Richard by Aelius Blythe

 
     
    "Bandages! We–we can just get some fresh
one–"
    "No."
    "–and–and some... disinfectant or–"
    "Not likely."
    "–or whatever. Something like that. Can't be
that hard to find, right? "
    "Wrong."
    Richard shook his head. "No, it can't be." He
tapped one dirty finger on the useless keyboard, then tried to wipe
away the bloody print it left there. His head wagged back and forth
absently. "No, it can't be too hard to find some.... stuff. It can't be. Whatever we need. I'll make a list an–"
    "It is." Grimm blew a sigh out from between
clenched teeth. "It really is."
    "It's a planet of... of...
some–I–don't–know–billion! They have to have medical
supplies. "
    "They do. Just not for us."
    "Why the fuck not?"
    Grimm shrugged. "It's expensive."
    "But–"
    "It really is, Rich. Just... just don't worry
about it."
    "But how can– shit! " Richard jerked his
hand off of his knee as his mind registered the warm pool spreading
over it and the drips starting to tickle his shin. He looked down.
The blood was completely soaked into his jeans. "Dammit." Just
made these too...
    "Sorry," said Grimm, his voice muffled
against his hand pressed over his mouth.
    Richard shook his head, moving his fist, with
Grimm's blood now oozing out from between his fingers, over the
table. He opened his hand and let go of the bloody rag. Then he
wiped his hand on his already-ruined jeans.
    "Don't be sorry," he said. "It's okay."
    "Really, dude... sor–"
    "Shut up, it's not your fault. I'll just make
some more. Later." Really not the most pressing issue now... He shook his head in frustration. " Dammit. "
    "Sor–"
    "Shut up," Richard said again, and forced his
lips to curl into something resembling a smile. "It's not
important. We need to get you patched up. Let me just find a place
an–"
    "No. Really. There's nothing on this planet.
Not for us anyway."
    Richard shook his head.
    He looked at his friend and the knee-to-ankle
gash that was still oozing blood. The t-shirt Grimm was now
attempting to wrap around the wound was already spotted red, and
the bruise under his coarse blond–and–blood–streaked leg hair
looked bigger than it had a second ago.
    Grimm looked up and met Richard's stare. He
abandoned the t-shirt and grabbed the ice pack laying on the table
by the bloody rag. Pressed over the wound, the calming blue pack
hid the worst of it.
    Fucking idiot! The epithets swirling
in Richard's head were only directed at himself. You need to fix
this. "We'll just... " he started but trailed off. We'll
just what? "We'll–we'll just have to find another way."
    "Don't worry about it–sorry!" Grimm had waved
a hand, flicking blood around the room. "Sorry. But don't. I'll be
fine."
    Richard looked away. It couldn't be
that hard to get the supplies they needed. Just a few clean
bandages and some antiseptic. Pain killers. .. he added
silently to the list watching Grimm grit his teeth and clench his
fist around the calming blue cold pack, now also streaked red. Sleep aids maybe... But just the basics would do. At the
very least. There had to be somewhere around here that could get
them just the basics. Any planet with a population this size
had those, or something close.
    Finally, Richard just shrugged. "Okay," he
said.
    Grimm didn't look up.
    Richard nodded anyway. "Okay," he said. "I'm
going to, um... go get some air. You'll be okay?"
    Grimm wasn't paying attention. The ice pack
had slid down to the floor, and Grimm was now leaning over his
hands that were cupped like a bowl in front of his mouth, his face
turning green. His eyes were carefully focused on the table leg,
like he was trying to avoid the sight of his own mangled one.
    Richard wiped his hands again on his already
bloody clothes, made his way through the mess of the crash and
stepped out onto the primitive planet.
     
    **********

 
     
    To be fair, it wasn't that primitive.
Richard had seen worse.
    He'd made for the nearest blob of lights when
the ride'd started to get too