Alex couldn’t breathe. Her mouth was dry and her heart was still beating in her throat. When the adrenaline wore off the panic suddenly took over but she couldn’t allow herself to lose control now. Sam needed her, for once, he needed her! She looked at his face as his head lay back against the seat’s headrest. He wasn’t looking well at all. His face was deathly pale, and he was losing a lot of blood. She grabbed her backpack from the backseat and pulled out her headscarf. Sam groaned each time she tightened it around the wound. She had no idea where she learned to do this, but it seemed to help somehow. She stood up and frantically looked around for a place to take up shelter. She’s going to have to find a smaller hotel so she could sneak him past the front desk unnoticed, but where? She had no idea where they were.
“Okay, think, Alex,” she said out loud to herself. Seconds later she ducked back down into the car and tugged Sam’s arm. He was already in a semi-conscious state.
“Sam!” She patted him against his cheek. “Sam stay with me. I need to get you into the backseat so I can drive.”
She tugged on his arm again, but it had minimal effect. He was barely lucid and too tall and heavy for her to manage. She pulled at his other arm and slapped him gently across his cheek in an effort to wake him up.
“Sam wake up, you can’t sleep now. I need to move you.”
Sam opened his eyes and she wrapped his one arm around her neck and over her shoulders. His body was heavy on her tiny frame even with him doing most of the standing now on his own.
“That’s it, steady now.”
With great effort, she finally managed to get him into the backseat and propped his wounded leg on top of her backpack before settling in behind the steering wheel. The pool of blood on the black leather seat made a gushing sound as she sat down behind the wheel of the car and she felt the still warm liquid instantly penetrate her pants, drenching it within seconds. There was no time to clean up now. She had to get him to a hotel. It was dark outside and there were very few buildings or lights where they were parked next to the side of the road. Seatbelt on and engine running she caught sight of the stick shift. Her heart sank in her shoes. She hadn’t ever driven anything other than an automatic car. The figure H on the knob gave her some guideline but getting it to move into first gear proved somewhat challenging.
She apologized out loud as the gear made a screeching noise while she frantically tried to get it into the right gear. A couple of attempts later she got it and slipped the car off the pavement and back onto the road causing Sam’s leg to bounce off the backpack. He let out a despairing groan as the pain shot through his wound.
“Oops!” She offered apologetically glancing at him in her mirror. His face told her exactly how much pain he was in. Once again he was barely lucid now and he settled his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. Tiny beads of sweat trickled into his hairline. She would have to get cracking, before it’s too late.
The road was relatively quiet as they drove away from the village. It wasn’t a big village to begin with and apart from a few hotels, there weren't that many options to choose from. She would first need to find supplies to clean out the wound though, she thought. Removing a bullet requires more than just a towel and water. Her stomach turned as she realized she had no idea what supplies she would need. She could hardly ask the pharmacist for advice on how to remove a bullet. Her eyes searched frantically on both sides of the dark street. There had to be a shopping mart of some kind open somewhere, Alex thought. The buildings on either side of the road started to become less frequent and Alex realized she was probably too far out of town. She’d have to go back toward the clubs. The car screeched again as she dropped a gear to turn the car around and head back down the street toward the village. A small distance further, she turned another corner and went down a road with a couple more rowdy bars and flashing lights when she spotted a barely visible shop tucked between a closed gas station and a cheap clothing boutique. The neon yellow ‘OPEN’ sign in the window flickered on and off. Elated that it appeared they might be open she stopped to have a closer look. The lights were on inside but there was no movement. She decided to at least try so she pulled the car over next to the curb.
“Stay still, Sam. Be back in a jiffy.”
Sam didn’t react. He was deathly pale and barely conscious. She jumped out and ran up to the door. The soft chimes of a bell startled her as she pushed the door open. A young Asian woman behind the counter briefly looked up from her mobile phone and nodded. Then looked at Alex’s bloodstained pants and pointed to the back of the shop.
