Chapter 12: Firewood
Alex
I finished wrapping the very last strip of clean cloth around the stranger’s broad chest and tied it off carefully. My fingers felt stiff and clumsy from the biting cold, but I made sure the knot was tight enough to hold. The heavy bleeding had slowed down significantly, then it stopped completely. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. That was a very good sign.
I dipped another small scrap of fabric into the bucket of melted snow I had brought inside. I wrung it out well before laying it gently across his forehead. His skin felt much too hot against my touch. He had a fever. That was not a good thing, but at least he was breathing more evenly now than he had been in the woods. His chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm. His face was slack and q
