Page 24 of Sawyer’s Mistake

“Why didn’t you knock him out before?” Saoirse asked. She understood Zander was doing his best to help Sawyer, but damnit, she didn’t want him to hurt like this.

“The live binding would have detected it. He needed to be awake when we burned it away. But it’s better if he sleeps now,” he said.

He ripped open a little white package, which hissed at the changing air pressure. Inside was a gauze roll, which Zander wrapped against the blistering skin. He worked fast, covering Sawyer’s arm from the wrist up to his elbow. Saoirse looked up, alarmed, as a vinegary smell filled the air.

“It’s just a burn ointment. It’ll heal the burns better than anything else we can do.”

Next, he took a pressure cast from his backpack. These, Saoirse had seen before, at the Residence, where she’d lived for almost fourteen months after the alien invasion. Unlike old-fashioned Cortex casts, which relied on a 3D-scan of the patient in order to then be printed to exact specifications, the newer pressure casts were developed for the military for use in rough terrain where scans and 3D-printers were not readily available.

Zander activated the pressure cast, which was still in its protective pouch.

He took out the first layer, made of silicon, and placed it around Sawyer’s thumb and up past the mangled wrist, to just below the man’s elbow.

In that time, the material in the protective pouch had changed from solid to liquid. Zander inserted Sawyer’s arm gently into the pouch with the liquid solution then brought it out to dry. Saoirse watched, open-mouthed, as the liquid and the silicon molded themselves around Jake’s arm in an open-lattice formation.

“There,” Zander said. “We just need to let the ointment and pressure cast work their magic.”

“Let’s go, people. We need to get back to the factory before nighttime,” Storme ordered.

Saoirse wanted to ask if Sawyer was going to be okay but wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer.

What will I do if he ends up losing his arm because of my recklessness? He’ll be right to hate me.

She stifled a sob and stood up, getting back in place behind Eva, who squeezed her hand in what Saoirse knew was meant to be a reassuring way. It made Saoirse feel even worse. She didn’t deserve Eva’s support, not when all of this was her fault.

Storme approached Sawyer, ready to lift him again, but Zander stopped him.

“I’ll take him this time, Boss,” Zander said.

Storme nodded. “I’ll take the rear,” he said.

Zander stood up, arm muscles bulging, hoisting the unconscious man on his shoulders.

Chapter 12

Jake

Sawyer sat up in bed, propped up by three pillows. The first day back in the old factory had been rough. His wrist hadn’t been hurting at all, and he’d worried incessantly that he might still lose the hand.

On the second morning, he woke up in agony. It was as if every nerve cell in his brain had chosen to wake up at that moment, all of them firing at his wrist.

“It hurts here?” Zander asked. The medic hadn’t stepped away from him in the last two days since they’d gotten back, except to speak to Saoirse and Alix and see to their minor cuts and bruises. He lifted Sawyer’s wrist in his hands and pressed gently against the wrist bone.

Sawyer saw stars. He grunted through clenched teeth.

“I’m going to take that as a yes. It’s a really good sign,” Zander confirmed, smiling. “It means the pressure cast has started working.”

“You sound relieved, Magnus. I thought you said there was nothing to worry about.”

Zander shrugged. “I hoped it would heal. But until now I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. Look, the cast has even started changing color. When it goes completely green, that wrist will be good as new.”

Sawyer nodded. He didn’t want to show just how relieved he was.

“Saoirse’s been asking to see you,” Zander said casually. “Again.”

“Has she left more flowers for me?” The first day she’d left a small bunch of wildflowers for him, in bright pinks and yellows. He’d kept the flowers with his duffel bag. The bright colors made him think of her.

“Nope. It’s a paper crane today.” Zander whipped it out of his pocket with a flourish and placed the tiny animal on top of the blanket.