Page 41 of Lost In Kakadu

Charlie groaned and Abigail gasped.

“Jesus! Is he still lucid?” He met Abi’s terrified gaze. There was no way to tell.

When Charlie’s head rolled to the side, he felt under the old man’s neck and held his breath until he noted a steady pulse.

“Hang in there, buddy.”

He glanced at Abigail. The last thing he needed was for her to faint. But her wide eyes and gritted teeth showed determination that he hadn’t seen in her before.

He continued cleaning away the blood and the closer he cleaned around the bone the more nauseous he became. Sweat dribbled down his temple. “Abi, wipe my forehead. I don’t want to sweat on him.”

She reached for another shirt. Her touch was gentle as it crossed his brow. He gulped down the knot in his throat and looked into Abi’s eyes again. She nodded reassurance and he continued wiping.

Although Charlie was completely still, his eyelids fluttered as if his mind was screaming. Mackenzie shoved the thought aside and sat back on his haunches. Abigail’s intense gaze was on him.

This is it.I’m about to do the unimaginable.

He needed a moment to prepare his mind. Death was not something he was naive to, but it had never been at the result of his own hand.

I am doing the right thing.

He swallowed the bitter taste of bile from his throat. His mouth was as dry as desert sand and he reached for the water bottle. Two quick swallows did little to quench his thirst.

“You can do this.” Abigail must’ve sensed his reluctance.

He nodded and returned to his knees. “Pass the rum.” The alcohol was the only form of sterilisation they had. He blocked out the potent smell as he poured it onto his fingers and shook off the excess.

His pulse hammered in his chest, and he shivered in spite of the heat. Holding his breath, he pinched the jagged bone beneath his fingers and pushed down. The bone resisted at first, caught inplace by the dried blood, but then it slipped into the hole and disappeared beneath the skin.

A bubble of blood rose out of the wound and trickled down Charlie’s hairless chest.

Mackenzie thought his mind was going to explode, but Abigail saved him when she used a moistened cloth to wipe away the fresh blood. She dabbed at the skin until the blood stopped and when she finally lifted the shirt, Mackenzie was shocked to see just how small the hole was.

The wound didn’t look like a life-threatening injury anymore and Mackenzie entertained the thought that maybe, just maybe Charlie would survive. He stared in disbelief, grappling with the enormity of what he’d just done.

Abigail leaned forward and touched his arm. “It’s over now.”

He nodded and inhaled a shaky breath.

“You did the right thing.” She squeezed his hand and released. “We need to bandage him up.”

He tore a cotton shirt into long thin strips and Abigail did the same with another. Mackenzie then sat Charlie up and placed a wad of shredded cloth over the wound. Abigail secured it in place with the makeshift bandage that she wrapped several times around Charlie’s torso.

He helped Abigail re-dress Charlie in what Mackenzie assumed was one of Spencer’s expensive dress shirts, laid him back down and covered him with the only two towels they had.

Mackenzie stood up, wiped sweat from his forehead and massaged his temples in an attempt to ease his pounding headache.

“That was the worst thing I’ve ever had to do.” Abigail’s voice sounded like she’d been eating glass.

“The day isn’t over yet.” Mackenzie nodded toward the half dug grave site.

“Oh God. I can’t do any more.” She looked up at him. Her eyes were a nasty shade of red.

He avoided her gaze by staring at his hands. The fine creases at his fingertips were thick with blood and grime, his nails caked with dirt. Scrubbing them on his shirt did little to remove the stains, but with their limited water supply, washing his hands wasn’t an option.

They were down to their last bottle.

He stared at their final ration of water and a sense of panic rumbled from the back of his brain.

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