Aquaertus

Chapter Fifteen - Bloodsucker

The sun rays emerging from the sky finally wake up Derik and me. I stretch my arms and yawn to rid myself of the grogginess from my long night of sleep.

"Good morning," I groan to Derik. He returns the sentiment with a groan of his own.

After a few minutes of laying in the warm sand, I decide to get up and start the day. I leave Derik by himself and go look for breakfast.

Before I start my search for food, I let my skin soak up the morning sun. I close my eyes and allow the peaceful sound of waves crashing against the shore and animals chirping in the distance calm my tensions. I rarely find an opportunity to simply stop and enjoy the atmosphere on this new planet, so I savor every second of relaxation I can get. I give myself a few minutes then venture into the forest to look for the fruits Derik showed me previously.

Luckily, I find a bush of the fruits quickly. I pick four of the fruits for Derik and me to share then walk back to our pod. I find Derik sitting in the same position I left him in, eyes only half open. I shove his shoulder lightly to wake him up. "Get up sleepyhead, I brought food," I say loudly.

"Mmph," is the only reply I receive.

"You're acting strange," I observe. Usually he'd be up and about before I even open my eyes. Derik lulls his head to the side, staring at the fruits.

I bet he's just hungry.

I place his two fruits in his lap and exit the pod to eat mine on the beach. When I finish, I go back into the pod to check up on Derik. The fruits are still in his lap and he's fallen back asleep. I shake him again to wake him up, and he slowly regains his consciousness.

"Are you feeling ok?" I question him as I check his temperature on his forehead with the back of my hand. He feels abnormally warm.

Finally, he manages to speak. "I feel ill, and there's a stinging pain on my right leg."

I crouch down to take a look at his leg. I gently lift up his pant leg and I'm horrified by what I find.

Attached to his leg is a large, transparent-skinned creature. The clear skin allows me to see its organs, which are all colored a deep red. There are thousands of tiny veins also filled with a red, almost black liquid. I can tell that this thing is a parasite sucking out all of Derik's blood.

Oh God, no.

No, no, no.

"Derik," I whisper, voice shaking, "there's some sort of leech on your leg. How do I get it off? I need to get it off," I start to panic.

"Use something thin and sturdy to detach it," he rasps back.

"Ok, ok, calm down Errin, you can do this," I mutter to myself.

I rummage around the pod until I find my machete. I try to steady myself as I reassume my crouching position. While taking deep breaths, I carefully place the metal between the creature's mouth and Derik's leg. Slowly but surely, I drag the weapon down, separating Derik from the leech-thing. Once the two are completely apart, I throw the critter across the pod as far away from us as possible. I turn my attention back to my friend.

"The leech is off, do you feel any better," I ask desperately.

Somehow Derik manages to smile. "Not just yet. The healing process for a wound like this isn't instantaneous," he chuckled quietly.

"Quit laughing you dipshit and tell me how I can help you!"

"How does my leg look?"

I glance down and see Derik's leg bleeding profusely.

Dear Lord.

"Not good at all."

"Help me to the beach, we can wash the wound off in the water."

I do my best to hoist Derik up and support him with my shoulder. Hobbling over to the water takes us a while, but we manage to reach the shore. I place Derik down in the water so that his leg is covered. He hisses as his wound touches the salty ocean.

"Good, good," he mumbles to himself once the blood washes off his leg and his wound is exposed. "Now, I need you to go find those leaves I gave you when you first got here. You remember what they look like?"

I think back and conjure an image of the giant leaves Derik used to heal the bite on my leg a few days ago. I nod once I create a clear picture of the leaves.

"Go look for them. The leaves should be a little deep into the forest, so please be careful."

I nod to Derik again. As I make my way into the forest, I jog rather than walk to not waste any time. I go farther and farther into the trees, adrenaline blocking out any noise I might hear. I push through the greenery until my eyes land on its target. I pull out as many leaves as I can carry from the enormous bush and run back to Derik.

Once I get back to him, I help him onto the dry sand and begin to apply the leaves as he instructed me. The job only takes a few minutes, because the leaves are much bigger than his wound. I grabbed way too much.

I finally finish applying the leaves, and I push the extras to the side. I wait for Derik to say something to indicate how he's doing.

"Well, I guess all we do now is wait."