Miss Me?

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Yeah..." Kurt said, his voice drifting off slightly. "Sure...sure..."

He didn't mind waiting.

At least, he thought he didn't.

Truthfully things were getting far too woozy for him to actually think about much of anything. His vision was getting a bit hazy, his arms and legs felt weak, everything seemed to be drifting. It was an odd feeling, somewhat pleasant really. The only thing keeping him semi-alert was the constant throbbing of pain that came from his back, a mush of searing hot red that streaked over his spine and down to his hip. Every time a breeze of air or a touch of wind pressed against him he felt like he was on fire, pain pulling through him.

It kept him awake for now, though for how much longer was impossible to tell.

"Don't feel like you have to worry yourself." There was no sarcasm in his tone. Kurt's delirious state was beginning to play tricks on him, his mind forgetting about the injury and the loss of blood. Instead he only focused on the good, the beautiful surroundings and the company of his girlfriend.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"KURT!" She shouted, slapping him hard across the face with a grimace that followed immediately after. "I'm sorry! But you need to stay awake!" With a panicked look in her eyes the blonde went quickly to work, mashing the berries and leaves together atop the rock and mixing the contents together to create a thick, sticky paste that could be used to stop the man's bleeding. Far from a permanent solution, but one that would very well save his life while they trekked back through the jungle to the boat and to shore. While the blonde worked on spreading the mixture over the wounds she cringed each time Kurt winced or groaned. Understandably the pain would likely be incredible, the wounds themselves being deep and open. Unfortunately she had only what she had to work with and she was far from being any kind of actual doctor.

"I'm worried! I can't not be worried!" The large gashes took quite a lot of berries and leaves to fully cover and close, the length and depth of them making the process incredibly difficult for the girl. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have stopped you from shooting it, I shouldn't have." Biting her lip to prevent herself from hyperventilating, silent tears ran down her cheeks as she wiped away the blood from his back to see exactly where each cut trailed so that she could patch it.

When she had finally completed the job she quickly rubbed her hands on her legs and made an attempt to help Kurt get to his feet. "Come on, honey, we need to get you to the boat quickly. You need a doctor. Please, you need to help me get you up."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Hm?" He didn't feel the pain anymore. Maybe it was because he had moved passed it, maybe it was because of what Jamie had done, or maybe it was simply because he'd lost so much blood that the agony didn't even register anymore. Either way, as Jamie pressed against him and tried to help him up Kurt did his best to follow her direction. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, or even why Jamie was sounding the way she did, but he was happy to do as she asked.

His arm wrapped around her waist, his other hand pressing against a nearby tree.

Slowly he pushed himself up, getting to his feet before stumbling slightly. Jamie caught him, his face nearing hers and confusion passing over his features as he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. He smiled at her, a weak and perhaps slightly delusional smile.

"Don't worry, sweetheart." Kurt kissed her cheek. "It'll be fine."

Whatever 'it" was.

Kurt had no idea what was going on, at least not really, but Jamie wanted to take him to a Doctor. He wasn't one to argue with her.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

How is he so calm!?

"It's not fine at all! Not even a little bit fine!" The thick berry paste she'd concocted into a sort of makeshift packing seemed to work at least for the interim. The bleeding was slowed to an almost stop. That revelation gave the girl the slightest glimmer of hope that she'd done at least something useful. Now the task was getting Kurt back to the boat. Where IS the boat? Jamie had no concept of direction as Kurt had quickly carried her off and through the jungle after she'd passed out. How in the galaxy was she going to find the boat now? It wasn't quite like she could ask him. In his current state he was hardly going to be a reliable source of information. All she could do was trust her instinct and try to listen for the sound of water and maybe follow the shore to the boat. Perhaps by some grace of luck or divine intervention she would be able to get them back to safety quickly. Kurt was in dire need of a doctor.

"Come on, let's go. Lean on me, we need to get to the boat as fast as we can."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He wasn't going to argue with her, not now.

There wasn't really much that he could do or say at this point, he was too weak to actually argue with her, and he could barely move by himself. His feet slowly placed against the roots, trying to find the hard ground instead of the soft. For some odd reason Kurt felt like he was going to fall over every time he moved, thankfully though Jamie was there to keep him steady, keep him up. He looked at her, giving her an odd little goofy smile.

"I want you to be with me." He said suddenly, unaware of what was coming out of his mouth.

"More I mean." Kurt clarified the statement. "Not on the Messa, but somewhere we can go back to, a home."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

If this isn't the absolute worst time for this I can't imagine what would be.

