Page 116 of Ruby
That’s the strange part.
There’s no haze. No panic. Just assessment.
Head wound. Rib wound. Possible cracked bone. Breathing shallow but even. Conscious. Responsive.
“I’m fine,” Azoeul insists.
“You’re not fine,” I shoot back. “You’re leaking.”
He huffs something that might be a laugh and then winces.
Ree presses the kit into my hands and crouches beside me. Surprisingly, she watches instead of taking over.
My skin prickles. She trusts me.
“Hold this,” I tell Szhe’ka, pressing a wad of cloth into his hand and guiding it to Azoeul’s ribs. “Firm pressure. Not crushing.”
Szhe’ka obeys instantly, careful and precise.
I clean the temple wound first, working methodically. The blood is warm on my fingers. The smell of it doesn’t unsettle me the way I expect it to.
“I was followed,” Azoeul says through his teeth. “Three. Took two down. Third got away.”
“Mm,” I murmur, focusing. “Stay still.”
He does.
Eli is bobbing, just out of reach, no longer able to contain herself. “Why didn’t you accept the nanites, Azoeul? You’d be healed by now.”
Her usually bright voice sounds especially odd in his language, but I don’t let it distract me from my work. I can feel him stiffen, but he doesn’t respond.
She bobs some more, words bursting out of her again like she knows she shouldn’t keep talking, but can’t help herself. “This is crazy. Get him nanites!”
“Enough, Eli,” Ree barks. “It’s his choice.”
Eli starts muttering in English. “Those slimes should have injected him like the others. I could crush them like grapes…”
She trails off, then starts up a surprisingly descriptive litany of Spanish curses as she makes her way back into the water.
It’s easier to focus with her gone. I stitch the temple wound with shaking hands that steady as I go. Ree passes me what I need without commentary.
By the time I move to the ribs, I’ve slipped into something that feels… natural.
I press, bind, secure.
“Does that hurt?” I ask.
“Yes,” he replies, breath hissing.
“Good. That means you’re alive.”
He snorts.
Szhe’ka’s hand brushes my shoulder as I tie off the final knot.
“You are calm,” he says quietly.
I blink up at him.
