Page 79 of Hollow Valley
He glanced towards my feet, still in my boots.“Good to know.I’ll be back shortly.”
After he left, I pushed myself up slowly, grimacing through the pain.I took off my gloves first, then I pulled off my balaclava and ran my fingers through my sweaty tangles of dark hair.
With a considerable amount of pain, I was able to slowly shrug my jacket off my good shoulder, but I was completely immobilized by agony when it came to getting it off my broken side.
Ripley laid down in the corner, near the unlit fireplace, and licked her aching paws.I hoped that Jordy had some fresh hay for Vince down below us.
A little while later, the door to the apartment swung open, letting in a cold draft of air, and Jordy came in carrying a tray of various supplies.Since he’d been in his house, he’d shed his layers, the same way that I had attempted, so he returned wearing a sweater and jeans with his face fully visible.
The first thing that surprised me about his appearance was how youthful he was.He wasn’t a teenager anymore, but I had to be at least a few years his senior.Being rescued by someone younger than me felt off somehow.
The second thing that shocked me about him was that he was rather good-looking.His hair was thick, raven black and landed above his shoulders.Most people these days, especially in this subarctic climate, had weathered faces that aged them.Somehow, he looked so fresh-faced compared to the usual survivor I met.
Just because he was attractive didn’t mean I was attracted to him, but I noticed it, the same way I noticed the burn scars on his hands.Speckled patches of lighter skin and a waxy sheen on his fingertips.
“I’ve brought a few things that I think will help –” he was saying as he came in, but he stopped midsentence when he saw me, and he scowled.“Oh, no, you were supposed to wait for me to help you undress.”
I bristled.“I can do it myself.”
“No, I’m not being a creep.”He rolled his eyes.“You are visibly bruised and broken on your left side all the way up to your chin.With only the injuries you’ve diagnosed yourself with, it is almost scientifically impossible for you to undress on your own.”
I glanced down as far as my neck would allow, but even a subtle movement sent pain all through me.My chest had turned a horrible dark purple color, except for the bright white spot where the bone pointed jaggedly into the skin, straining it to the limit without quite piercing it.
“Who are you?Why are you helping me?”I asked and motioned to the apartment.“This isn’t an infirmary or quarantine.Are you keeping me hostage or something?”
“I honestly don’t believe I could hold someoneand her pet lionhostage,” Jordy said with a smirk, and he set the tray on the nightstand, before he carefully sat at the edge of my bed.“But what do you need to know about me to feel more comfortable about this arrangement?”
“Who are you?Why did you bring me here?What are your qualifications for helping the infirmed?How old are you?”
“As I told you before, my name is Jordy Duvall.Jordy’s actually short for Jordano, with my full name being Jordano Anthony Duvall, if that is pertinent info for you,” he said.“I brought you here, because you would’ve died if I hadn’t.I am a chemist here in Xwechtáal, and I am twenty-six-years-old.”
“Twenty-six?”I echoed skeptically.“So you were like fifteen or sixteen when the virus broke out?How the hell did you become a chemist?”
“Same way anyone became anything before the industrial age,” Jordy replied glibly.“I studied, I practiced, I apprenticed, I tried, I understood.”
“What is a chemist anyway?”I asked.
He gave an incredulous laugh.“You don’t even know what a chemist was, and you couldn’t believe that I was one?”
“It sounded like something you need an education for,” I reasoned.
“That’s true, but there’s more than one way to receive an education,” he said.“A chemist makes and distributes medicine, using science and herbal know-how to handle all kinds of problems.”
“And that makes you qualified to treat my broken bones?”I asked.
“Given the other options around here, yes, it does,” he said.“Do you want to get better?Do you want me to help alleviate your pain?I can do that.Or, if you’d prefer it, I can leave you here to suffer and slowly die.I won’t force anyone to live these days, especially if they’re unwilling to fight for it themselves.”
“I want to live, and I’d rather not suffer,” I admitted wearily.
“I can help you with that,” he promised with a confident smile.“Why don’t I give you something for the pain, and then I’ll add another log to the fire?”
“What do you have for the pain?”I asked.
Jordy reached over and picked up a small clay dish off the tray on the nightstand.Inside the dish were a few tiny scraps of green paper, like bits of hand-torn confetti about the quarter of the size of a postage stamp.
“What’s that?”I asked.
“It’s a concoction I’ve made called grinleaf,” he explained, carefully picking up two small flecks with his waxy fingertips.“It blocks pain receptors and causes a sense of euphoria.Given your state, I would recommend that you take two.”