The shop was long and narrow with rows of tightly packed products ranging from essential consumables to pet food. Alex lowered her head and hurried between the confined shelves to the back of the shop where there was a small dispensary section. Her heart skipped a beat as she noticed the assistant’s eyes on her bloodstained pants. She scoured the shelves for anything that might be of use. A couple glass bottles of clear liquid stared back at her. The labels were written in Mandarin, but she recognized the word for alcohol in the content list. She had no clue what the rest of the words on the bottle meant. She bit her thumbnail and then decided to take the one with a picture that resembled a plaster. A pack of bandages lay on the shelf next to the bottles of which she grabbed two and then snatched a packet of five sterilizing cloths off the shelf next to it. She bent down and moved her eyes rapidly over several baskets on the bottom shelf that was filled with all sorts of paraphernalia. She was looking for a pair of tweezers or small pliers she might need to pull the bullet out with. She startled when the shop assistant suddenly appeared next to her and handed her a shopping basket before taking her place again behind the counter. The basket contained a bottle of whiskey, several rolls of cotton swabs, the pliers she was looking for along with a new pair of pants and some painkillers. Alex wasn’t sure if she felt embarrassment for getting caught or joy that she got help. Either way, she headed to the cashier with a bashful smile. The woman merely nodded, popped it into a brown paper bag, and slid it across the counter. Alex nodded back self-consciously. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this woman had done this before. That was very obvious. Without a further word exchanged between them, Alex paid and picked the bag up from the counter. The woman’s hand slammed down on the bag sending trembles of fear down Alex’s spine. She looked up at her in horror. Did she want money in exchange for her silence? Alex took out a couple more notes from her pocket, but the woman ignored it. Instead, she reached under the counter and pulled out a business card then popped it into the shopping bag and handed it back to Alex. Stunned Alex grabbed the bag, threw her a smile and, with trembling legs, hurried back to the car.
In the safety of the car, she locked the doors and looked back at Sam whose condition was still unchanged. The road was too quiet for her liking. The place gave her the creeps.
“Hang on Sam. I have everything we need. At least, I think I do.”
She pulled the business card from the shopping bag and read the name of a motel and address. Could she trust this woman? She had no choice. She popped the address into the GPS, screeched the gears into place again and sped off.
Five minutes later they pulled up next to a derelict motel in the middle of nowhere. The signage out front hung by a single black wire while all the other lights were off. There was no sign of any life. The unpretentious parking lot in the front was an empty patch of sand, but she pulled into it nevertheless. She switched the car off and suspiciously stared at the quiet building. It was in a serious state of disrepair and backed up against a forest of tall trees and dense shrubs. From the front it had a single blue front door and windows on either side. It was extremely basic and certainly didn’t look anything like a motel of any kind. Built entirely from half rotten wooden planks, it rather resembled an old run down shack in the middle of the forest than a motel. She looked at the business card again and checked the GPS. It was indeed the right place. As if to prompt her to get on with it, Sam whimpered soft moans from the backseat. She would have to risk it. The woman from the shop had been quite agreeable and very helpful so she had no reason to doubt that she was perhaps leading her into a trap.
Alex got out of the car, skimming into the darkness once more while walking up to the entrance. It was deathly silent. A soft breeze cut through the lush trees behind the house. She opened the door to find an empty reception in a poorly lit room. On the counter was a money box with a sign simply showing KHR20 000. Converted, twenty-thousand Cambodian Riel was a little over twenty pounds. She slipped the amount into the box, grabbed a room key from the orange shoebox next to it and dashed back out to the car.
“Sam, wake up. I found a place to stay the night.”
