“Iknow.”
“We have to dosomething.”
He pauses. “I’m not sure there’s anything wecando.”
My tears win the battle I’ve been waging; they fill my eyes and spill down my cheeks. “We have an obligation! We can’t just watch him die,Beck!”
Ever-guarded, he watches me weep for a few long seconds. When he finally breaks the silence, there’s an odd look in his eyes, like he’s bracing for theworst.
“How, exactly, would you have me deal withhim?”
I breathe deeply, summoning composure. “Tomorrow, once it’s light enough to see clearly, that metal shard has to come out and the leg has to be splinted as best we can manage. I thought maybe we could leave it in until help arrived, but now that we’re here…” I heave in a breath and brush the tears from my face, trying to remember everything I learned in the mandatory first aid courses I took a few years back, during my sailing instructor certification. “If we can restore blood flow to the leg, we’ll have to sterilize the wounds to stop the infection, then suture them closed as best we can. If we can’t get blood flowing again…” I shake my head. “No. I don’t want to even consider that possibility until we absolutely haveto.”
Some of the tension eases from his shoulders. Relief flashes across his face. “You want to try to fixhim.”
“What? Of course.” I pause, head tilting as I consider him in the growing darkness. “What did you think I wasasking?”
He shakes his head, adismissal.
“Tell me,” Iinsist.
“I thought…” He blows out a sharp breath. “I thought you were going to ask me to… put him at peace. Atrest.”
My eyes widen. “I hope you don’t mean theeternalrest.”
He pauses, then nodsreluctantly.
“What kind of person do you think I am?” I explode in disbelief. “You think I’d ask you to kill a defenselessman?”
“No! Christ. I didn’t knowwhatyou meant!” he growls. “Don’t look at me likethat.”
“How am I looking atyou?”
“Like I’m talking about murdering a man in cold blood.” His eyes are blank orbs of green, so hard you could bounce quarters off their surfaces. “You can wave around your righteous indignation all you want — it would bemercy, not murder, and you knowit.”
I feel my face go pale. “Why are we even talking about this? It’s not happening.Dropit.”
“I’m not the one who brought itup.”
“Well, I’m not the one who took it toLord of the Flieslevels!”
He snorts. “I don’t know if I’m more surprised that you can read, or that you’re still living in such a state of optimistic delusion, despite our currentcircumstances.”
“Oh, readthis!” I flip him off with my middlefinger.
He smirks without humor. “Cute.”
“Why can’t you ever just benice?!”
“Says the girl who just told me to go fuckmyself.”
“I—” I flush, marginally chastised. “I—”
He holds up his hands. “Spare me the false apology, willyou?”
“Gladly,” I sneer with every ounce of disdain I can summon. “Can we go back to not speaking, now? I’d prefer frozen silence to this conversation anyday.”
“Fine by me,princess.”