If Jamie wasn't in the midst of having a mental breakdown half due to guilt, the other half due to fear, she might have been able to answer that in some kind of meaningful way, even if Kurt wasn't exactly in the mindset to understand what he himself was saying, much less meant to say. It was clear that the injuries were taking their toll on his mind. She would have to move faster, that much was certain. Minutes would feel like hours passing, each one dialing up the anxiety the blonde was feeling by astronomical amounts. For every step closer to the beach they got, Jamie felt it was another mile to safety. Every breath Kurt drew in made her feel nervous, nervous that he might not be able to continue further. What then? What would she do? She certainly wasn't strong enough to carry him, and she couldn't exactly drag him either.

"First let's get you to the boat. Then to a hospital. Then we can talk about whatever you want after, okay? Just help me get you there, and let's walk just a little faster if you can."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt nodded, figuring that Jamie didn't really want to talk about it at the moment. He had thought that she would be ecstatic at the news but perhaps she was just too busy to think about it. Either way he didn't take any offense, not from her. Instead he simply smiled and tried to do as she said, moving a bit faster but still making sure that he didn't fall over.

Eventually the jungle began to thin, the ground became softer, and the vines upon the earth began to retreat.

The pilot could swear that he heard the crashing of waves. "The ocean?"

Kurt was confused, he didn't remember them being near any ocean, but then again he didn't remember much of anything right now. He frowned for a moment and looked at Jamie. There was angst on her face, confusion, terror, but also a slight bit of relief. He seemed to remember her mentioning something about a boat, maybe they wanted to go near the ocean. He nodded his head, smiling slightly and straightening so that they could move faster.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The very instant Jamie's eyes caught sight of crystal blue waves and white sand she nearly screamed. By some graceful act of the universe she had managed to find the shoreline. Now all she had to do was find the...

"Boat!" She shouted, trying her best not to jostle Kurt around too much, but hurrying him towards the beautiful hull of a ship that sat rocking lazily in the gentle current, still anchored where he had left it earlier. She wasn't quite sure how well the makeshift bandage packing would hold up against the tyranny of salty ocean water, but there was hardly any time to consider another option. The berry and leaf concoction was hardly a sterile solution on its' own, but it did perform its' one crucial job.

"Okay, we've gotta get you into the boat. I'm gonna throw my bag up and in, then I am gonna help you, alright?"

Struggling to maintain a sense of focus the girl called upon the Force to lend her a hand. The anchor would be far to heavy to lift on her own. Instead, she slowly lifted the large iron weight from the shallow depths with a bit of help, securing it inside the hull with a groan as she released the intangible grip on the object. The blonde promptly threw the bag and its' contents over the side and motioned for Kurt to come. Luckily in the water assisting another person with a leg up was far easier than on land. "I'll help you up, just hold onto the edge of the boat and i'll lift you in."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

This was getting hard, or at least, whatever she was trying to do. A frown pulled at his lips as she tried to balance himself within the water, shifting slightly on his edge as he grabbed onto the edge of the railing. A spike of pain reached through his shoulders, though he wasn't quite sure where it came from. "Ow."

He said as he wrapped his fingers around the edge of the hull.

A very gentle push, more of a nudge really came at his back. He took that as a signal from Jamie, and slowly Kurt began to pull himself up onto the edge of the boat. The effort was surprisingly difficult, much of the strength in his muscles completely failing him. He struggled for a moment, a deep breath pulling into his lung as Jamie pressed him into the boat. Kurt half flopped onto his side, falling onto a small padded couch that lined the edge of the boat.

"I'm alright." Kurt said. "You coming?"

His head turned up, eyes watching the blue sky above.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie scrambled quickly up and into the boat, turning to Kurt as she moved towards the pilot's seat. "Don't lay on your back, lay on your stomach, you'll open the wounds." The blonde did her absolute best to speak calmly, rather than shout at him. He'd made it this far, the worst of the trek was over. Now all she had to do was get them back to the mainland as quickly as possible. "Right, off we go!" Jamie fired the engines on the boat, leaving almost no time between starting up the vessel and engaging the motors to reverse them out of the cove.

The blonde kept an eye over the side of the boat to gauge the depth of the water. The last thing she'd need was to damage the ship before they made it away from the island. Once they had reversed far enough out, and the water looked sufficiently deep, Jamie spun the ship slowly around and throttled up the engines slowly at first, though quickly attained maximum speed, the hull of the ship bouncing lightly against the waves as she cut across the water at lightning pace.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He slowly rolled away from laying on his back, wincing as he did so. The effect of the berry's was wearing off now, the odd sort of pain that he had been feeling slowly coming back as the boat began to rock and move, the sway of the waves causing Kurt to whine in pain slightly.

The delirium slowly began to fade away as the blood loss was stifled, his thoughts and some cohesiveness returning to him.

"Jamie." He sounded more clear. "Where are we going?"

