Botanicaust

watered at the thought of protein.
    As he waded into the cattails, she grabbed his arm. “ Let me. No water. Wet. Bad. ” She pointed to his arm.
    “ You can ’ t touch plants. ” He pointed in return at her hands, blistered from applications of yuvee leaves on his burned shoulder.
    Directly touching the yuvee leaves caused her blisters, but she ’ d been discreetly interacting with other plants while they travelled. The amarantox caused a minor reaction when touched, but neither the scraggly, finely haired weed nor the round, thorny tumbleweed appeared to affect her. The cattails would be another test.
    She pushed past him into the water and yanked at the stalks. Getting the roots up proved tougher than she imagined, and she ended up with a large number of spiky fronds with no edible parts. Her hands became chapped and sore, but she ignored the pain. No overabundance of chemicals flooded her system, and the cuts on her hands were just cuts, not an allergic reaction. A growing sense of triumph swelled within her with every root she freed.
    Once she pulled up what felt like half the river, she gave Levi the roots. He sat on the bank picking at the cut on his arm. She looked from him to the infection and frowned.
    He shook his head. “ I don ’ t know what to do. ”
    It needed to be drained and scrubbed. “ I will do. ”
    They set up camp in a hollow on the plain. The flame starter made things easy, and while Levi ate, Tula sterilized the knife blade and the scissors over the fire and gathered more leaves. They were out of gauze, and the yuvee seemed to be helping his burn. Maybe it would also help the cut on his arm.
    When the knife was ready, she knelt in front of him and cupped his face in her hands. “ No worry, ” she said, and kissed him. The swelling around his eyes had diminished, and although she closed her eyes out of habit when their lips met, she opened them to find him searching her face. She saw why Mo was enamored with her blue eyes.
    He pulled back and she clutched him tight. “ Medicine, not hurt. ” He needed a large dose for this. He relaxed and allowed her to linger. As the chemicals passed between them, she breathed his breath, eyes on his, her own control over the chemical euphoria sliding sideways. His right hand slid around her waist and pulled her tight against him, her naked breasts crushed to the fine hair on his chest. Desire arced from her nipples to her belly as his heartbeat thrummed against her.
    Her hands crept around his neck. Contact with his burn made him shudder , reminding her of her purpose. She was about to perform surgery, of a sort, and she needed to be clear headed. Reluctantly she broke contact, sucking his lower lip for an indulgent second before releasing altogether. He had a starry look in his eyes, pupils dilated in response to the chemicals.
    He put a thumb to her lips, his face serious. “ You are so beautiful. ”
    You won ’ t think so in a minute . She kissed his thumb and gripped his other hand with both of hers.
    She tested the wound, pressing at the swollen edges. The tang of putrefaction rose from the greasy looking fluid leaking out. Bits of white flesh glistened sickly in the bright sun. He sucked in as she prodded, and all thoughts of intimacy vanished.
    Her next kiss was purely clinical. To cut away the gangrene, she needed him completely drugged. Keeping her body tilted away, she placed her hands on both sides of his face, controlling the transfer.
    Once satisfied with his sedation, she laid him on his stomach and straddled his out-flung arm. Willing her hand to remain steady, she applied the knife to reopen the wound. His arm twitched.
    Blood and pus dribbled from his wrist. She rinsed away the fluids and then scraped away dead tissue with the back of the knife, her gag reflex vying for control. Gritting her teeth, she next used the scissors to cut away small sections and expose healthy tissue. He flopped like a fish, involuntary spasms shaking him as she worked, but he didn ’ t make a sound.
    Once the entire wound had been cleaned down to fresh tissue, she rinsed again. With a length of cattail fiber, she crudely bound the leaves against his skin.
    Releasing his arm, she leaned to the side to look at his face. He held the wadded blanket tight against his face.
    “ Medicine? ” she asked.
    He didn ’ t move. His chest rose and fell in panting breaths. She hoped he was unconscious.

    Levi had slept two days now, asking for nothing but