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Judging from its length, I could tell it wasn’t full-grown, which wasn’t always good news when it came to snakes. “That was just a baby, so its venom could be a bit stronger.” I looked at his wound. I noticed there was only one hole. If I hadn’t seen the snake, I might have thought this was something else entirely. “It only got you with one fang.”
“This hurts really bad,” he said, shaking his hand. “Fuck!”
He was losing it, and I had to keep him in control. A spike in his adrenaline would spread the venom through his system much faster. I took his good hand while the medic looked for his supplies. “Hold still, Jake. And I need you to take slow but deep breaths to calm yourself. Being excited is only going to spread the venom throughout your system quicker. We don’t want to give it any help.”
I knelt down with him, where he had dropped to his knees from the pain. “Someone give me a pen!”
Ally ran over and handed me one.
“Okay, now we’re going to measure your swelling.” I drew a line around the reddened area, which was already to his wrist, and marked the time as well. “We’ll do this for a while and see how it’s progressing.”
“I’m getting dizzy,” he said. “I might throw up.” He was turning a sickly green, much like the snake’s skin.
“It’s okay. No one would blame you if you did.” I could see that his forehead was beaded with sweat, and he was looking much paler. I stroked his back, trying not to let my own fears consume me. Jake needed help, and I had to keep him calm while the medics came.
The medics finally showed up from the cabins with their kits, and thankfully, they had the right antivenin. “Okay, let’s get this in his system,” one said to the other.
The other medic nodded. “Go ahead. Let’s get his blood pressure and heart rate. I see the wound is marked.” He glanced at me. “Very good. We’ll see if this works.” They administered the antivenin and moved quickly to work on his vitals.
It felt like forever that they worked on him. With his blood pressure elevated, they were trying to get it down a bit, and while they conversed about his situation, I drew another line to mark the spreading of the swelling up his forearm. I needed it to stop progressing. I hoped the antivenin would kick in soon.
Finally, after another five of the longest minutes of my life, the swelling went down, and they moved Jake to a more comfortable place in his tent. They laid him down on his cot, and I wasted no time being at his side.
What if something worse had happened? I could have lost him for good. I tried not to lose it, thinking about the possibility—Jake needed me to be strong for him—but I knew it would all come back to haunt me later.
“Hang in there, my friend,” Austin said. He’d come along to the tent with us. “Here’s a bag in case you want to be sick.”
“I’m feeling a bit better.” Jake looked into my eyes, but I knew he was still just as bad off. The medicine would work fast, but it would take him a minute before he was back to his old self. He looked into my eyes with a lazy stare. “Thanks for helping out.”
“No problem. I’m only sorry I couldn’t warn you quickly enough.” I had tried, but Ben just wouldn’t listen. I had seen enough carelessness to report him, but I wasn’t going to do that. Not if it meant hurting Jake’s big film, which was exactly what it would do.
I checked his wound, and thankfully, the redness had gone down a bit, the marks giving me the measurement I needed.
About that time, Ben came into the tent. “How long is he going to be down for?” he asked the medic. “We have a few shots we need to get in before the sun goes down.”
“He’s out for the night, and I’d suggest he take tomorrow off too,” the medic told him.
“Tomorrow?” Ben put his hands on his head and let out a sound of disappointment.
I could see that Jake felt horrible for what happened, but I’d had all I could take of Ben and his lack of sympathy.
“You’re lucky that he’s improving already,” I snapped, pointing to the marks on his arm where the swelling had receded. “It means that there wasn’t a lot of venom in his bloodstream. If there had been, you’d most likely be looking for a new lead actor for your stupid film. Next time I tell you to watch for snakes, maybe you’ll take me seriously.”
Ben turned to the medic. “He couldn’t have died, could he? Like really?”
