My Dear Savior

Episode 6

His ungracious snort was all he could manage to let me know he saw right through that statement as he rolled his eyes.

Thankful to be free of that stare once more, I began the work of pushing and pulling him until he was finally and mercifully on the stretcher. It was hard work since he was so large and heavy and was too weak to help my efforts much, and I found myself wishing Dae would suddenly appear as he always did to help. By the time he was finally situated, and I felt confident that he wouldn’t fall off, tendrils of my hair were sticking to my face and neck where- despite the intense cold- I was sweating fairly profusely.

I avoided his gaze as I situated my cloak around him once more. Then, I somehow managed to lift the front of the stretcher and began dragging him towards my home. The going was agonizingly slow, and I tripped a few times. When he didn’t make a sound at those missteps, I had a nagging suspicion that either he was dead or had passed out. If he was dead, then all this effort was for nothing, so I hoped he remained alive behind me. Though, I was too nervous to check. I felt like time was suspended as I worked hard to get him back to the comfort of our home. I was worried that he wouldn’t last until my mother returned, and I worried about her reaction to this foreigner. I also worried about leading him to our home, as he was still the enemy and could lead his people to us to steal our food or kill us later.

I couldn’t help the slight, hysterical giggle that bubbled up out of me. It was pretty cocky of me to assume he would even survive the night, much less run off and tell his people about us.

The sun was high in the sky by the time we finally made it through the front door. As soon as it was shut firmly against the cold behind us, I sat down heavily and drank a large cup of water. My limbs felt like they were lead, and I dreaded having to move him onto the table for better lighting and a better angle to tend his wound. I only allowed myself five minutes of rest then went about the business of moving him up onto it.

He was- hopefully not literally- dead weight. It felt like I struggled with him for an hour, but I somehow managed to move him into place. The surge of pride that went through me was a bit unreasonable considering the simple task, but I felt like I had just moved a mountain against all odds. A surge of relief flooded through me when I saw his chest moving up and down and felt his pulse. For now, at least, I had not killed him in my efforts to help him.