Grabbing the backpack she had dropped nearby, Loyce dropped to one knee beside Lucian. She shrugged off her soaked tactical jacket, rolled it up, and gently wedged it under his neck for support.
Lucian turned his head slightly toward her. Rainwater slid down his forehead and stung his eyes. Cool fingers softly brushed the water away, and he finally saw her face—battered and exhausted, yet breathtakingly beautiful.
Loyce touched his cheek and whispered softly, "I'm here."
In that moment, the man with an iron will, who had never once feared death, felt his eyes burn with unshed tears. His Adam's apple bobbed. Despite being incredibly weak, he managed a raspy, trembling joke. "If Zeke knew you came all this way to die with me, he'd definitely put a hit out on me."
A faint smile touched Loyce's lips. "I wouldn't let him."
She quickly pulled her emergency medical supplies from the backpack, her gaze locking onto his ruined leg. Her expression hardened.
In the shadows where he couldn't see, she caught sight of the fractured bone protruding from the deep wound and the severely crushed tissue. Her fingers twitched slightly, but she instantly went into overdrive, snapping on gloves and beginning the painful process of debriding and packing the wound.
Halfway through, a chilling realization hit her. She looked up at him.
Cleaning and stopping the bleeding on a wound this severe should have been agonizing, yet Lucian hadn't even flinched. That meant only one thing: the nerves in his leg were completely severed.
Loyce kept her composure, but she blinked hard several times, fighting back the moisture pooling in her eyes.
"It's bad, I know," Lucian said quietly. He couldn't see the leg, but he knew exactly how grim the situation was. He had entirely lost feeling and control below his hip. Out here, in this brutal environment, there was no saving it.
His heart ached, but after quickly assessing their reality, he spoke with steady reassurance. "You did great. But in my current state, you won't get far dragging me."
Loyce suppressed her emotions and didn't say a word. After finishing the triage, she scanned the dark woods, snapped off a few sturdy branches, and used her medical tape to splint the leg as best she could.
Watching her work in stubborn silence, Lucian glanced at the pitch-black jungle behind her. He knew the enemy would regroup and find them soon. If she stayed until her ammo ran completely dry, she would be trapped.
"Loyce." Lucian reached out, his fingers weakly but persistently gripping the hem of her shirt. Fighting through the agonizing pain, he spoke gently. "Listen to me. I can't feel my leg anymore. I think the bone and the nerves are completely gone. You're a doctor; you know exactly how bad this is. The enemy is going to swarm this place any second. You need to leave."
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