Sam whimpered softly as she pulled him up from the backseat of the car and propped her body under his armpit. Her backpack and bag with medicinal supplies hung over her other shoulder. Thankfully there were no stairs. Tiny droplets of blood left a trail in the sand from the car to the front door as they slowly entered the motel and made their way to their room down the passage. Sam was lucid enough to limp through the door and hastily flopped down on the only double bed in the center of the room. The room was dark and dingy looking but it would suffice. To the right was a small bathroom from which Alex quickly grabbed a couple of threadbare towels and positioned it under Sam’s injured leg before rummaging through the drawers in the room. In the closet opposite the bed was a padded cotton sheet similar to the ones used in the hospitals, which Alex thought very odd, but nevertheless quickly used to replace the bathroom towels with. A small stainless steel kettle stood on the desk under the window along with a tall silver cup, a matching flat dish and a small pair of sharp scissors. This was no ordinary motel, that’s certain. She popped the kettle on and hurried to the bathroom to clean her hands. Light pink water ran into the small white basin as the water washed off Sam’s blood. She looked up into the mirror above the basin. She felt like vomiting. What in heaven’s name have they gotten themselves into? She thought, and splashed cold water over her face. “Right, let’s do this,” she said to herself in the mirror before heading back out to pour hot water from the kettle into the flat silver dish. Her knife clanked against the metal as she dropped it into the hot water to sterilize it. Minutes later she had the items of the shopping bag spread out on the bed. Now what? Hands on her hips she stared down at the contents unsure where to start. From the corner of her eye, her once bright patterned scarf around Sam’s thigh was drenched in blood. She looked back at the dispensary on the bed next to him and grabbed the bottle of whiskey and took several gulps from the bottle. The bitter liquid burned her throat but she took two more big gulps before lifting Sam’s head and putting the bottle to his lips. He took several swigs and dropped his head back onto his pillow. Alex paused and took another large sip before placing the bottle on the nightstand.
The knot in the scarf was too tight, and her fumbling fingers didn’t help to get it undone either. She grabbed the scissors and carefully cut through the thin fabric. Alex exhaled in relief as she opened the wound to see that the blood had somewhat stopped. She released her belt that was still tied around his thigh, and cut through the thick denim leg of the pants. A gaping round bullet hole stared back at her. Her stomach churned as the nausea pushed up into her throat. Pausing for just a second to pull herself together again, she lifted Sam’s leg to see if by some miracle the bullet might have passed through his leg, but it didn’t. There was no exit wound. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. There was no way out of it. She’d have to remove this bullet and fast.
“This might hurt a little, Sam. You might want to brace yourself.”
Sam needed no warning. His hand reached for the whiskey bottle next to him.
“Yeah, good idea,” Alex said as she helped him take several more swigs before taking another one herself.
“I need you sober for this,” Sam mumbled while fumbling with his belt buckle in an attempt to remove it himself.
Alex, slightly puzzled, lifted his T-shirt and removed the revolver that was still tucked in his waistband before pulling his belt off.
“Now’s not the time and place for this you know,” Sam joked subdued.
“Oh stop,” she responded shyly and handed him his belt.
Sam bit down hard on the leather strap.
“Okay, ready?”
Sam nodded but his eyes said something entirely different. Alex picked up the steaming hot knife and paused over the gaping hole.
“Are you sure about this, Sam? What if I slice through an artery or something?”
Sam nodded and shut his eyes, biting down harder on the leather strap. The hot blade sliced through his flesh as easily as a hot knife through butter. Much to Alex’s surprise, Sam didn’t flinch. She proceeded to make a small incision across the hole. Instantly the blood started gushing out. She cursed under her breath as she fought the urge to hurl all over the tacky brown carpet.
She threw the knife back into the hot water and grabbed the bottle of sterilizing liquid. The lid spun off in one rapid twist and fell to the floor. Without hesitation she poured a substantial amount over the wound. Sam squealed with pain as the liquid hit his open wound.
Alex jerked her hand back and cringed in empathy. “Sorry!”