The question was asked as though it were a complete mystery to him, even though she'd said it about half a dozen times. His mind was in disarray, the delirium having crowded his thought process. Everything seemed to be spinning, the push of the boat only serving to extenuate that. He frowned slightly, a sickness beginning to form in his stomach that seemed to coincide with the pain radiating from his back. The pilot's arms crossed his stomach as if he was trying to hold the bile in.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I'm taking you to the hospital." She said, eyes trained straight ahead as she focused her mind on simply getting there and not the what-ifs. Jamie was nearly straining her eyes so that she wouldn't continue crying any more than she had. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault. I got you hurt. I don't know what I was thinking back there. Please don't hate me!" The blonde turned for a moment to check on Kurt, noticing that he was balled up into the fetal position, holding onto his stomach. Faster...Need to go faster.... Jamie once again throttled up the engines to full power, accelerating the small ship to top speed in the following seconds.

Finally, when land became clearly visible Jamie exhaled a small sigh of relief, hoping that there would be an emergency services shuttle or call box nearby that they could use to get Kurt to the hospital faster. She had never felt so much anxiety and stress before in her eighteen years of life. Every beat of her heart sounded like a thunder crash in her head. "I'm going to get you help Kurt, I promise. We're almost there."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He didn't know how long they took, didn't know if they crossed the entire ocean or just a small expanse, all that he knew was that Jamie was trying to save him. Kurt tried to remember what had happened, tried to recall how he had gotten hurt. Nothing came to him, all that he could think of was the water, the jungle, and then Jamie's frantic cries and pleas. He wondered for a moment if he would ever remember. Then she said the words, she apologized, took fault.

His head shook slightly. "It's okay."

Saying those words nearly made him hurl, not because of the words themselves, but because of the pressure that he felt pushing on his body. He meant it of course. There was no hard feelings, no blame assigned. Perhaps he should have been angry, and perhaps if he remembered it all he would have been, but even then he could not have been truly angry with her.

He could not hate her.

It wasn't in him to do that, never, even at the edge of deaths door.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The boat was heading towards shore way too fast. Did Jamie care? Nope. Her hand hardly wavered from the throttle before it was too late. At the very last second she pulled back hard to kill the acceleration of the ship as it coasted into the shallow water near the beach, landing in an almost perfect way by drifting onto the sands of the beach. The blonde quickly turned off the engines as a small crowd of interested spectators began to wander over towards the boat, curious of why it had just beached itself instead of docking.

"Someone please call for medics!" She shouted, before turning her attention back to Kurt. "It's okay, it's gonna be okay. I'm gonna get you help. We made it back to shore. It's all gonna be fine Kurt I promise." She smiled through the levy of tears that had opened behind her eyes, her hand making a pointless attempt at wiping them away. Less than twenty seconds later her ears picked up the faint sound of sirens as an emergency transport made its way towards the beach. "See?" She said through labored breathing. "We're gonna get you help. You'll be as good as new in no time!"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He shook slightly, the pain now hitting him truly for the first time. It was like hot knives pressing into his skin and slicing across his back, stabbing him and reaching inside of him to draw something out. He shook again, his head shaking from side to side as he tried to say something, tried to tell her something.

All that passed from his lips was a choking sound.

He coughed, his throat tightening and the muscles in his body tensing as he tried to get control of himself. Seizing slightly, the young PIlot shifted on the small bench that he lay upon, pain wracking through him and trying to pull him apart. A loud groan escaped past his lips, his head once again beginning to whirl about. He could feel some of the blood seeping down it's back, the mushy paste that Jamie had applied now beginning to fail under his own movement.

Kurt tried to speak again tried to say something, but all he could manage was a slight whimper.

Instead, his hand began to extend, fingers curling around Jamie's palm. He looked up at her, his lips twitching in the attempt of a smile.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A number of droids piled out of the emergency transport that arrived on scene at the beach, just a few meters from where the beached boat had finally stranded itself. Jamie waived frantically with her free hand for them to move quicker. "Don't speak, just rest." She said despite trembling hands. As the medical droids drew closer Jamie wrapped her other hand around the one he was using to hold hers. She smiled to match his.

Finally they climbed aboard, immediately inspecting the severity of the injury, the makeshift bandage, and the state of Kurt's awareness. During the process they forced the blonde to step back and out of the vessel to conduct their overview, while a member of the security force on Spira headed in her direction. Oh feth, not now. "Miss? Miss are you with the gentleman?" Jamie nodded silently. "I need you to come with me while they take care of your friend. We just have to ask you a few questions." Was this guy serious?! She didn't have time for this! Kurt was dying and this guy wanted to play twenty questions?! "I can't, I have to be with him right now." The officer held out a stern hand, stopping her from leaving. "Ma'am, I need you to come with me please. You'll see him after."

