Chapter Sixteen
Rocki screamed, first from fright, then from pain. It had been so closely attached to her leg that the explosion took a small chunk out of her flesh, leaving her thigh to bleed from the injury.
Lindka jerked backwards in fright with a cry, but she was uninjured, as was Kofi who shouted Rocki's name. She fell over, still screaming in pain as she clutched her leg above the wound, tears streaming down her face.
"She needs one of the Sheeri healers!" yelled Lindka, getting to her feet.
"No!" said Kofi. "That was her air tank—she won't be able to get enough air! I need to get her back to my ship." He scooped her up as best he could, stumbling to his feet. Rocki cried as he jolted her injured leg. "I have healing supplies in there, but she needs something to stop the blood." He follow Lindka as she rushed to get a cloth, then held Rocki tightly as the seer haphazardly tied the torniquet around her upper thigh to slow blood loss.
"How do I get out of here?" Kofi asked, running towards the cave exit. "We need to go back the way we came."
"This way!" Lindka took off into the tunnels with Kofi in pursuit.
Make it stop, make it stop! Rocki sobbed as they dashed through complete darkness. Her breaths were coming hard and fast, but she still felt like she was suffocating. Her body broke into sweats as she struggled to hold onto consciousness. Her screams gradually faded into rough sobs and whimpers as they bolted through the tunnels, Kofi blindly following Lindka. They passed through the Sheeri village, but all Rocki saw were blurs as waves of dizziness overtook her. Her leg was hot—too hot. It burned like a branding iron. She could feel blood getting all over herself and Kofi but was powerless to do anything.
"Hey—hey! Let me see those blue eyes," said Kofi, squeezing her a little.
Rocki jolted slightly. She hadn't realized she had almost passed out until he said something. "S-sorry." She shivered.
"Just stay awake and we won't have a problem," he said breathlessly.
"K-Kofi... I... I can't breathe." It wasn't a complete truth, but it felt like it was. She was having a hard time filling her lungs and what little air she could get didn't feel like it was doing anything.
"I know. We're almost to the ship. See? There's the end of the tunnel. Just hold on, Rocki."
She let her head loll to the side so she could see the grey light of the topside world. The wind was still rushing by, creating a whirring noise that grew louder as they ran closer. I just need to stay awake. Come on, Rocki, you're better than this. You can stay awake a little while longer.
"I've got her, thank you Lindka. Farewell until we meet again!" Kofi burst into the unrelenting wind as Lindka skidded to a stop still inside the tunnel.
"Be safe!" she cried.
Rocki turned her head in towards Kofi's chest, shuddering as the wind hit her wound. She could feel the blood on her leg, some of it drying in the wind, some of it still gushing out. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. I'm so tired, but I must stay awake.
What seemed like decades later, Kofi dashed into his ship, slamming the ramp button behind him as he rushed to put her in the room she had claimed. He laid her down gently on the bed, then disappeared for only a few moments. When he returned, he held a box, face set angrily as he knelt beside her.
"All of the air tanks have holes in them," he said, taking a long cloth out from the box. "This ship has a little Kliktalian air in it for emergencies, and it would probably last us until we get home, but your leg can't wait that long. We'll have to find a planet with breathable air and a healer." He began wrapping her leg as carefully as he could, but the pain was still immense. Rocki groaned as he raised her leg to loop the bandage around it. "Sorry. Can you breathe better now? Take some deep breaths for me."
Rocki struggled to pull a few gasps of air but didn't regret it. Some of her nausea subsided, but much of it remained alive through the pain. "Yes."
"Good." He finished tying off her leg, then riffled through the box again. "Here—pain relievers." He gave her a few pills, which she immediately downed despite her dry throat. "I'm going to start looking for a planet. I'll bring you back some water in a minute."
She nodded, grimacing at a fresh wave of pain. What happened with my air tank? It just... exploded. Was it faulty? The lopenants must have got at it and something has been slowly breaking from that point on.
As promised, Kofi returned a few minutes later with a cup of water. "I found a planet. Have some water, then hold on for take-off. The winds will make it rough, so it's going to hurt, but I can't afford to wait until the pain relievers set in."
Rocki nodded, taking a big gulp of the liquid. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now hold on tight." He touched her arm, then left. A minute later, the ship jolted into the air, the wind jerking it to the side. She muffled her cries with the pillow she stole from under her head, not wanting Kofi to hear her agony.
Come on, Rocki. Calm down. Breath. You're going to be fine. It hurts... It hurts so bad... But it's going to be okay. We're going to find a doctor and be all right. E maikaʻi ana—It's going to be fine. She tried to focus on her internal Hawaiian pronunciation instead of the pain. While she had grown up in Hawaii, her parents were still from Oregon, so they didn't speak Hawaiian fluently at home. She had picked some stuff up from her native friends but had never truly learned the language. Sometimes she found herself thinking a little bit in their dialect simply because they said some phrases so often.
