Page 55 of Rarely Pure and Never Simple
Damien took his offered arm, staggered out under the weight of pain, and collapsed to his knees in the brush. His stomach emptied violently, as if his body hoped the act of purging could empty his head as well.
"Hey…" Blaze's hand stroked his shoulder, comfort rather than irritant. "You all right? You picking up some bad fuckery?"
Too miserable for subtleties, it took a moment for Damien to gather even the simplest words. The horror of what lay ahead threatened to steal what sense he had. He sat back on his heels, nodding carefully. "Yes. Both."
"You okay to keep going? This getting too bad for you?"
"Have to." He held up a hand for patience. "It'll settle."I hope.
Blaze handed him a cloth and a water bottle. "Damn it, Twitch, I'm serious. If you can't keep going, you have to sing out."
"I will." Damien took a sip and spat, then simply stared at a point on the darkening horizon, counting breaths. The pain didn't recede, but it became more familiar, less jarring. He had lived with pain for so many years. A few more skeins of it wouldn't stop him. "We're a little too close. Circle out a half mile more, then we'll start turning back toward the center."
"Got it." Blaze eyed him dubiously but only offered a steadying hand and didn't question as he moved back to the car.
"He all right?" Shudder called over from the open skimmer canopy.
"Yeah. He says so, anyway."
"He's right here," Damien muttered, letting his head rest against the seat as Blaze started them moving again.
"I know." Blaze's hand squeezed his knee. "Worried about you."
"But just a little."
"Yeah."
But therehadbeen worry for him. Amazing how such little things could offset such agony.
Damn right,he worried. Damien was still gray as they pulled into the crevasse they'd decided on as a hiding place for the vehicles. A rock overhang would hide both Raptor and skimmer from anyone flying overhead. He hated leaving a rental out in the open.Sure, it's hidden, but anything could happen out here. Damn big expense to have to explain if someone steals it.
"Don't leave anything important," he told Damien. "The Guild can eat the cost of this beast if something happens to it, but you don't want some thief ending up with your files."
"Or your underwear," Damien said at his driest.
The man had the weirdest moments of humor, but damn if it didn't make Blaze like him even more. "Exactly. Some of that shit's expensive."
He figured the little Damien excuse for a smile was the best he could hope for with him feeling like shit. He'd work on getting a better reaction when this damn job was over. Hand hovering over the last pop-meals he was stuffing into his pack, he ran through the conversation again.
Blaze shocked people, aggravated them, infuriated them, and occasionally amused them as long as they weren't the focus of his attention. But no one simply accepted him until Damien. He realized he didn't care that acceptance finally came from someone who wasn't always stable.
"I think I've lost my mind," he muttered as he closed up the pack.
"Hmm?" Damien only half answered, distracted by his own packing.
"Need a couple minutes?"
"Please."
They weren't certain how far out they were. It could be a four-hour hike or two days. Damien thought it was more likely in between somewhere, so being prepared for a night in the open made sense. Blaze retreated to a flat rock nearby, knowing that any effort to rush Damien would end in disaster.
Shudder wandered over to sit next to him. For Damien's sake, Blaze didn't shove him off onto the ground. "How's he doing?"
"He manages."
"Barely. His locating, it makes him sick. No one should ask him to do this. We could finish this without him."
"Shuds…" Blaze rubbed at both temples. "How about you think that through? For once? 'Oh, hey, I know this is your job, but we don't feel you're strong enough to finish it, even though you've been doing it without us for years, so how about you let us he-men do it for you while you hang back and feel useless.'"
