Page 68 of Reid's Fixation
Chapter 16
Reid
They walked all day, and then into the night again, but were no closer to finding the place they came in than they were when they started.
He knew they were lost, hopelessly so and it was getting harder to take the next step, to keep moving forward.
His shoulder felt like it was on fire and hung at an awkward angle from the socket.
He ripped up some of his shirt and Xavier had tried to bind it to his body, but it still rubbed wrong and he knew he was damaging it beyond repair.
They had come across a small stream and had been able to drink some of the water, but they were exhausted, hungry and in pain.
Xavier’s cut was deeper than they realized, and because it kept bleeding, it was making Xavier light headed and he fell a few times because of it.
And then they found that it was slowly becoming infected.
Reid was doing his best to keep calm and to keep them moving and strong, but it wasn’t easy.
As the night approached again, Reid knew that they would have to face another freezing night in the mountains.
They found a small clearing in some trees and Xavier wanted to build a fire. To do something that would have them seen.
Reid could only pick up a few sticks but bending over with his arm made him clench his teeth to keep from crying out in pain.
Xavier would start bleeding with each time he bent down too long, and Reid knew they had to do something about his stomach and his arm.
They couldn’t keep going on like this, but Xavier didn’t know how to put his arm back into place and he didn’t know how to fix the bleeding on Xavier’s stomach.
But they had to try. Absolutely had to do this.
They were able to get a small spark going after about an hour of trying to rub two sticks together, and soon they had a big enough fire that they wouldn’t freeze this night.
They sat down and Reid looked at the fire, feeling the warmth seep through him.
“X, I can’t keep going with my arm like this. We have to try to get it back in the socket.”
Xavier looked at him with trepidation, “I don’t know what I am doing. What if I break your arm?”
Reid shook his head, “We have to try. It’s been rubbing my bones together. It’s so painful.”
Xavier finally nodded, and then stood. He came over to where Reid had his arm hanging out of the socket.
He used his fingers to probe it for a second and Reid had to bite his lip to keep from screaming in pain, knowing it was inflamed.
Then Xavier grabbed his arm, “I have seen this done, but I haven’t done it myself. Just hold on.”
Reid nodded, strain in his voice as he said, “Just do it.”
Xavier looked at him, “On the count of three, One,” and then Xavier did something, lifting his arm, and with a crack, he popped Reid’s arm back in his socket.
Reid let out a scream, and then he sat back, his shoulder hurt like a bitch, but at least it was back in the socket.
He was breathing hard and sweat started to fall down his back.
Xavier stood back and Reid looked up at him, panting with pain, “Thank you.”
Xavier nodded and Reid ripped up the rest of his shirt, “We have to bind your stomach better. It will never stop bleeding if we don’t.”
