.
Another shadow falls over me, and an arm drapes over her shoulders. “If that doesn’t keep you the fuck with us, I don’t know what will. Come on, Davey boy. Stay awake. Don’t fucking die before our bromance even takes off.” Adam keeps his voice low, and I want to punch him for talking to me as if he must whisper the words like at a damn hospital when someone is sick. That always bugged me. The quiet that lingers around the ill and dying. It should be noisy as fuck. It should be full of life and not acceptance of death. When I go out, I want it to be a fucking madhouse party. I don’t want it to be people crying over me like this. Fuck that.
“Adam, scoot over. I need some room. Why don’t you go sit with Tristan? I want you to keep pressure on his bandages. We’re going to need to figure out how the fuck to seal his wounds unless Kellan shows himself. Evander went to look for him. Tiffany is doing it now, but I don’t trust her not to try to murder him the second our backs are turned. She’s been bitten too.”
Fuck. Tiffany? I thought she might’ve been taken. Call me fucked up in the head, but I kind of hoped for it. That bitch is not one of us. She chose the others, and she is responsible for half of this mess. I didn’t like her since the moment she opened her mouth. She just seemed like the type to act better than everyone else. It’s why I chose to go with Eliana in search of water that first day rather than help with the food, even though I have experience in farming.
I never said I was a good guy. It’s probably why my parents kicked me out when I was sixteen, and I recently got out of jail for setting a neighboring farm’s barn on fire because the assholes tried to dam up the river that brought water into my boss’s farmland.
I can’t help it if I hate selfish, entitled people. Even if I might be one myself.
“Hey, Davian. Focus on the beautiful woman holding you. Okay, man? This is probably going to hurt like hell. I need to inspect your wound and clean it.” Chase taps me in the middle of my forehead.
I react, my body jumping at the gesture.
Chase glances to Eliana. “It’s good that he’s responsive. I want you to hold him still and distract him the best you can. I think if we see signs of infection, we should try to remove it.”
I dart my eyes to his, opening and closing my mouth. Remove what? The skin? My arm? What the actual fuck? I groan and try to move. That sounds far worse than death. This asshole doesn’t have anything for pain. I’ve seen it done on damn TV shows, and I don’t think our machete is sharp enough, nor is he strong enough to sever my limb in one go.
“Shit. Don’t we have to move fast? I honestly don’t know how it works.” Eliana pinches my chin. She leans into me, filling my vision with her gorgeous face. “Davian, we won’t do anything without your permission, but if your arm has to go, I’m going to beg you to let us do it. We have to try. I don’t want to lose you to whatever the fuck happened to the others. I don’t want to have to kill you either.”
Do I even want to survive that kind of bullshit? Fuck me. Why is it my luck that I’m the one who has to deal with this shit? I’m kind of attached to my arm. I need two fucking hands to do my job back at home.
“Better being without one arm than being dead, Davian. There’s amazing technology these days. And the pain won’t last forever.” Chase presses his hand into my shoulder, pinning my arm down. He ties a vine around it like a tourniquet. It sends my stomach twisting. Is he fucking prepping me for this? I thought I got to choose.
I open and close my mouth, trying to force the words out. But Chase does something to my arm, sending shooting pain through me. I pass out from the agony, and darkness engulfs me. I don’t know how long I remain knocked out for, but when I come to, the pain continues. I’m afraid to open my eyes. I’m afraid to see a missing limb. It makes me attempt to move my fingers.
I regret it immediately, because pain shoots through me with the motion.
“Do you see these? They don’t look the same as they had on the others, but I don’t like the way it looks. Where the fuck are the others? Where is Kellan? I might have to be the one to pin him down.” Chase keeps his voice slow, but I still hear his words.