A familiar man's voice entered her mind, echoing those words. "E maikaʻi ana... It will be fine, Rocks. Just do this for me."
She shuddered as the foul memory tried to overtake her brain, but beat it back, choosing the pain in her leg rather than the pain in her heart. I have to survive for my little guy. He needs me.
The ship jolted one last time, then the speed increased. Rocki still clung to the pillow, gripping it tightly to her chest. Her head spun from her lack of blood, although the wound was dripping less of the vital liquid now. The last time she had been hurt like this was several years ago when she was out surfing with her dad and hit her head on a hidden rock when she wiped out. She had forgotten how much it hurt.
I want Dad. Or Mom. Or both. I just want to see my family. She buried her face in the pillow, warm tears staining it. Do they even know I'm gone? It's only been... how long as it been? I've only went to bed once, so only a day? I don't know how differently time moves out here. I don't think I've been gone long enough for them to worry unless they stop by my house and see the knives on the floor and my open back door. The jerk never even shut it. My AC bill is probably going to be through the roof, not to mention the bugs and lizards that live in there now. She winced when she moved her leg just a touch to get more comfortable. But that's probably the least of my worries.
It didn't take as long to get to the next planet as she thought it would. It must have been very nearby Sheere. They were landing before she knew it, and soon Kofi was bustling into the room to pick her up and carry her out. He practically ran into the town he had parked outside of, calling for directions to the nearest doctor.
"The healer is over there," said someone. Rocki couldn't really see; she was too tired to look around. "Is she all right?"
Kofi didn't answer, running towards the direction he was pointed in. "Is the healer here?" he said when he burst in.
"I'm here."
Kofi released an unearthly growl that startled Rocki. "I want a real healer."
"The valicaran physician lives across town. I can help you. What happened to her?"
Rocki lolled her head to look at the person Kofi seemed to despise so much. It was an alien with gray skin and no hair. The sclera and pupils of his eyes were black, but the irises were almost a neon blue that appeared genuinely worried as they looked at her.
Something about him looked familiar, but the pain from the running fogged her memory. "Kofi... please let him help." There was no telling how large this town was, it could take an hour to get to the other side. There was no guarantee the other doctor would be there anyway—at least this healer was a certainty.
Kofi hesitated, face set in a furious scowl. "... Fine," he spat. "Where do you want her?"
"In here." The doctor rushed them back to a smaller room with a table to lay her on. "Now, what happened to her?" He began to unwind the bandages to inspect her leg.
"There was an explosion. She's been bleeding for a while now."
Rocki shivered in the chilled room. It seemed even doctors on other planets followed the code of keeping the room just above freezing temperatures. Kofi rubbed her arm gently as the healer slowly looked over her wound after ripping off the remainder of her lower pant leg, leaving her in basically shorts on one side.
"You did a good job binding it. She's lost a lot of blood, but I think if we wrap the injury up and give her a few supplements to replace some of the minerals and things she's lost, she'll be just fine." The healer took a leaf out of a jar and carefully began rubbing it over her wound. It immediately began to sting, making Rocki cringe, gritting her teeth as she tried not to whine, but a small grunt escaped her.
Kofi growled again, hands tightening against her shoulders. "What's that?" he snapped.
"I need to clean the site before I can bandage it. It always smarts a little. Sorry." The last part was directed towards Rocki.
"I took some pain relievers earlier," she said, hating how strained her voice was. "Will that be an issue for whatever else you want to give me?"
"What were they?" He poured a little bit of liquid over her leg, dabbing at it with a dry cloth.
She yelped a little. "I don't know, but I don't think they're working."
Kofi rubbed her arms as the healer bandaged her leg tightly, whispering to her whenever she whimpered. "Shh... it's all right, blue eyes. You're going to be fine."
The healer took out a few pills to give to her with some liquid to swallow them down. "Two of these are to replace some supplements you lost with your blood and the last one is a strong pain reliever. Your leg is going to hurt for a while."
Kofi helped her sit up to take the pills. "Will she be able to travel?"
He hesitated. "I wouldn't recommend it. The rattling and jerking of a ship will still hurt. The pain reliever has a side effect of disorientation, so she likely won't enjoy the trip."
Rocki's hand stopped midway to her mouth, about to drop a pill in, but she put her hand back down without taking any of them. The baby. I don't know what's in this. It could hurt him. Wait, what painkiller is going to hurt a baby? But... I don't know anything about this pill. It could still be dangerous. Better safe than sorry. Urg—I shouldn't have taken the one Kofi gave me either... "I don't want the painkiller."
The healer's eyebrows drew together. "The pain reliever? Why not?"
She shrugged. "I don't like taking medications without doing my research. I'll take the supplements, but I don't want to use the other one."