There was a clear expression of anger and distress in her eyes as she argued with the lawman. "No! He needs me!" It was then that the man took her by the wrist with a bit of force. "Protocol, miss. You'll have time to see him after. Please don't make this difficult." Jamie's eyes fell to Kurt as he was being lifted by stretcher and brought towards the ambulance. A pair of tears rolled down her cheeks as he was taken away without her at his side. Her head fell, and she followed the officer to his car.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt didn't really remember much of anything after that. A few flashes of a doctor, some stemming pain from his back, everything seemed to be a blur. He had lost enough blood to nearly kill him, the swipes on his back had been deep and nearly touched his spine. Some nerves had been slashed, but surprisingly no permanent damage had been done, or at least that was what they said. It was hours later that Kurt woke up, a bacta lace had been carefully applied to his back and he had been laid onto his stomach in order to keep from bothering the wound.

His awakening was a startled gasp and a snapping open of the eyes, a sudden jarring jump followed by a burst of pain.

"Ow." The pilot said as the wound ached and his body protested to any movement or even thought.

He tried to remember what had happened, tried to remember where he was or what he was doing here, but all that came to him was a massive blank. He felt woozy, and as he moved his arm he noticed the two IV cords sticking out of it. Kurt frowned for a moment, shifting slightly and half rolling onto his side, enduring the pain so that he could better get a look at the room. His eyes locked on Jamie, sitting in a small chair in the corner of the room.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The sound of movement in front of her hadn't spurred any reaction from the girl as Kurt had shifted several times throughout the many hours she'd been sitting. In her hand was a small datapad she'd been given by the hospital staff to pass the time while she waited for him to wake up. It wasn't until he groaned and spoke an audible word that she shifted the device out of her vision to look at Kurt. The girl nearly dropped the electronic as she sprang up from where she sat. Instead she set it quickly down beneath her on top of the chair as she walked quickly to the side of the bed.

"You're awake!" Her voice and face lit up like a Life Day fireworks show seeing his bright eyes looking back at her. "You had me so worried! How do you feel?" In truth there was so many questions she wanted to ask him, but was trying her absolute hardest not to bombard Kurt with questions not even a minute after he had just awoken from a near-death encounter. Leaning close over her and kneeling slightly Jamie gave him what could arguably be the most passionate kiss to date. A combination of love, relief, and happiness drove her to wrap her arms gently around him, careful to avoid IV and bandages in the process.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He winced slightly, his body anticipating a brush of pain as Jamie pressed against him. Oddly enough his back didn't even hurt as she kissed him, the dizziness in his head disappearing for a moment as he gained a measure of focus. A smile pulled at his lips as she drew back, the expression on her face telling the story that she was rather eager for him to answer. "I feel okay."

That wasn't entirely a lie.

His back hurt, his head hurt, and his stomach felt all sorts of upside down, but at the very least he knew that he wasn't going to die. He no longer felt weak and broken, no longer felt like he was on the verge of permanently passing from this earth. The Pilot shifted slightly in the bed, making himself for comfortable and being acutely aware of the position of Jamie's arms. He suspected that even a brushing touch against the bandages would sting like all hell.

"I guess we'll have to clean that guys boat." Kurt joked, suspecting that the vessel was likely half covered in blood.

Laying on that padded bench, staring at Jamie was one of the few things that he could recall.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Turning away for a moment Jamie grabbed hold of the chair and slid it quietly across the floor to just beside Kurt's bed, leaning on it with her elbows, hands lightly stroking Kurt's face and hair. "We need to clean you. You're a filthy mess." She said, lips parting as she laughed. "I already paid for the boat, don't worry about it." Kurt may have been doing better, but Jamie wanted him back at one hundred percent. She felt wholly responsible for getting him into the situation, despite not knowing what it was that actually happened between when she shouted for him not to shoot the cat and when she woke up to see him injured. There was the obvious fact that it had maimed him, but what transpired in between was still a mystery to her. She wanted to know, but now wasn't the best time to probe for answers.

The other bit of information she was going to withhold was that there was a rather hefty fine for their adventure. Apparently where they'd made their camp and gone exploring was off limits to the general public, as it was it was considered a planetary reservation and conservation. The lawman that had questioned Jamie while Kurt was being tended to alerted her to that fact, as well as gave her the walloping 2,000c fine. That was a problem for later however. She could figure out a way to pay that easy enough without involving Kurt. There was little reason for him to have to know or deal with that on top of his injuries all because of her actions. Jamie wanted him to focus entirely on getting better.

"I'm sorry I ruined our vacation."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]