Undone by a Broken Angel

30.) Cleanse

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

-James 4:8

Abraham:

He's the first to wake in the morning and he shivers on top of the thick blanket that he and Abby share.  Looking over at her, he notices that she has all the covers, wrapping them tightly around her, and her hands are still clung tightly to her chest.  He sits up, and chases sleep away by drinking the cold water from his canteen.  He feels it run down his throat and into his empty stomach.

Now is not the time to be thinking about himself.

Wetting another section of the shirt he had torn up for her bandages, he carefully repositions her, carefully so not to wake her, and starts removing her bandages.  Even in her deep sleep she fights to keep her hands close to her body, but he wins in the end, and she takes a deep breath and falls into a deeper sleep.  He chuckles, admiring her peaceful face, and then inspects her wounds.

He knew it was bad, but this is awful.  Over the past day the wound has festered, causing the ripped flesh to turn hot and fill with puss.  They've swelled so much that they look almost twice their size.  Sighing, he sets to work cleaning them.  The water he uses is cold, but clean and he loses himself to his work, being careful not to press too hard or dig too deep.  She starts breaking out into a sweat some time later, and he can tell that his ministrations are causing her pain- he can't stop though.  Not with her life on the line.  

Stop!  Let them fester!  Let the infection spread into her bloodstream!  Let the fever spread so her body will grow weak.  Let us watch her suffering, the voice objects icily in his mind.  He's not listening to it.  It's not making a lick of sense.  How can he let the woman he loves die?

Once he feels they're clean enough, he sets about removing the infection.  He can do this much; David was able to teach him how to do this so Abe could clean out his own wounds to avoid infections.  Unfortunately, this is all he can do- the wounds are too complicated for his skills.  Pulling on his head spirit, he attacks the infection and wills it to die, and soon all that's left is the evidence of infection.  The swelling will reduce in time, but for now all he can do is rewrap them and hope they feel better by the time she wakes up.

How pathetic.  How can you love anyone when no one could love a man like you?  What do you have to offer her?  Your brother, on the other hand, will make her happy.  Think of all the ways he'll be able to pleasure her, the voice laughs and Abraham flinches.  Oh, so that's it!  Good!  Now I finally have something to torture you with.  Your brother will get to hear all her moans and take her in all the ways he'd like.

Abe shouts for it to stop out loud, clutching his head and banging on it, feeling for the first time in several years at the brink of what all the other falcone did when infected.  He takes deep breaths to calm himself and to regain a sense of control.  A picture comes to mind of her being strangled by his own hands, a picture placed there by the voice, and he knows it's possible that he could do that.  What's also possible, however, is that he jumps off the mountain side before it comes to that.  He doesn't do either.  Instead, he waits until the words the voice whispers to him are nothing more than background noise, his panic subsiding into shame.  He can't believe he gave the voice that kind of ammo, and he promises to keep information about Abby secret from now on.

Back to normal, he climbs back under the covers with her, he watches the sun rise, thinking this may be the last time he'll ever wake up with her.  He's going to miss her- he can tell by the deep ache he feels in his chest just be thinking about leaving her, and he wonders if she'll feel the same way.  She must have been tired, not waking up to him prodding at her hands, and he thinks that it's probably because her body is trying to heal.  That, and he pushed her to fly all day yesterday.  In her sleep, her brows pull together and make a deep crevice, and she pulls her hands in with a whimper.  Abe isn't sure if she's feeling pain right now, or if she's having a dream, but he doesn't like discomfort she's feeling.  Taking the pad of his thumb, he smooths out the crevice and she sighs, falling back into a peaceful sleep.

The sun shines inside the cave now as it climbs over the mountain peaks and chases away the morning mists.  Abe looks at Abby and wonders why she isn't awake yet- she's usually awake by now.

"Hey," he whispers, laying his hand onto the side of her head and stroking her cheek with his thumb, "wake up."

She stirs, but fights staying asleep by nuzzling into the blankets.  "What?" she groans, noticing the sunlight falling on her face. 

