Wanderlust

Rosa carefully changed Jaden’s bandages for the third time today, not taking any risks for infection. I stood by his bedside, next to Millie who has not left the chair for days at a time. We’ve tried everything to get her to go and take care of herself for a few hours or get a good night’s rest but she refuses with a wave of the hand. We all visited every day and sadly enough, that was the only time we would all be together. Things have been different since the two weeks have passed. Expectedly, they were distant and quiet. I was trying to be patient but I just wanted to help them somehow.

Jaden had been constantly sweating and getting chills. We did all we could with the resources we had but all we could do was just hope that he could heal good enough to be back up on his feet soon. Rosa keeps saying that despite the condition that he looks in, his burns are healing. Rosa and others who were much more qualified than us applied cool water often and trimmed any dead tissue that they could without disturbing the inflating blisters. Rosa also had people go out and try to find honey, which was a task in itself but they were bone dry from any healing creams or supplies for this severe of a burn. The lessening of supplies also meant that Jaden had to face the pain of the burn as well at some points.

Marcus, Constantine, and Jay all had sustained injuries with sprains and cuts. Everyone seemed to have their own injury and the rescued people seemed to be adjusting well. Making room for them was difficult and still is but besides the wave of war sickening atmosphere hovering over the hanger, all was well for the most part.

“Millie you don’t look well.” I studied her closely, seeing that she was a little pale.

“I’m okay,” she smiled meekly.

“When’s the last time you ate? Or really have done anything?” I looked at her glazed over eyes and shaking hands.

“Not long ago, I can sit for a good while longer.” She settled in to the chair and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

“Nothing is going to happen to him you know,” I looked over to Jaden, “he’s been sleeping all day.”

“Dahlia, I can’t leave him. If something were to happen I need to be here.” The bags under her eyes sagged and I knew that if something did happen, she would be able to handle getting worked up about it.

“Just go and get something to eat and shower. Just for a few hours, I promise if something happens I will come and find you right away. But when he pulls through this, you’ll need to be healthy to take care of him and you know he’d hate to see you putting yourself through this.”

She pondered for a moment, at war with herself before she slowly rose from the chair. I could hear her bones creak as she started forward, turning slightly before I ushered her away. “Just go, it’ll be fine.”

She sighed heavily, giving in and walking out of the infirmary. I took her seat next to Jaden’s bed and settled in. I was tired, still not being able to sleep well but was managing almost as well as the others had been. I scooted down in the chair a little, leaning my head against the back of it. I closed my eyes, letting myself drift for a bit before Jaden started writing in his sleep again. It was something that happened often since he was on a very low dose of pain medication.

I reached out quickly, grabbing his hand tightly. Millie would talk to him a lot when he got like this but I didn’t know what to say. Sometimes he’d wake up briefly enough to say something under his breath but easily drift back into his sleep.

“If you’re as stubborn as your sister, you’ll be fine Jaden.” I told this to him quietly, bringing my other hand over on top of his.

“You should know how worried she is. She never leaves and when she does she does a masterful job of barely giving herself enough energy to run for another few days. You need to get better to tell her to stop worrying so I can stop worrying. So we can all stop worrying.”

I leaned into the bed, resting my forearms on the edge. “Marcus told me what you did out there, wanting to take the lead with everything. Jumping in front of the chemical grenade so Jay could get that family to the Jeep safely. I almost laughed at how you it sounded. You’re all much braver than I have been. Makes me feel pitiful against what you must have been through.”

Jaden didn’t respond to any of this and I suddenly felt a little embarrassed for talking to essentially a brick wall. I felt like anything that I had said had just floated aimlessly into the air and disappeared without any regard to the meaning behind any of it. Jaden twitched randomly now and I started thinking that I had helped a little but when his face contorted into intense pain, I immediately started to rise to go get somebody.

Jaden’s hand tightened around my, holding me back. I looked down to him, still seeing the pain he was in and started to go again but his fingers spread up to around my wrist. “Stay,” I heard him hiss in pain.

“I—you’re in pain,” I told him back, tugging a little forward.

I watched his eyes open, looking directly at me. “Please.”

I relaxed, seeing that the pain was passing. “Okay.”

He breathed deeply, his muscles tense as his gripped loosened a little around my hand. I sat back down, thinking that he had probably heard more of my talking than I had thought. I didn’t feel embarrassed but instead gratitude that his listening was quiet. I settled back into the chair, Jaden’s hand in mine as I closed my eyes and waited for Millie to return.