23

He looked over to the arm, and then he realized that I hadn't cut his arm off for fun. Then he tried to flee away from his own severed arm. 

"Stop it," I slapped him across the face. 

Probably harder then I needed to. 

"I need to get a good look at this wound," I made him sit still by gripping both of his shoulders, "I think I burned it closed, but I need to make sure you're not going to bleed out."

He flinched as I raised up his stump to get a good look at the wound. I could actually see the artery throbbing a little through the burn on the end. 

"We need to wrap this up," I pulled off my belt, and wrapped it around his arm right quick, "That burn isn't going to hold long." I looked him in the eye, "I'm going to help you up now. I want to take it slow, and once you're wrapped up you're going back to the cars." 

He nodded somberly. Reaching out his good hand, and gripping mine tightly. He was pale, and possibly in shock. He need water, and rest as soon as possible. I didn't know much about medical stuff, and while he didn't lose much blood when I cut off his arm that didn't mean the burn was going to continue to keep him from bleeding. 

There was so much I didn't know, and the smartest thing I could do was assume everything was going to go wrong. I wrapped the belt around his stump gingerly, and then moved it further up his arm. I pulled it so it was snug around his arm. He wasn't bleeding too badly yet so I wanted it in place just in case I needed it. I wrapped his good arm around my neck, and we started walking. He was definitely not a hundred percent solid on his feet. 

"I'm glad you didn't pass out," I mumbled a little under my breath, "I want you to try, and stay awake until we're back in camp."

More of the men had made their way to our isle now, and were moving to help us. I passed him off to two of the other men. Taking the gauze that was handed to me, and the wrap someone had thought to grab without actually paying attention to who handed it to me. A bottle of cheap whisky even managed to make it's way into my hands. I splashed his stump with alcohol. 

He screamed, and tried to flinch away. I handed to the bottle to him. 

"Drink up," I advised, "The next part is worse."

I swept the stuff off the shelf closest to me, and set the gauze, wrap, and roll of duck tape on the shelf. I opened the gauze gently without touching it. I turned to look at him. He'd chugged a good amount of the bottle of whisky. I took the bottle, and poured what was left on my hands. 

I looked up at him. 

"Are you ready?" I nodded at him a little nervously, "On three ok?" 

"OK," he nodded even more jittery then me. 

"One," I turned, and picked up the gauze with one hand, "Two."

I grabbed the wrap with the other hand, and turned on my heel. Slamming the gauze into the stump. Laying the wrap over the top of the gauze, and using the tips of my fingers that were holding the gauze in place to hold the wrap in place as well. I wrapped it around twice so it was snug. Then I freed my gauze hand, and wrapped it up tight. 

Following that with a quick round of duck tape around the top to keep it in place. I didn't want it sagging down as he moved. By now he was in a cold sweat, and on the verge of passing out. By the time I was done my heart was pounding in my ears, and I was shaking pretty badly. I stepped back, and just stared at what I'd done for a few long moments. 

The full brunt of what I'd done was finally hitting me. I cut his arm off. There were so many things that could go wrong with a wound like that. I might have just extended this guy's suffering to a few weeks instead of a few minutes. I swallow as my stomach churned. 

I was semi proud of my iron stomach, and the fact that I rarely if ever threw up. I wasn't about to lose it because of this. 

"Take him back out to the truck," I dropped my shaking hands, "Give him water, three Ibuprofen, and one of the pills that has penicillin in it. Make sure he's not allergic to penicillin before you give him the penicillin. Do not leave him alone."

My mind was a bit scattered, and they weren't about to question the person that had just chopped someone's arm off. Three of them took him with them. One of them had several pills bottles in his backpack. I could hear them rattling around. I leaned back into the shelf. 

They dug into my back as my heart hammered in my chest. My ears rang, and my hands were shaking badly. Things like this really didn't hit me until after they were over. Cold logic overrode most things when I was in a state of extreme stress. My emotions temporarily shutting down completely. 

My breath rattled a little as I inhaled. I was shaking so badly. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I felt like crying, and wanted to be anywhere but here. I needed to think about something else. 

That sinking feeling I'd had all day intensified, and my shaking stopped. I felt a hand touch my lower back. Sending shivers through my whole body, and making me realize that at some point during this inner turmoil I had closed my eyes. My eyes opened, and I turned my attention to boss boy as I stepped away from him. Only to realize there was another solid human body in the direction I tried to flee.