Chapter 15 #2
I hear him nearby, shuffling through the rocks as if he’s frantically searching for something, but I also hear his shallow, labored breaths and an occasional whimper.
It scares the hell out of me, and not just for selfish reasons.
Yes, if Adam died, I’d be alone here with no way to defend myself, but that’s not my biggest worry.
I also don’t want to lose Adam, because he’s sweet and caring, and he definitely doesn’t deserve to die like this.
Since it’s unlikely I’ll be able to stop him from whatever he’s doing, I move over to the water’s edge, carefully picking my way between the sharp rocks.
Crawling with a bare cock is really not fun.
Once I reach the water, I start washing myself.
Adam’s blood is sticky, dark purple rather than red, and I’m positively coated in it.
God, he must have lost so much of it. He’ll need a long rest to recover, and he will recover. There’s no other option.
The wound on my calf comes next. As I scrub the blood off, for once grateful that I don’t have any feeling in my legs, I notice faint black lines spreading from the bite.
Venom? The lines are thin and don’t spread far, but their presence alone is alarming.
Is that why Adam freaked out when he saw the wound?
Pushing on the edges of the wound, I try to squeeze the venom out, but only blood comes out.
The venom must have already spread through my body.
I briefly consider removing my leg altogether, since it’s not like I’m actually using it, but self-amputation isn’t exactly within my skill set, and the shock, blood loss, or potential infection would probably kill me anyway.
Since the black lines don’t seem to be spreading anymore, I force myself to calm down.
I’ll either die or I won’t. There’s no point in freaking out about it.
What I need to do now is wash Adam’s wounds and find something to bind them with.
Make him drink water and rest up. He’s the most important person here.
As if thinking about him summoned him, Adam skids to a stop next to me, carrying…a millipede? Yup, that’s definitely an alien millipede, black with bright blue markings along its back. I’m definitely not eating that.
Straightening my leg, Adam breaks the millipede in half with a nauseating crunch, then squeezes its insides over my wound like freaking toothpaste.
“Oh my god. Please, tell me you have a good reason for doing this because now it will get infected for sure.”
Adam whimpers as he carefully spreads the millipede’s innards over the black lines on my skin, then massages them deeper into the bite.
“Antidote?” I ask. “Or some form of local disinfectant?” There’s no way to know, but I’m betting it’s an antidote. It’s probably something worth remembering. Black millipedes with blue markings work for six-legged panther bites.
Satisfied with how he treated my wound, Adam struggles to stand up. His legs give out and he falls back to the ground, but immediately starts trying again.
“Okay, stop,” I say, putting enough command into my words that he actually stops to look at me. “Stay.” I point to the ground. “Understand? Stay. Here.”
His pained whimper goes straight through me. “It’s okay,” I tell him softly. “You’ve done great. You need to rest now. Let me help.”
His four eyes blink out of sync as they watch me scoop up water and begin washing him. He doesn’t seem to have any bites, thank god, but his body is covered in cuts. The worst one is on his stomach, right between his bottom arm and top leg pair.
“Ideally, this would need stitches,” I murmur as I gently wash blood and gravel from the soft scales on his underbelly.
. “But I’m not sure we’ll find anything useful here, so let’s hope it closes on its own.
I bet you have some crazy alien healing abilities, anyway.
” Judging by the number of old scars on his body, he must heal fast, otherwise he’d already be dead.
When I’m done washing his wounds, I look around to assess the situation. The sky is orange as the sun rises, and the already high temperature climbs with it. Soon, it’ll beat down on us mercilessly. “Okay. You can’t stay out here in the open. Can you move over there, under that rock outcropping?”
Blearily following my gesture, Adam reaches for me as if to carry me.
I push his hands away. “Nope. Just you, buddy. I’ll follow, don’t worry.
Go.” At my urging, Adam starts moving, the dozen or so steps taking him long minutes as he crawls almost as badly as I do.
My heart aches for my poor alien and I’m even more determined to make myself useful.
Once Adam flops into the shade, I run my hands over the uninjured parts of his body.
“Shh. Sleep now. It’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of you. ”
With a soft whine, he reaches for me with a trembling hand.
I move closer, curling into him, feeling his body relax as he inhales my scent.
As I lie with him, waiting for him to fall asleep, my mind runs through various plans.
I might not be best suited for jungle survival, but I’m here, so I better fucking start dealing with it.
Adam’s been taking care of me and now it’s my turn to take care of him the best I can. I refuse to be a burden anymore.