“Don’t be an idiot. You protected me and our baby. I’ll be back soon,” she whispers, her lips fleetingly meeting the side of my head, and all I can hear is her footsteps retreating.
I listen out as she starts talking to Shadrack while she assesses all the injured. It feels like forever, but it’s probably not more than an hour before she’s back.
I was in and out of consciousness the whole time. I hated feeling helpless, and I was beyond that at the moment when every movement I made sent my head swimming and my stomach rebelling. I’d been aware of Shadrack or one of his guys checking on what we’d hit, and I’d heard the bellow and death gurgle of whatever they’d had to kill to put the animal out of its pain. They’d been respectful as they discussed what to do. It had been Shadrack who’d told them to butcher it and get rid of the offal to stop the meat getting tainted. If there was one thing I’d learned while living in this country, it was that there was no waste, and they took recycling to a whole new level.
A soft hand cups my cheek, startling me out of my thoughts. “Shh, it’s only me,” Josie whispers softly. “There are a few injuries. One guy is in a bad way with an open fracture on his leg. I’ve done what I can and they’re moving him closer to the vehicle. Most of the rest are minor injuries, so easily treatable. We’re going to build a fire and wait until morning to try and get help. Shadrack says it’s not a good idea to walk in the dark in the bush.”
“He’s right,” I agree, relaxing slightly as Josie removes the compress I’m still holding to my head and turns my head slightly. I moan as the light from the torch she’s wearing on herhead penetrates through my closed eyelids, and I squeeze them tight to try to stop the glare.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Josie says, her voice soft with sympathy. “I know you aren’t comfortable right now; I need to stitch this up and get a dressing on it.”
“I’m good,” I assure her, wrapping my hand around the back of her thigh as she goes to work on my head. In the background, Shadrack is ordering a few of his guys to take a torch and find firewood but not to go too far off the road and to stay in pairs.
To take my mind off the pain of what Josie is doing, I ask her, “Do you know what we hit?”
“A buffalo.”
I’m surprised. “Really?” I ask in disbelief. They’re herd animals and rarely is one seen on its own.
“Yeah,” Josie answers, “I was surprised too, but Shadrack says it’s an old cow, and an injury prevented her from keeping up with the herd. There are fresh claw marks on her back, and that’s likely why it ran into us in a panic.”
A twinge of sympathy runs through me, but I know it was the law of the bush and how it worked in the wild.
“There,” Josie says, finishing up and moving back from me. “All done; not too bad, if I have to say so myself. It’s not pretty, but not bad. I’m more used to stitching up animals rather than humans.”
I start to chuckle at her words, knowing she is full of shit. Her stitches are always neat, but I have to bite it back when my head protests, and I groan instead.
“Hang on, I found some painkillers at the bottom of the bag. They’re not the strongest, but it’s better than nothing,” Josie says, moving away. I can hear her rustling in the bag beforeshe’s back and nudging my lips with what I’m assuming are the painkillers. Opening my mouth, I take the tablets that she puts on my tongue and a small sip of water and pray that they stay down.
“I’m sorry,” Josie whispers, kissing my cheek. “I know you’re miserable and not helping is killing you, but you need to stay still until we can get you to the hospital. Try sucking on one of these; they may help you. Not sure if concussion nausea and morning sickness work the same, though,” she laughs as she puts one of her ginger sweets in my mouth. She presses her lips to mine in a fleeting kiss and is off again. I can hear her, though, as she makes her way around checking on everyone.
Soon, there is the familiar sound of a crackling fire. They built it in the middle of the dirt road a few meters away from the vehicle for safety reasons. Their concern might have been a bushfire or perhaps spilled fuel from the accident; I couldn’t say for sure.
“We’re going to move you closer to the fire,” Josie calls out softly. Her footsteps come closer, and I chance cracking my eyes slightly but shut them just as quickly as the light from the fire sends a sharp pain through my head. It was enough to make out Shadrack walking next to Josie.
“Keep them closed,” Shadrack murmurs as he helps me up.
“How do you not have a concussion?” I grumble. “You hit your head too.”
Shadrack laughs a booming laugh, and I groan at the noise. “Sorry,” he says sympathetically, “I’ve got a hard head, according to my mother. Keep your eyes closed. We’ll get you there. We’ve removed one of the seats from the back of the vehicle and brought it over to the fire so you can sit on that.”
“I wondered what they were doing,” I admit as I wrap an arm around Josie’s shoulder, more for comfort than to lean on her.
Slowly, the three of us walk towards the fire. They’d put the bench from the vehicle on the ground near the fire; it had a back, so we’d be comfortable enough.
On the far side of the fire was the young recruit who had been hurt. Most of his teammates were crowded around him, talking quietly.
I’m not sure if it’s in my head or not, but my stomach felt better after sucking on the ginger sweet, so once I’m seated and I thank Shadrack for his help in getting me there, I ask Josie, “Do you have any more of those sweets, baby?”
“I do,” she replies, sitting down next to me and leaning up against me with a tired sigh. A plastic bag rustles, and then her fingers are at my mouth. Opening, I take the sweet, nipping at her fingers before she pulls them away with a snigger.
“There’s no way you are up for any shenanigans, nor are we in the right place for any,” Josie tells me with amusement, snuggling under my arm with a small shiver.
“I know,” I grumble, “but I can dream.”
When she shivers again, I crack my eyes open, relieved that my stomach seems to have settled, and tilt my head slowly so that I can see her. I’m feeling much better after the tablets, and sucking on those ginger sweets seemed to have helped. I was by no means ready to dance a jig, but I was feeling better. “Are you cold, baby?”
“A little,” she admits.
