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“So, when you hit your head, you’re supposed to stay awake.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know! That’s just what they say.”

“I have to sleep eventually.”

“Will you stop being difficult? I need to figure out what to do about this arrow.”

The wound is deep, but it doesn’t quite poke out the other side of his arm. Do I push it the rest of the way through? I can’t pull it back out. The wound itself isn’t bleeding terribly, butthere’s an arrow in there and that’s not good.

“Wake up!” I snap.

Kellyn jolts back to consciousness. “Ziva, I’m tired.”

“No. Stay awake. Help me figure out what to do with this arrow.”

“Leave it,” he hisses. “We don’t have anything to help get it out or to patch it up or…”

“Kellyn!”

“I’m awake!”

“Can you climb onto the horse?”

“I don’t know if I can sit up.”

He starts drifting off again, and I know that the arrow shaft is going to be a problem. It’s so long; it’ll bump up against things, causing him all kinds of pain.

If the blow to his head doesn’t kill him first.

Don’t think like that!

I place both hands on the arrow shaft, grip it as close to Kellyn’s skin as I can.

Then I snap it.

“TWIN HELLS! GAH!” Kellyn’s suddenly upright, shoving me away. I know he’s not in his right mind, on top of being in unimaginable pain, so I don’t take it personally.

I discard the broken piece of arrow, cover the wound as best I can above and below the shaft, then pull Kellyn to his feet. “Come on. On the horse. Then you can rest.”

I have to find a large rock for Kellyn to climb in order get him into the saddle. I come up behind him, and he sags against me. He’s a lot heavier when he’s all deadweight.

“Kellyn, talk to me.”

“You said I could rest,” he slurs.

“You can. You’re not moving. You still have to talk to me.”

“I don’t want to talk to you. I want you to talk to me.”

The horse leaps over a smaller tree trunk, and Kellyn groans again.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask.

“I’m always the one instigating everything. When we talk. When we kiss. The flirting. All of it. At first, I did it because you’re shy, because I thought that’s maybe what you needed…” His words trail off.

“Kellyn!”