Alone Together

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"You won the shit lottery by the looks of it. Let me grab my first aid kit, I'll be right back." Avery walked past the woman, heading towards the broken fridge that stood in the far corner. "And don't worry," she called back to her, "I bet I can do this with just two hands." She swung the squeaky door open, she pulls out a beaten metal lunch box that stood alongside a few other odd items such as kitchen utensils and a broken broom handle, and then grabs a small cloth that was lying on the floor. She tosses the metal box on the table and flings it open, reveling the medical supplies tightly packed in it. Ace bandages, half a dozen tubes of heavily used antibiotics, gauges, adhesive bandages, needle alongside sewing thread, and even a pair of heostat locking pliers all shoved into the box.

She pulls out the antibiotics first and grabs the towel before kneeling down to Joanna's wound. "This won't be fun," she mumbled, "for either of us but mostly you." Avery knew this was going to be painful and hoped this would end well. "Okay, so first I'll clean the area around this lil' nasty bugger you have in your side and then I'll slowly take it out because we can't have it staying there. From there I'll wing it since I honestly have no idea how to sew something, especially a wound."

The process of fixing up the wound for Joanna begun and it wasn't pleasant for either parties. She began by slowly cleaning the area surrounding the wound, wiping away blood with the cloth followed by putting antibiotics around the edges of the wound. Constantly she apologized, knowing that this was painful for her. It didn't help that the stranger didn't leave like Avery said to, he just sat on the stairs and watched everything play out.

Then came pulling out the piece rebar that was lodged into her side. Avery told her that she'd go slow on pulling it out but would stop whenever Joanna told her to. Blood began to steep out more, smearing over her hands with each and every moment. It took some time to get the entire piece of metal of her body but it was worth it, well, except for the fact there was a now a gaping hole in the woman that needed to be dealt with.

"Good new, the piece of shit here out but now we have to fix that hole in your side." She stood up and stretched for a second, her legs cramped from kneeling to long. Avery wiped Joanna's blood on her pants before grabbing a needle and thread, it wasn't sterile but it was all she had. Coming back to bleeding woman, she told her that all that was left to do was to stitch it up and bandage it. She knelt back down and looked over the wound before pinching the sides of it, pulling it together, and then running the needle through her skin a few times over. It was the easiest part of the whole thing for Avery but she didn't know if the same could be said for Joanna. "I think we're done with that," she mumbled as she set everything she used on the table.
 
Joanna didn't scream. She whimpered more than a few times while the rebar lodged in her side was pulled out, but she didn't scream. She kept a white knuckle grip on the edge of the table with both hands, but she didn't scream. She nearly bit her lip bloody, but she didn't scream. It was still easily the most painful thing she'd felt in her reletively short life span. The stitching was almost a cakewalk when compared to the pain of that chunk of metal being removed from her side. She was not going to show weakness, however, not in front of this fucking stranger. The whimpering was even too much, but she really couldn't stop herself.

Slowly sucking in a breath and shakily releasing it, she turned around an presented her back toward Avery. The vulnerability she was showing to the other woman with that position made her uncomfortable, but it was necessary. "You need to stitch my back, too," she grunted softly, wincing and hissing as she lifted her shirt up to expose the wound on her back. The rebar had pierced all the way through, after all, creating holes in both her abdomen and back. This one was still bleeding. Just a slow trickle down that was staining her pants and smearing across the chair under her.
 
"Didn't even think about that, sorry. First time actually doing this." Avery went back to the table and snatched up the needle and what little thread remained along with the bloodied rag. She wiped the blood off the needle of it on her pants and went back to the woman. She was amazed that she could deal with such pain, let alone handle it more grace than she'd seen most people do with something half as serious. After dabbing off the blood, she went to work on this side of Joanna. Pinching the skin together ans sewing it shut.

To Avery, it didn't seem like the woman was vulnerable with her back facing her. True, she was naturally vulnerable at the moment due to being injured but that was natural. "Okay, so now I think I'm finally done. Hopefully it won't get an infection but on the bright side, if it does it'll be easier to drain." She offered a genuine smile at her as she walked towards the table, placing everything back into the metal lunchbox carefully. Seems like most of it was found supplies considering no one in their right minds would give up medical supplies, no matter what it is." "You can still stay here unless you have to go. I have a lot of blankets you can borrow if you stay, can make things more comfortable. I'd offer alcohol but I don't have any at the moment. Did you know you can still find people making moonshine if you into the woods far enough? Those people are the best to barter with."