"It's time to go, Princess.  We have family to help, and you need your hands healed," he reminds her and she only groans in response.

He hops to his feet and pulls the blanket off of her to start folding it and she sequels from the cold.  "Give that back!"

Laughing, he tells her no, that they need to get moving, and that she should eat something before they head out.  He hands her the canteen and she tries to take it in her wrapped mitts, but hisses in pain and pulls them back to her chest.  She gives him a sorrowful look and he sighs, thinking that he'd like to stay in this cave with her forever, but he knows they can't.

Getting up, he kneels behind her and pours the clear liquid into her mouth and she swallows it one mouthful at a time.  He supports her head and her hair falls between his fingers, and all he wants to do is explore the depths of her thick locks more.  He reminds himself again of the situation they're in and that they need to get moving.  He shoves some bread into her mouth and he excuses himself for a few moments to relieve his bladder.

Abigail:

My hands feel better and I notice the bandages have been changed.  Assuming that Abe had something to do with that, I yell a thank you in the direction he had retreated and I hear a simple "yeah" in return.  They're not healed, the pain still lingers, but I'm grateful for the improvement.  Not able to fold the padded blanket, I wait for him to return so I can go do the same.

Once back in the air I wonder if we'll still have moments alone with him, or if he'll keep his promise to Nathanael and leave.  They want me to get to know the others and I do, honestly, but what if it changes my feelings for Abe?  What if I do start forming an attachment to someone else?  What would that do to our relationship?  What would that do to him?  Would he stay away forever simply from a broken heart?

Because let's face it.  Despite my efforts, the moment I thought I lost Abe forever, is when I was faced with the realization that I love him.

Its funny to think that only a little more than a week ago I was wondering who this man was.  Now, he's flying by my side as a friend, as more than a friend.  He admitted to me a few nights ago his want for kissing me and I wonder if that want is still there.  The day I met him, he told me that he could tell me where I came from, why I went to an orphanage, and could show me my future.  He's done all of those things but one, and I intend to find out what he meant by it.

Suddenly, he dives down, and I wonder if it's time to land already.  Time must have moved by quickly while I was lost in my mind, so I follow suit, my stomach sinking knowing that our time is up.  I look down to our landing place and notice that the landscape has changed.  The mountains have flattened out to hills and rocky ground.  Cyprus trees dot the landscape and it looks so much like home that it gives me a twang of homesickness.  I can smell the sea on the wind and I know we must be near the Mediterranean, though I don't know which side of it we are on.  There's a large, crystal clear lake below us and the waters in it are still enough to reflect our images like a mirror.  I look pale and sick, while Abe looks handsome but sad.  He hops to a stop next to it and when my feet touch down in front of him, he catches me by the waist and his hands linger there.  I see in his eyes that he doesn't want to let me go, and that if he does, I will slip through his fingers.

I want to reach up and brush his shaggy bangs out of his eyes so I can silently tell him that I feel it too, but I can't.  I keep my hands firmly at my chest where they're safe.  A single tear of frustration falls from my eye and he brushes it away, giving me a sad smile.

A dark shadow creeps in around us.  It's huge and comes at us from all sides.  I know it's not coming from Abe; there's no way his shadow could match this magnitude of evil.  My eyes go wide with fear and they flick around trying to find the source, only to find nothing.

"Abby?  What's wrong?" he wonders, pulling back from me, thinking that it's his touch that has upset me.

"Reapers," I whisper.

He looks around, but he doesn't look surprised or worried.  Rather, he looks completely untroubled.  "You cannot touch us here," he shouts and a chorus of hisses meet us in reply.  He looks down at me with a reassuring smile.  "This place is blessed," he informs me.  "Dianna," he simply says as though I'd understand.

 A couple hundred yards away from the lake shore, he bends down and grabs onto the earth.  He pulls it up and the ground opens like a trap door.  “We have to go through a tunnel first.”.  I look down and see a very ominous looking black hole, wooden steps descending into darkness.

Wait, does he expect me to go down there?