“Hurt? you crazy kid? You were electrocuted. You were nearly dead, burnt to a crisp. It’s supposed to hurt! Let me get you some help.”
“Tom... no... you know better. Please.”
Tom just bowed his head, nearly touching Rupert’s. He sat there with Rupert, not knowing what to do. Trying just to be there for the kid. He listened as the kid breathed in his short gasps. “Ugghh...” Rupert grunted. Tom opened his eyes and stared sadly at Rupert. There wasn’t much light in the room, maybe it was just the little light there was, but the poor kid was looking even redder than before. The shadow hid the blackened burns.
God! The kid’s nose had essentially been burned off! Tom stared in sorrow. He didn’t have any idea how they’d cure the kid. Even if Rupert would eventually allow it. This world didn’t have plastic surgeons or huge teams of burn experts. Even on Earth, they’d have been hard pressed. All the hair on the kid’s head was burned off, and he had large oozing sores on his back. Tom closed his eyes again, trying to will a little bit of help through his hands. He didn’t know how to send anything but death through them, but he’d try a little life. He doubted it would help.
Tom closed his eyes again for a bit, praying for Rupert. “Aaaaghh... Tom... this isn’t fun. It really hurts, I didn’t think it would hurt so much.”
“Silly kid.” Tom opened his eyes again. He had to stretch his legs. He stood carefully, so as not to release his hold on Rupert’s clutching hands. He wondered if there was any way to make the kid more comfortable on the tiny bed. If he could, then he should, and then go get some help, regardless of what the kid wanted.
Looking over the bed he didn’t see what would help. Rupert had uncurled a bit from his fetal position, although he was still hunched. Rupert’s head was almost against one wall, and his feet neared the other. He already filled the bed width wise. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him, but Rupert didn’t look quite so charred anymore. He certainly looked a deep dark bloody red though. Tom didn’t know much about burns, he didn’t know if this was some worse state they went to. Rupert shook as if with a chill. Tom freed one hand and drug a blanket from the end of the bed over the boy. Only thinking afterward that contact with the blanket would probably aggravate the burns more.
“Rupert, I know you don’t want me to, but I think I need to get some help.” Tom started to dislodge his remaining hand.
“Tom...” Rupert gasped. “Please, stay with me for just a few more minutes. I don’t want to be alone right now. I’m frightened.” Tom could feel Rupert’s hand quivering. He looked down into Rupert’s pleading eyes. “I’ve never done this before. It hurts.”
“Of course you’ve never done this before, very few people have.” Tom just shook his head. He got back down on his knees and once again took Rupert’s hands in his own. Wincing slightly as his palm got jabbed by Rupert’s fingernail, or maybe even a finger bone from beneath Rupert’s burned away flesh. He couldn’t tell since he’d covered Rupert’s hands along with the rest of him.
He closed his eyes again, leaning his head lightly against the boy’s shoulder. Rupert’s breathing became stronger, but shallower. Occasionally he moaned or twitched. A couple times he even shuddered. Tom didn’t know how long he sat there with the boy, maybe another five to ten minutes. Finally though, he decided he couldn’t stand the boy’s pain any more.
He carefully stood up, slowly and methodically disentangling his hands from Rupert’s rather long fingers, under the blanket. As he freed himself, Rupert just whimpered, but said nothing. Apparently in too much pain to say much. Tom shook his head sadly. He noted that the cover had gotten pulled forward at the end of the bed. Tom reached down and carefully pulled it to cover Rupert’s hooves.
Hooves?
Tom blinked. His eyes must really be playing tricks on him. He quietly adjusted his position to get a better view and pulled back the blanket over Rupert’s feet. No, hooves was the correct word. Rather than the feet he expected to see, Tom saw black cloven hooves. Extremely similar in nature to his own, although smaller. He pulled the blanket back further. Hooves weren’t the only anomaly. Rupert’s skin was a deep burgundy in color, a fine scaling starting to show through. Like Tom, his hooves were where his toes should be, his foot looked like a lower leg, his heel more like a backwards ankle.
Tom shook his head and moved to the other end of the bed. Rupert was definitely taking up the entire bed now. Why he hadn’t noticed in the shadows a moment ago, he wasn’t sure, but Rupert’s bald head was also burgundy. His ears, no longer looking like blackened potato chips, were pointy and getting pointier by the minute. Large black knobs seemed to be growing from Rupert’s skull as well. Where his burnt off nose had been, was a small snout.