She slammed the lunchbox shut, barely able to hold it contents. The house let out a groan as Avery tossed it back in the broken fridge before turning back to Joanna."Other than me getting off topic, anything else I can do for you?"
 
Joanna was unable to repress a soft whimper of pain as the skin on her back was pinched back together, hands gripping the edge of the table even more tightly this second time. Teeth clenching together, she did her very best not to twitch or move or struggle while the back wound was stitched up. She had never had someone else operate on her like this. Not since the bombs, not since it all fell apart. And even before then, the worse she'd gone into the hospital for was strep throat. Getting an IV stuck in her arm was not an operation.

She relaxed slowly after Avery moved away, eyes shifting to the stranger out of weary instinct. He'd seen her weak, now. Her weapons were in the pack, left at the factory. Fuck. "Can I have that piece of rebar?" she asked after snorting at Avery's attempt to be positive. Optimism was never something she'd understood, and the current state of the world only made it that harder to trust. Considering who it was coming from, however... "I wouldn't make it a block outside and I misplaced my pack. That's a better weapon than nothing." Staying here had the risk of being interesting. She was not going to do so unarmed.
 
She glanced down at piece of metal and then back to Joanna. "Even though I just pulled it out of you? Blood, rust, and all?" Avery handed her the metal without waiting for a response, sensing the distrust in her. It was to be expected after all, considering the situation they were forced into. Right behind raw survival grew distrust, or as her father said years ago to her, selfishness. She saw this behavior in everyone she came in contact with, even herself is distrustful in some ways but mostly holds to the prewar view of life in that sense.

"Does that mean you're staying here or leaving for your pack? I can always try and find it, I'm good at that kind of thing." She didn't offer a smile to Joanna this time. Getting the woman's pack could land her good terms with someone if she was going to stay here. Not to mention, she might be able to nab a few items that might not be missed if she went after it.
 
"I'm staying," Joanna responded, turning the chunk of rebar over in her hands to avoid looking up at Avery. It was a decent seven inches, end to end. Small, yes, but more than big enough to beat someone with. As for her pack...she had several reasons for not wanting Avery to retrieve it. It was risky, first of all, and she was not letting someone else take on that risk for her. Second, she didn't quite trust Avery yet. Yes, she'd proven herself worthy of a little faith while working on Joanna's back, but Joanna wasn't quite ready to actually trust another human just yet. And third, she was not going to be alone with this strange boy in her weakened condition. Not willingly.

"I'll get my pack tomorrow night." Best give it a day. Rest a little. Hopefully replenish some of the blood she'd lost. "Who is this?" she asked, lifting her eyes and waving in the direction of the boy. "He fucking mute or something?"
 
"That's good," Avery said, pulling up a chair across the table from the woman. Joanna's blood was quickly drying on the girl's hand yet she didn't wipe it away. Simply letting it seep into the fine cracks of her skin as if it was an every day occurrence. Glancing over to the boy, she began to answer her questions. "Probably. I usually just get these, like, shrugs from him and sometimes he'll cry if hurting enough. I've been calling him Ghost since that's all he seems like."

The boy stared down Joanna for a moment before rising up on the stair step he was on. Without a word, as expected, he moved up the stairs. The old oak steps creaking with each subtle movement he made. Avery sighed, "He's like a child if you ask me. Biggest regret so far He's not too bad though, I can pretty much handle him." It was a mystery to Avery why she even cared for other people, especially when they're handfuls. She's been taking care of him ever since she found him, sick and dying, along on of the edges of the of one of the nuclear bombings. Personally, she wanted to put him out of his misery but she couldn't do it. Things like that happened a lot with her; she kinda wishes that she's be tougher like how she'd seen Joanna act. That probably would have helped her in countless more situations.
 
