We made it to about the other side of the tree from where I awoke. The roots created this cave-like alcove, within which sat a dead campfire, beds of leaves, and a few animal hides. The shelter was primitive yet cozy,
"Make yourself at home," Medb speaks up,
"I'll take you up on that offer," I reply,
But just as that last word leaves my mouth, Padraic collapses. *The Wound*
"Padraic!" Medb shrieks,
We both rush over, I check his wound.
"He has lost too much blood," I state. "Do you have any water? Anything to start a fire? Any metal?" I add,
"As for water, we only have some collected rainwater left. I can start a fire too," She replies,
Medb gets to work on the fire and gets it started much faster than I thought possible.
"What about metal?" I ask,
"Padraic has a dagger on his belt!" she answers, "What do you need metal for?" she inquires,
"I need to stop the bleeding, Im going to burn the wound closed," I respond. "Can you boil half of the water?" I continue, as She boils the water I add the dagger to the fire and wait for both to heat up. I take my shirt and tear it into bandages.
"Wont burning him make it worse?" Medb worries,
"It should stop the bleeding and prevent infection," I reply, "If we do nothing he won't make past tomorrow," I add.
She moves to Padraic's side and fidgets with worry. Her breathing matching the rhythm of his labored gasps. I continue to wait at the fire for the water to finish.
"I gotta distract myself, as they say 'A watched pot never boils' ," I exclaim,
"As who says? I've never heard of that before," She retorts,
"I don't remember," I lie, oddly enough this conversation was able to pass enough time for the water to boil. I take a bandage and soak it, using the now hot bandage to kill any surface bacteria. After a thorough cleaning of the wound I grab the dagger and close up the wound. The sizzling and popping of the action almost leaving my stomach empty, The smell was like burnt hair and had me gagging. I use the rest of the hot water to soak the wound to bring it up over germ killing temperature. I take the remaining bandages and wrap the wound.