"Yeah," was all Dee said when Ruby took the first aid kit from Joe. She pulled her shirt up higher with one hand, and removed the other from where it was pressed against her side to give access.
"Jesus."
Dee's hand was way more red than she'd expected.
The strength seemed to run out of her. She slid a couple inches down against the wall, blinked for a moment, and got her senses back. Just another tiny blackout-thing, nothing to worry much about as long as they got this fixed.
"No, no," she told Ruby when she saw the bandages. "Get uh, first aid was a long time ago, get the dressings. They're sterile, stop the bleeding. Get... fuck get all of them. Then wrap. Tight. It'll be fine as long as you stop the bleeding I can breathe and stuff."
Ruby wrapped and in between assurances Dee filled her in on what a bitch KK was and other recent events. Joe hung around and helped a bit and Dee occasionally eyeballed him to let him know she wasn't quite done with him yet.
When it was done, she sat there another minute and no one said anything. Maybe the three of them were waiting to see if she'd croak or not, and they all felt that saying something dumb would be even more awkward than silence.
At least Dee was thinking along those lines. At first. Then she had to figure out where the hell she would go from here.
Right. Silly Dee. Only one place to go. Wasn't like she was going to start making her own informed decisions on what to do next.
"Hey, Joe."
She reached into her pocket and grinned at the foresight she'd shown in making sure she got stabbed on the other side so it didn't get all bloody. Her lucky day, huh? Then she withdrew Kyran's heart necklace.
She could do one thing before she left this place, at least. Even if it was just as stupidly symbolic as Joe burying Kyran, but Dee felt like she could live with her hypocrisy this one time.
"Take it," she said. "It's... it's like what am I gonna do with it? I don't get anything out of it."
Joe hesitated. Dee could tell.
"Look, Kyran was probably hoping someone could take it home, have something to give to his mom. I'm... I get home that's good enough for me. Seriously. And it would be good enough for him. I know that. I've got nothing to bring back except me, nothing to give. I never did. I've got a fucking cigarette and a Freddy glove.
"So this is mine to give now, too. You took it in the first place, you take some, this is gonna be your fucking responsibility. You remember."
She bit her lip as Joe took the necklace, and she felt a weight off her shoulders. She felt lighter. Not that she needed it.
Dee touched her side, gingerly. Better.
"Help me up," she said to Ruby.
She left the tire iron on the floor. Too damn heavy to carry around anymore. It was another thing to give away.
"Either of you want that it's yours."
------
Ruby stayed with Dee as they moved slowly to the apartment building's entrance, and good thing, because Dee was weaving pretty hardcore those first few steps, like she'd totally forgotten how to walk. But she managed, and with each step she was feeling better and more confident that the bleeding would stop and although she still had no ideas for the future beyond her immediate destination, that wasn't what she'd done her whole fucking time on this island, and she was still alive.
So she had to be doing something right.
"Ruby, um, look. I''ve gotta go off for a bit. I'm heading to the school. I... hey, come by later and if I'm still there we can get back together then, OK?"
Ruby was not quite OK with that, she could tell. Dee wasn't surprised.
She smiled and briefly touched the other girl's face.
"Look, it's fine. The bleeding's stopping, I'm just gonna be walking real slow. I... look.
"Ami was, she was about to kill herself when I found her."
That last sentence sort of fell out of Dee's mouth. She hadn't planned on saying it.
"I thought it would be OK if she did, if she wanted to, I'm sorry. I told her I wouldn't judge her. Maybe I'm not sorry, I dunno. Maybe I did stop her, but I just made her angry at you when you came in instead. Thinking about it too much, I guess.
"You um... thanks for pushing me out of the way with Sharon back then, Ruby. Thanks."
She left Ruby behind to do her own thing. For however long that was. She headed east, slowly. She'd make her next decision whenever she got there.
(Deanna Hull continued underneath
The Adolescent Sky)