"'Pretty much'?" Joanna asked, wondering what the meaning of that interesting phrasing was. She didn't often give into curiosity, especially nowadays, but she wanted to know enough to ask this once. It could concern Avery's condition, after all. Her eyes trailed from the blood cooling on Avery's hand to the other girl's face and then to the boy when he stood. She watched him until he was out of her line of sight, but she didn't relax. She didn't care for that one, not in the least, and he had yet to offer a reason for her to think otherwise. Plus, there was still the chance that he'd been the one to inflict the bruises on Avery, so. She turned back to Avery after a second and followed up the more subtle prior inquiry with "Is he the one who did that to your face?" After all, if she was going to bother with curiosity she may as well be blunt about it.
 
"Yes, but it my fault it happened. Don't worry about it, it's nothing serious anyways." She pushed off the question the best could. "I just learned not to get to close to someone when they're upset, that's all." Clearly something more had gone down considering she deep bruises along her neck from the boy. She scratched the back of her baby fuzzed hair, Joanna's blood coloring her blond hair. "Is there anything I should know about you?" Avery completely changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on her current appearance.

"If anything, just where you're heading off to if you don't want to tell about yourself," she said.
 
"No, don't give me that shit," Joanna responded, baring her teeth and furrowing her brows. She moved to slam her hand down on the table and stand, the movements to emphasize her point, but the suddenness of the actions pulled at her stitches and sent a white hot lance of pain straight through her gut. She sat back down hard. The expression on her face contorted into something distinctly pained, a whine escaping through tightly shut lips, but she didn't cry out. It took a moment of deep breathing before she trusted her voice, but she added an almost pitiful, "Please."

Intimidation clearly wasn't going to work this time. Not that she wanted Avery to be afraid of her, but...how else could she provoke a response? People didn't respond to 'please'. Not these days. Not anymore.
 
Avery didn't jump back at her lively response, she was half expecting it from her. "Listen," she calmly said, trying to not anger her any further, "you don't need to be worried about me. I think you should be more worried about yourself anyways. After all you might have just ripped your stitching." She looks back at Joanna, holding a threatening (or the most threatening she can actually manage) look in hopes she'll leave the subject alone.

Through what little sunlight filtered though the room, specks of dust floated between them in the great silence that was created for a mere momemnt before Avery opened her mouth again. "You should probably get some rest, so you won't strain yourself for tomorrow."
 
Joanna looked down at her side when Avery mentioned her stitches, hesitantly lifting up her shirt to get a peek at the ones on her belly and using her other hand to feel out the ones on her back. They felt fine. Unruptured. But then, she was no doctor, and usually opted to cauterize a bleeding injury rather than stitch it. When alone, it was far easier to burn something shut because it required far less dexterity, especially when the injury was in an awkward spot.

"I'll rest after you tell me how the fuck that happened to your face," she stated after a moment, lingering irritation showing itself in her tone and on her face when she looked back up at Avery. The irritation wasn't at Avery, specifically, more at her refusal.
 
Avery wasn't sure what Joanna would do when she told her what exactly happened. "Fine, as I already told you it was my fault. I was checking on the kid, I thought he finally died on me. He had barely moved or stay consious enough for me to let him know what was happening or where he even was. But he happened to snap to, wide awake and everything, when I was checkin' on him. He attacked me, I don't blame him. He was probably scared he'd end up dead or something along those lines and probably wanted to make sure he didn't. Long story short, he choked me quite a bit and was able to land quite a few punches on my face. Head hurts a lot more since I fell onto that concrete." She tried to chuckle it off as if it wasn't that bad. Anyways, Joanna's wound were far worse by comparasion. Avery didn't seem too bothered by the fact she was attacked. Did this happen often or was she simply trying not to worry the woman?
 
Joanna listened intently to the explanation, her expression slowly souring as Avery continued. She would have killed him for that alone, if he'd attacked her like that or if she'd been around when it happened. But reacting like that now would be pointless, and likely only hurt herself worse and make Avery angry with her. It was startling how much she wanted to avoid Avery being angry with her. "If he tries anything like that again," she declared once Avery finished, grinding her teeth and speaking with all the seriousness the threat deserved, "you tell me. Because I will kill him. Understood?"
 
