Vevie stirred, feeling exhausted. Lifting her head to look around, she saw Pustakawan rolling up clean and dry bandages. He glanced at her and nodded a good morning. With a struggle, she winced, sitting up. Pulling up her shirt, she noticed these were new dressings with a scent of herbs that she didn't recognise.
She had mixed emotions about him dressing her wounds and possibly seeing things she didn't want him to see... but she was also grateful for what he'd done.
The rain had stopped, but drips and drops could be heard falling from the treetops when the wind stirred. There was also the scent of something deliciously meaty in the air and following the direction of the scent, it was coming from the pot simmering over coals on one side of the fire. The firewood pile looked small, but there were steaming branches drying from another side of the fire.
And that was all well and good, but she had some urgent business to take care of.
Vevie stumbled upright with a grunt, wincing. Why did the knife wound hurt so much now? What did Juta do to it? It felt like he'd stabbed her again in the same spot. Vevie caught her balance and pulled another face when Pustakawan's back was turned.
"I dug a hole over that way behind a thick bush, if you need it," Pustakawan pointed. "There's a walking stick beside you. Yell if you need me. By the time you come back, breakfast should be ready."
When Vevie returned, she sat on a rock, wondering why she was so puffed out. Her upper abdomen where the knife wound was burned and sent stabbing pains through her. A cup of hot tea was thrust into her hand.
"Here," said Pustakawan. "This will take the edge off the pain. It's not a lot and it's not strong, but I couldn't find much of the herbs I needed. That was a deep wound you had and it was infected."
"Is that why it hurts so much?"
"You might have realised, but I had to check it and clean it last night. I've stitched it up, so don't make big movements. You were unconscious and had a fever. I couldn't wake you up. I'm sorry I had to touch you and," Pustakawan held his hands up, "I hope you don't mind too much."
"I do," Vevie said with thin lips, but then looking down at the steaming cup in her hands, let her shoulders drop, "but I know that it probably needed to be done. You've probably saved my life." She took a breath. "Thank you." She took a sip of the tea and made a face.
"Yes, it's a bit bitter," Pustakawan gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry. Once you've finished that, you can have some breakfast." He removed the pot from the fire. "It tastes a lot better."
"Thank you," Vevie said, sipping the bitter tea and looking into the greenish yellow liquid. "I'm sorry I'm not much help at the moment."
"You will be when you're better," Pustakawan ladled a thick stew out of the pot and into a bowl before he toasted some bread and cheese. "Don't worry. You should have told me how bad that wound was yesterday."
"I thought it'd be fine," Vevie said.
"Obviously, you were wrong," Pustakawan said, with a slight shrug, "but that's all right. We'll stay here another day or two and then move on. We need to make sure that infection is completely dealt with before we continue our journey."
"All right," Vevie sighed, finishing the horrible tea and then accepting the food Pustakawan passed to her. Reaching her hands out made her grimace.
"Here," Pustakawan put the food aside first and helped her to sit so that her back was against the rocky wall. Then he fetched a thick tree branch and trimmed it on two sides to make it flat. Placing the tree branch on her lap as a sort of makeshift table, he put her foot on top. "There you go, that should be easier."
"Thank you," Vevie gave him a small smile and then tucked into the food.
For the rest of the day, they sat under the overhang, watching the rain fall. Vevie whittled wood and Pustakawan made intermittent trips out into the surrounding forest during the short pauses in between rain showers. He brought back arms full of firewood to dry by the fire under the shelter. Before dark, he'd also managed to kill three pigeons.
The next day was not much better. Rain continued to fall. It fell harder this time and water began to creep into the camp, narrowing the dry ground around them. Vevie allowed Pustakawan to redress her wounds and gritted her teeth when Pustakawan cut the stitches and washed out the deep wound again. This time, she noticed Pustakawan sigh and take out a small jar from his pack. Using his knife that had been sterilised by the fire, he applied it to her wound and sewed her back up again. Vevie had been unable to hold back her whimpers of pain or tears, and Pustakawan pretended he hadn't seen them. Later, he went out during a period where the rain fell more lightly and looked pleased when he returned with bunches of herbs in his hands. He spent the evening making poultices and other herbal mixtures while Vevie watched.