"Are you sure, Rocki? I mean, I wouldn't want to take anything from him either," he glowered at the healer, "but you're hurt. Don't you want something to dull the pain?"
She shook her head, short hair flailing. "I'll be fine. Which one is the painkiller?" She held her palm out to the doctor, who hesitantly took away one of the pills. Quickly downing the other two, she carefully swung her legs off the table, Kofi hands ready to support her at any moment. She nodded at the healer. "Thank you for your help."
"What is your charge?" Kofi asked, watching her nervously as she stood.
The healer took a step back to give her space. "You're visitors. It's free of charge. Although, if you don't mind my asking... she's a very different valicara. Do her parents look like this as well?"
"What's wrong with how I look?" Rocki snapped, but Kofi jumped in, his voice overlapping hers.
"That is nothing to concern you. We'll take our leave then." He hesitated, but managed to grit out, "thank you." He took Rocki's arm, trying to support her, and led her out of the room. She walked as best she could but couldn't keep a limp out of her stride. "Let's get you something to eat."
"We ate with the Sheeri."
"You lost a lot of blood, blue eyes, food is going to help strengthen you while your body makes more. Just... try to eat something, all right?"
She grimaced at the distance between the healer's and the ship. "Fine." She concentrated on her walking for a minute. "What did the doctor mean, about the way I look?"
Kofi shrugged. "He doesn't know your parentage. Most valicara are pale, with darkly colored eyes. With your... other parent being a part of your genes, you have darker skin than most, and no valicara has blue eyes." She nodded slowly, still focusing mainly on her walking. "Do you want me to carry you?"
A light flush approached her cheeks at the memory of him carrying her after the lopenant attack, but she tried to hide it by tightening her mouth. "No, thank you. I think I've been carried by you quite enough in the last day."
He chuckled but didn't make any move to pick her up. "Not nearly enough by my account."
They walked in silence for a few minutes. Rocki kept her eyes on the ground to make sure she didn't trip over anything while Kofi continued to hold onto her arm for support, although she tried not to use him as a crutch.
"Hey!" he suddenly shouted, dropping her arm and running towards his ship. When she looked up, there were three people scurrying away from his vessel. He ran after them, managing to catch one, and shout at the other two, who stopped to look at their captured friend. He switched languages, but continued shouting. "Give those back! Now!" He gripped the back of the neck of the alien he had caught, glowering at the others.
With glum faces, they slowly approached and put whatever was in their hands on the dirt in front of him. They had flat faces, their noses were turned down against their face, and their eyes were sunken into their burnt-orange faces. Despite not knowing what species they were, Rocki had the impression that they were teenagers, not adults.
"Good. Now get out of here and stay away." Kofi shoved the alien he had away from him, and the three of them scampered off. He sighed, kneeling to pick up the items they had left behind.
"What was that?" Rocki asked when she finally limped up to him.
"Faliks. They're the natives of this planet. Those three thought they could get away with stealing parts and food from my ship. I must have left it open in my rush to get you to the healer." He frowned at the items in his hands. "The only problem now is that I don't know how to install all of this."
Rocki raised an eyebrow. "I though valicara were good with technology and machinery."
"Generally, yes, especially if given the proper training. I don't know anything about it though, it was never an interest of mine." His wings flicked back sharply as he groaned in annoyance. "We'll have to find a mechanic."
"Okay," she said. "Do you want me to wait in the ship while you go look? We won't get around very fast if you have to drag me everywhere."
He hesitated but nodded. "I'll make sure it's locked this time. As long as you promise not to fly off without me." He winked.
Rocki rolled her eyes. "I don't know how to fly a ship or how to get anywhere. Why would I leave without you? I have no intentions of getting myself killed out here on my own."
He shook his head, smiling. "Just get inside and have something to eat. I'll try to be quick."
After she limped into the vessel, Kofi closed the ramp and locked it from the outside so the faliks couldn't get back in. Rocki sat in her usual cockpit chair and sighed, stretching her injured leg out as best she could. It began throbbing under the bandages now that she wasn't using it.
Maybe I should have taken the pain meds. I might have been able to walk a little easier. But it wasn't worth the risk. Not with my little guy on the line. Her fingers grazed over her lower abdomen. He's the only family I've got with me right now. She winced as a certain man of Hawaiian descent came to mind. In the scene in her head, they were in her room. He was putting on his shirt, avoiding her eyes. "I'm gonna go. I'll see you later, Rocks."
Her throat began to close, so she did her best to get rid of the memory. He's not worth thinking about. I should try to figure out how to get Aley back from the sariun. She might be hurt, she's probably scared... she needs her big sister. She needs me. I wonder if she knows about everything like I do. Did she get wings too? I miss her... I just want to see my sister again. She leaned her head back, relaxing as best she could as she closed her eyes.
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