She bit her lowerlip, trying not to chew down on the split in her lip too much. For a moment, she wasn't sure what to say. Joanna didn't seem like anyone to mess with (not like she didn't have that thought the first time she laid eyes on the woman) and saw it better not to defy her. "Yes, I understand..." At least she was being protective of Avery and not only caring for herself like she'd seen countless others do.

"We can head over to room you can stay in, if you want to right now that is. It's basically where I store all the blankets and coats I steal."Avery offered her a smile as she got stood up, the chair squeeking against the floor for a second. "Do you need help getting there or will you be okay walking a few rooms over?"
 
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"I can walk," Joanna murmured, tone a little on the defensive side. She'd gotten herself here, dammit, she could walk a few more yards. No problem. Placing both hands on the table, she carefully pushed herself up into a standing position, grinding her teeth the whole way as to avoid making noise. Crying now would be more of a blow to her Egoyan she could take. No matter how much she told herself ego didn't matter anymore, it still did, and she was not going to fucking scream and cry like...like someone weak.

"Which direction, Avery?" she asked after standing, holding herself fairly steady with one hand pressed to her abdomen and her chin up.
 
Avery swallowed what little saliva she had in her mouth before pointing to the hallway to the left. "Okay," she answered, "Last door down the hall. I'll see you in the morning." And with that, she left Joanna alone to get to the room. Avery tensed as passed by Joanna; she couldn't tell if that was because she feared the woman or because there was someone unknown in the apartment building.

The hall was painted a faint green that seemed to gotten a shade or two darker with neglect over the pass few years but that was to be expected. The room that was to Joanna's was no different. Blankets piled up in a corner along with a few torn jackets tossed over the only chair in the room. At least she could lock it the door, a simple push lock but it was something. It was better than staying in a room without any to protect herself.
 
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It took Joanna longer than a few seconds to make her way down the hall and to the door, soft grunts and pants of breath filling the relative silence as she took her careful steps, a wince remaining a consistent expression throughout the process. She had to pause twice and lean against the wall for support, but she didn't dare call for help. Shouldering the door open and then shouldering it closed after reaching the end of the hall, Joanna hesitated after noticing the door lock. What if there was an emergency? What if she was needed and couldn't be gotten to? But then, she didn't need to hel

She let out a low growl of irritation at her own indecision, then locked the door. The prickle of shame she felt down her spine after she carefully collapsed on the pile of blankets and made to go to sleep? That was fucking nobody's business.

--

Morning wasn't all that far away for Joanna, really. She got five hours of fairly fitful sleep, and woke up with a cry when all of her rolling pulled too hard at the stitches in her belly. Letting out a quiet, pitiful noise in the relative privacy of this storage room, the girl got to her feet and went to the door, unlocking it. Then she waited a full ten seconds, just listening for noise, before sticking her head out in the hallway. "Avery?" she called, voice loud but not quite a yell.
 
The house was silent still, nothing stirred in the early morning light other than a few gnats the fly near the windows. Avery didn't answer her calls right away; Joanna could hear the slight creak of the floor nearly a minute later. The smaller girl was soon in the hallway, dressed nearly the same as yesterday except her bandana wasn't around her neck. "Feeling better today?" she scratched the back of her head before leaning against the wall.

She looked better today. Her bruises were dulling in vibrancy already. "The kid is asleep so you don't have to worry about him right now." With a push, she moved off the wall and back into the familiar kitchen that Joanna knew.
 
Joanna knew, objectively, that she would likely have been killed as well if something nasty had broken into the building sometime while she was asleep. She knew, objectively, that the locked door was made of flimsy wood and wouldn't really take that much effort or that many tries to kick in. She knew, objectively, that Avery's appearance or lack thereof had no effect on how safe she was or how safe the building was. She still relaxed just a little when she saw the other girl, looking a little bit healthier and lacking new injuries.

"Not much," she responded, opening the door all the way and moving out into the hallway. Everything hurt. There was a kind of icky weakness settled into her limbs, probably because of the blood she'd lost or maybe the energy she'd expended. "I have food in my pack," she said after following Avery into the kitchen, definitely not assuming Avery had her own food supplies to quell the rolling of her stomach. Girl was too skinny to have a supply. "and I need to retrieve it, whether I feel better or not."
 
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