But it seemed to have done the trick. The bleeding stopped. The worst, however, was still to come. She wiped her brow on her sleeve as she readied her fingers over the gaping wound. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Sam for fear of seeing his pain and quitting the procedure halfway through. She drew in a deep breath and stuck two fingers into the wound. It was a disgusting feeling. She had imagined it would feel like stuffing garlic cloves into a leg of lamb, but it wasn’t. It was hot and sticky instead. Sam groaned as she prodded and probed into his wound. Less than ten seconds later she felt the hard metal object under her forefinger. It was stuck underneath his thigh muscle but luckily hadn’t penetrated any bone or fractured it. She reached across Sam and picked up the pliers from the bed with her other hand. It wouldn’t reach at that angle, she thought. The dark red blood bubbled up between her fingers. Even with the incision, the hole didn’t provide enough space for two of her fingers and the pliers. It wouldn’t work. She would have to use her fingers. She couldn’t see beyond the pooling blood either so she threw the pliers back down onto the bed. This would be where the surgeon would call for suction, she reflected. Sam moaned in pain again as her fingers started moving around the bullet. She tried not to pay attention to his groans. She had to remain focused. If she did this right it would all be over soon.
She squeezed her fingers together and trapped the bullet between her forefinger and middle finger and slowly pulled her hand out. The clanging noise of the bullet hitting the bottom of the stainless steel cup was music to their ears.
“Ha! I did it! Sam, I did it!” she exclaimed in joy still staring at the giant copper bullet in the bottom of the cup.
Sam’s moans had stopped. She looked at him and realized he had passed out. Her eye caught sight of the gaping wound. Blood gushed out like a bubbling fountain. Panic hit her and she grabbed the sterilizing liquid off the nightstand and poured a generous amount into the wound. She pushed the cloth down hard onto the wound. The pressure seemed to help; or possibly the liquid. She wasn’t sure and it didn’t matter. The bleeding had stopped. All that was left was for her to close the wound somehow. Blast! She hadn’t thought that far ahead. Sam had lost a lot of blood so it was crucial. She took his belt that was still clenched between his teeth and tied it tightly around the pressure bandage before removing her belt that was still tied above the wound. It should cancel each other out. In theory, that is. She needed a needle and a thread. She ran across the room to the bathroom and frantically searched the small basket with the complimentary soaps and shampoos. Got it. Her bloodied fingers ripped open the little sewing kit to reveal a rainbow of colored thread and a couple of needles. Back at Sam’s side, she yanked a piece of yarn out and pushed it through the needle’s eye. Her fingers were sticky from the blood. The thought of sewing through flesh disgusted her, but she had come this far already. It couldn’t possibly be more stomach churning than sticking your fingers into a gaping wound. At least Sam wasn’t aware of anything now.
The needle pierced through his tough skin forcing her to push down harder on the needle to penetrate the skin. In her mind she was back in Tanzania sitting next to Jelani and her mother, sewing blankets from the animal skins.
Seven stitches later and the wound was closed up; albeit not that neat, it did the trick. She was no seamstress after all.
Another five minutes later and the wound was neatly cleaned and bandaged. She knelt next to the bed and admired her work. She did it. Remarkably, she did it. Tears of relief rolled down her cheeks as a wave of emotion washed over her exhausted body.
In the small bathroom mirror, the sight of her bloodstained hands left streaks across her teary face and her chin and palms had several open scratches from her fall over the railing. She popped into the shower and watched rivers of pink water eventually run clear into the drain trap. The warm, soothing water of the shower was relaxing. She didn’t allow her thoughts to trail to tomorrow just yet. What mattered most was that Sam would be fine. Tonight, they both needed their rest.
On the bed Sam’s breathing was stable, and he was still asleep. The bandage was still clean which meant the wound was also in a stable condition. She took a damp towel and gently wiped Sam’s face before lying down next to him on the bed. This was not how this relic hunt was supposed to go. Earlier that week she had almost lost her life at the waterfall, and today, Sam nearly lost his. What was it about this urn that stirred up such fuss? She leaned over and grabbed Sam’s gun off the side table and tucked it under her pillow. They would have to be alert from here on out and watch their backs. Someone out there is after the precious artifact themselves or, will do whatever it takes for it to stay buried forever no matter the cost, even if it were someone’s life. Whatever the reason, it’s a relic, and she was hired to find it. Giving up wasn’t an option. Discovering the scroll shook things up. It was a dangerous mission, but one they would have to embark on if the truth were ever to be revealed.