Part 28 (1/2)
”What? You expect me to be waiting around for some guy to come along and save me? And then we fall in love and get married and have children? Can you see me with children, Ike? The poor brats will end up in a crazy home. No, none of that's for me. My parents want it. I don't.”
”I don't believe that.”
”Don't tell me you want that?” She laughed. ”You?”
”Yeah, I do, all right,” he replied, wounded.
”Then what the f.u.c.k are you doing out here? You're not going to find your pretty wife in some b.l.o.o.d.y jungle.”
”I know that,” he agreed. Ike lifted the a.s.sault rifle so it rested across his chest. Its weight gave him comfort. ”Trust me, I know. I'm just not done with Africa yet.
”You sure you don't have to p.i.s.s?”
”I'm positive.”
”You've been drinking a lot of water, Nessa.”
”I know. It's hypovolaemic shock. You don't have to spell it out for me.”
”You can come back from the blood loss, you know.”
Nessa tried to roll onto her side, but she couldn't quite make it in such an awkward position. Her teeth gritted and her eyes squeezed shut in pain. ”My leg hurts so f.u.c.king bad. I think you should check under the bandages.”
”I checked them an hour ago.”
”Just do it, please. I'm in pain here.”
”All right, luv.”
Ike bent forward and slowly unwrapped the bandages. Layer after layer of b.l.o.o.d.y gauze came off until he reached the bare flesh of the thigh. The last layer stuck and he winced as he tore it off. Half-dried blood crusted over everything, obstructing much of his view, but he could not miss the discoloration. Neither could Nessa as she sat up to look.
The moment she saw her thigh, she lay back down and slammed her fists against the ground. ”s.h.i.+t.”
”Try to relax.”
”Stop telling me to f.u.c.king relax. The tissue is necrotizing. I've already lost the leg. I'm going to f.u.c.king die. And it's going to hurt like h.e.l.l.”
As far as he knew, her leg was untreatable. The cells were self-destructing and without an immediate amputation the dead tissue would only spread.
Nessa used her good leg to kick Ike's bedroll out from underneath her wounded thigh. The movement yanked another cry of pain from her lips. ”I don't need this b.l.o.o.d.y thing anymore. Between shock and necrosis, I'd rather die of shock.”
Ike barely heard her protests. He was still digesting what he saw on her leg. He imagined racing from their camp and finding a hospital in the jungle. Could she even survive an amputation when she was down so much blood already? Maybe with an infusion.
He tried to shake the thoughts away.
Nessa Singer would never leave the Ituri Forest. Ike had barely gotten to know her and now they only had hours left. It was such a change from the day before, when he felt content to take his time and wonder where things would lead.
”Let me check the leg again,” he said.
”Stay the h.e.l.l away from it, Ike,” Nessa growled. ”Just keep away. It f.u.c.king hurts.”
”Maybe-”
”No.”
”We need to see-”
”What I need is some b.l.o.o.d.y morphine!”
Ike closed his eyes. Not a good idea to come apart in front of her. He took a deep breath and tried pus.h.i.+ng the situation away. ”I'll see if Devereaux has some palm wine.”
”Thank you.”
Ike didn't wake Raoul. Instead he pilfered the man's pack and returned to the tent with his canister full. When he slipped back in through the flap, Nessa was on her side, staring toward the back of the tent. Tears streaked her cheeks, but she didn't make a sound.
Ike slid up behind her. ”I've got some for you.”
Nessa rolled onto her back. She didn't bother to wipe her eyes. When he handed her the canister, she took it gladly and tipped it back.
”Easy, luv.”
She gulped the wine down without hesitation. When she pulled the canister from her lips she said, ”What are you worried about, a hangover?”
Ike smiled weakly.
”b.l.o.o.d.y, f.u.c.king crocodile,” she cried. ”What the f.u.c.k is with that anyway? What the h.e.l.l was it doing there? Talk about rotten f.u.c.king luck.”
He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him. She tucked her head against his neck, and he felt her cool sweat on the crook of his shoulder. He figured that with the amount of blood loss that little bit of palm wine might have quite the effect. In the absence of painkillers there was nothing better.
”Such awful luck, I hate this G.o.dd.a.m.ned place.”
”I can agree with you there.”
”And that palm wine is the most watered down bottle of p.i.s.s I ever drank. That b.l.o.o.d.y Devereaux's a f.u.c.king lightweight.”
”You have quite a mouth on you, don't you?”
Nessa fell silent, and he felt cold tears against his neck. He suddenly worried he'd said something wrong. ”It's okay. I like a woman who can curse.”
He felt her cheek bunch into a small grin.
”Now, enough tears. You're gonna dehydrate.”