I wiped the sweat from my eyes and took a few deep breaths, mostly trying not to pass out. The heat from the jungle was sucking all the will out of me and I didn't even bother to swat at the insects that seemed to be feasting upon every inch of available skin. When they got a taste of the poison coursing through my veins, they'd get a well deserved belly ache.
I could feel Illya's hands on me, one wrapped around my waist, the other on the arm draped over his neck. "We have to keep moving, Napoleon, we can't stop." Illya sounded as tired as I felt.
"I know." I attempted another step, groaning as the pain lanced through my leg even before my foot touched the ground. Illya propped me up as best he could and we struggled on for a few more steps. "I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault. Neither of us saw that snake," Illya muttered through clenched teeth. That much was true. The snake blended perfectly with its surroundings and I would probably have taken a chunk out of something that stepped on me too. It had only taken a second for me to realize that something was very wrong after I'd been bitten. In spite of having gotten some of the venom out, and a tourniquet, Illya's belt, applied to restrict blood flow, my leg was swollen and turning unpleasant colors.
Both of us were wringing wet from sweat. This was a bad place to be hurt and even though Illya had signaled for help with his communicator, we still had to get some place where the rescue plane could get to us. The jungle was far too dense here to affect a rescue attempt of any sort.
I felt Illya's hand fall to grab the back of my belt and I hobbled forward another step. I knew he was far from in good shape himself. The beating he'd taken had left the left side of his face black and blue and I had no doubt the inside of his mouth was shredded. That meant when he'd sucked the venom from the snake bite, he'd gotten a pretty good dose of it himself. Through the arm I had draped around his neck, I could feel him shiver. The fact that either of us was still moving at all was a testament to our shared stubbornness.
"You need to get out while you still can, Illya," I tried, knowing my pleas would fall on deaf ears. "Get some help and come back and get me. I'll find some shade and wait for you."
"We go together." His voice was as harsh as unfiltered sunlight. He manhandled me another step forward. "There's a clearing ahead; it'll be safe to stop there for a few minutes and rest."
Even then it took too long and I watched Illya growing increasingly pale as we inched forward. It was raining when we broke free from the last strangling bit of forest and I watched Illya tilt his head skyward. I knew what he was thinking - nothing could fly in this. We were as good as dead.
Illya opened his mouth and caught some of the rain, swallowing convulsively. He looked like hell and I knew I wasn't much better off.
"Of all the ways I thought of dying, this wasn't one of them," I said, coughing. It was getting harder to breath as my organs started shutting down. Hopefully I'd just lapse into unconsciousness before the convulsions started.
We sank to the ground, arms still wrapped around each other for comfort and support.
The rain took on a soft edge, almost a caress against the blistering hot skin of my face and I knew it was time. And still I could feel Illya's arms, the tremors racing through his body.
A sudden flash of blinding light and the rain was gone. I saw her, brilliant blue sky surrounding her, her wings moving the grass around me. She reached for me, but I held back, pushing my now unconscious partner forward, towards her.
"What do you want, Mr. Solo?" Her voice was so sweet, just the way an angel should sound, for I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was an angel, right down to her shimmering white gown and long delicate wings. Her face was so sweet, so compassionate, and I stammered out my last request.
"Help Illya, just save him...please?" I clutched at her wing with all the strength I had left.
"Instead of you? I can only save one."
"Him, make it him... I'm ready, but he's got so much more to do..."
She smiled gently, kissed me and I sighed, knowing my partner was safe.
I woke to white and a sweet, compassionate face and realized I was smiling up at, not an angel, but a nurse. I wasn't in heaven, just Medical. Somehow, the recon team must have found and gotten us out of there, although God knows how.
I rolled my head and saw my partner just to my right, oxygen mask over his face, unconscious and gray, but obviously still alive.
"Illya?" My leg hurt more than anything I'd ever experienced, but I checked and it was still attached. That was a plus. I reached out and was able to touch Illya's arm. It was warm and, best of all, no longer trembling.
She held a cool cloth to my forehead and I sighed, contented for the moment. "We didn't realize at first that he'd gotten a dose of venom as well. We couldn't find any marks and then we figured out what must have happened and got him started on the same anti-venom as you. He had a bit of trouble at first, but he'll be fine." She held a spoonful of ice chips out and I took them gratefully, letting the cold liquid ooze down my throat. "He saved your leg."
"I know." I didn't have the energy to say much more than that.
"We still haven't quite figured out how they found the two of you down there. Talk about a needle in the proverbial haystack."
"I thought we were goners."
"You would have been if they'd found you much later. It was a skin of your teeth rescue, that's for sure. I do have a question though." She held up a white feather, long and delicate. "What sort of bird did you get this from? We've been trying to identify it, but none of us have ever seen anything quite like it before."
I just smiled, my hand still resting on Illya's arm, and slept.
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