Page 12 of Yours on the Canvas

“You are worthless to us now.” His voice, full of hatred and disgust. Then he straightens, looks at me once more, before turning and leaving me in the darkness.

Just like that, they leave me.

I lie there, feeling the cold mud sucking at my clothes and cold water creeping higher along my ribs, but something inside me refuses to die here.

I pull in as deep a breath as I can and dig my fingers into the slick earth. I drag myself forward, inch by inch, until my shoulders clear the lip of the drain. Pain tears through my chest, white-hot and blinding, but I force myself to keep going. I get half of my body out in the open, but the pain overwhelms me and I collapse there, shaking, my breathing shallow as the night spins around me. I’ve pulled myself out just far enough that if someone does come, they’ll see me.

Until then, I close my eyes, and think of my Sol.

* * *

I don’t know how long I drift in and out, but headlights finally drag me from the darkness, their glare burning through my eyelids before a car stops right in front of me. Two doors slam, quick and panicked, and footsteps rush across the gravel. A set of knees hit the mud beside me, and a warm hand settles carefully against my shoulder, grounding me in a way that makes my chest ache with relief.

“Hang on. We’re calling an ambulance,” a man’s voice says, breathless with panic.

Someone moves away, and I hear a woman speaking rapidly, giving our location to the person on the phone.

I’m so tired, and I let my eyes close again, but a firm hand shakes my shoulder.

“Hey, you gotta stay awake. Stay with us.”

I force my eyes open.

“Bee, how far away are they? I don’t reckon this guy’s got much longer. Tell them to hurry!”

I hear the panic in his voice, but I can’t answer him, the pain radiating through my ribs has become unbearable, and every breath feels like someone driving a blade deeper into my chest.

The woman returns and kneels beside her partner.

“Five minutes. They said to keep him talking.”

Five minutes, I feel like I don’t have five minutes. I roll my head weakly against the damp earth and try to force words past my ruined throat. Nothing comes out except a ragged groan.

Blood fills my mouth, warm and metallic, and I swallow against it. The movement tears at my throat.

“Hey.” The man leans closer. “You gotta keep talking to us. What’s your name?”

My lips barely move.

“Silas.”

The woman frowns, “Your name is Silas?”

I shake my head, and pain tears through my chest as I try to speak again, “Find…” I swallow, immediately regretting it. “Find… Silas.”

“You want us to call him?”

I manage a tiny nod, “PalMerc…” My tongue feels too heavy to move, but I force the words out. “Campbell… River.”

The words scrape their way out of me, but I have nothing left after that, and I let my body sink deeper into the earth. I close my eyes and listen to the man beside me telling me to stay awake, telling me to keep fighting.

I want to, I really do, but I can’t. I close my eyes, listening to them telling me to stay with them.

* * *

Something sharp pierces my skin, and my eyes fly open. Muffled voices surround me, overlapping as people move around my body. Bright fluorescent lights burn through my swollen eyelids, and I slam them shut with a hiss.

“Hey. Can you open your eyes for me?” The voice, gentle and kind.