Chapter 55: 55

NADINE’S P.O.V

I could barely sleep.

I checked on Rowan every second for fear that he would suddenly bleed out and die.

He tried to assure me that he was fine, but I knew better. I saw how he winced when he thought I wasn’t looking, I saw the way he gripped his own leg tightly when the pain got unbearable. He was in pain and from the looks of things, it was bad.

He somehow managed to fall asleep and I waited until the sun came up before going to retrieve our bags. Thankfully, they didn’t destroy much, they were just curious. Our clothes were still in one piece and the rubbing alcohol was fine. Most of our food was destroyed but at least we were alive.

It only took a split second decision before I made my way into the woods, searching for anything edible. I found a few berries that looked good. If I paired it with what was left of our food, we’d have a good enough breakfast but anything after was a completely different conversation.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Rowan hissed as I returned to the cave. “I woke up and you weren’t here. I couldn’t come find you.”

“I went to get our stuff and breakfast.”

“Don’t leave without telling me.”

I sighed. “We need food, Rowan. I’ll have to leave at some point. You’re hurt.”

He snorted. “Don’t remind me.”

We both glanced at his leg at the same time. It was still tightly wrapped and the cloth I used to tie it was soaked and dirty.

“Can I?” I asked and he hesitated briefly before nodding.

I carefully untied it, trying my best to make it as painless as possible. He kept his face stoic, not letting me know if it was hurting or not but I knew it had to be.

The skin was red and ugly with dried blood and deep puncture wounds all around his leg; it was a miracle that he was still standing at all. It wasn’t something that would heal in a few days. I was no doctor but I knew it would take weeks at the least… weeks that we didn’t have.

I took the leftover rubbing alcohol from yesterday and worked on cleaning the area as carefully as possible. I used a clean cloth and tried to be as meticulous as possible. The last thing we needed was for it to get infected.

“Where did you learn how to do this?” His head was tipped back, his eyes fixed on the ceiling and I realized he was trying to distract himself from what was going on.

“I got bored at the bunker. One day I snuck into the hospital wing. I watched some of the nurses when they’re working. It was terrifying but beautiful and I kept going back.”

“I suppose I’m lucky that you’re here,” he ground out. “I only know the basics. You seem to be better at it.”

“All done.” I stood to my feet. “I’m going to try and get as much blood out of these as I can. We don’t have a lot of clothes left and I’ll have to keep changing the wrapping if we don’t want it to get infected.”

He sighed in frustration. “You could just leave.”

I tried to keep my annoyance at bay as I grabbed the bloody clothes. “I already told you, Rowan, I’m not leaving you.”

He didn’t say anything else as I made my way over to the river. I scrubbed the clothes as hard as I could but it didn’t do much, most of the blood was dried and had seeped into the fabric. After around ten minutes of scrubbing, I decided to leave the clothes in the water hoping it would be easier to scrub when I returned.

Caine wasn’t seated where I left him. He was leaning against a rock, trying and failing to rise to his feet. My first instinct was to grab him and force him back down but I decided against it. For someone so strong and independent, this had to be a huge shift for him and the last thing I wanted to do was make it any harder for him than it already was.

“I can feel you watching,” he mumbled after a few minutes. “How long have you been standing there and watching me fail?”

“Not long,” I made my way over to him slowly. “Do you need help?”

He hesitated before nodding. I let him lean against me as I helped him back into a sitting position.

“This fucking sucks,” he muttered, his voice barely audible. “We need to keep moving and I’m-”

“I’m sure we can spare a few weeks in one place.”

He shot me a bland look. “Even you know that isn’t true. We don’t have any food left.”

“I can find something.”

“You don’t know how.”

“Then teach me,” I cut him off. “Tell me how to set traps. Tell me what to do. If we stay put and do nothing, we will die of hunger. Give us a fighting chance at least.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Our very existence is dangerous. Being out here is dangerous.” I leaned forward. “Please, Rowan, help me to help you.”

He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration before sighing. “Fine. Listen closely because it’s a lot harder than it sounds.”

He spent the next hour explaining the best ways to catch animals.

There was no guarantee that we would find anything and a great risk that even if we did find something, the monsters would smell us cooking it and come for us but we had to try. We were damned if we did and damned if we didn’t.

When it was time to leave, Rowan handed me his daggers.

“I can’t,” I shook my head. “You need to be armed.”

He shoved it into my hands. “You need it more.”

“But-”

“Please, princess. It’s hard enough that I’m letting you go out there alone. I need you to be armed, please.”

I hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Thank you.”

“If you’re not back before the sun goes down, I’m coming out there to find you.”

“I know.”

“And if you’re in danger, run as fast as you can back here and fucking scream, princess. Scream as loud as you can.’

I rolled my eyes. “Rowan, I know. You don’t have to be so overprotective. It’s going to be fine.”

“You don’t get it princess. You’re going out alone. I have no idea where the fuck you’re going to be. I have no way of reaching you or finding you. I don’t want you out there alone but right now, we don’t have much of a choice. If you’re not back, I- fuck.”

I kissed him.

His fingers cupped the back of my head, his tongue sliding into my mouth in slow and lingering strokes. It wasn’t a goodbye kiss, but I felt the weight of his worry and fear as he poured it into the kiss.

When he pulled back, I was gasping for air, my heart pounding furiously in my chest.

“Go,” his voice was gruff. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” I asked and he nodded.

“I’m going to try getting on my feet again.” I frowned but he cut me off before I could speak. “I don’t have the luxury of sitting on my ass, princess, and you know it. The sooner I can walk, the better.”

“I don’t want you getting hurt more.”

He kissed me again, this time chaste but firm. “Don’t worry about me, go.”

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