Healer

Chapter 26

"Are you sure this is the place?" I whisper forcefully, shielded by dark, rather wet leaves of a bush. We're dirty, soaked through and Greer keeps going into dazes. She won't tell me what they contain.

It's been hours like this.

"I'm sure. They're close," she says, finally standing. I look around us, nervously before I stand as well, grasping Greer's medical bag. It's even larger than MacCallan's.

I walk out, sniffling, trying to find them through the downpour of rain. There's nothing for what feels like a lifetime but eventually, there are figures ahead- on foot.

I gasp, seeing MacCallan holding up Knox. They're stumbling...

"Knox!" she shouts, in horror, sprinting forward. MacCallan's head rises in alarm as he looks towards where the cry came from. When his eyes flicker to mine, widening immediately, I let out a sound of relief and feel my feet take off forward as well.

He's safe.

Greer falls to the ground, holding out her hand for the bag. Panting, I give it to her, watching as MacCallan sets Knox down onto the ground. He's already wrapped in Callan's plaid as well but it's soaked through.

She opens his shirt, somehow knowing where to look. "What happened?"

"He was shot, on our way," MacCallan says, hands braced on his knees. "We were ambushed."

"Aye?" she questions, finding a torn bandage wrapped around Knox's body. "Ye removed the bullet?"

He nods. "Aye, but it already looked infected. We must go if we have- any hope to save him."

"Help me get him onto the horse," she says, sternly. "Ye need to ride with him. I'm not strong enough to hold him up if he begins to drop. Are ye hurt too?"

He shakes his head, swallowing. "I'll be fine."

I feel utterly useless as I watch MacCallan set him onto the horse and rise up, settling behind him. I climb onto the other stag, holding out my hand for Greer. She comes up, sitting behind me.

I ride off first, galloping steadily. The ride is over an hour and by the look of it, the men feel much discomfort. Knox has his head pressed to Callan's chest and he's rocking back and forth slowly.

I blink in fear and turn back.

"He's not going to make it," she whispers, her voice thick with emotion. I turn back to look at her in shock. She's seen it- it's clear on her face.

Mouth wide, I turn, closing it. "No, no, he'll live."

"Gillian-"

"You said yourself, you said we have the power to alter our lives, to change what happens. There are three people here who can help him. That is what we will do. We will save him."

I grab her hand off of my shoulder and kiss it firmly. "We will. We have to."

Thankfully, when we do arrive back in Inverness, the village is quiet and unmoving. We dismount hastily and I turn to help McCallan. Greer runs inside the home, to fetch someone to help bring him in.

"Knox. Ye must work with me here," MacCallan says, pressing his fingers to his neck. "Christ, he's fading. Gillian, hold him as best ye can while I get down."

I nod, taking hold of Knox's thigh and shoulder. My face contorts painfully when MacCallan's body weight no longer support's him. Thankfully, MacCallan's hands reach for his back and he drags his body off the horse and into his arms.