Brief, quiet. Gideon couldn't follow the language, but he read the shape of it. Where are we? Safe. How did we get here?
A man found us. Is he? Not yet determined. Amma turned and found him. Her eyes were the same shape as Desa's.
Same dark, considering quality. But where Desa's gaze had been a scan, strategic, comprehensive, Alma settled with different weight, less like assessment, more like reading, like she was looking for something specific and was willing to take the time required to find it. Then she said in English with a slightly softer quality than her sisters, "My fingers are fine. " A pause. "It's my left side that won't cooperate.
" Gideon straightened. "Lft side? Which ribs? The ones that hurt? " Amma said and at his expression third and fourth maybe fifth.
I need to look at that. With your permission, Desa's hand did not leave her sister's arm. With her permission, Gideon corrected, directing himself to Amma. Amma looked at him for another moment. Said something to Desa in Apache.
Desa's jaw tightened barely perceptibly, but she moved her hand. He crouched beside Amma and worked carefully, pressing lightly, reading her face for the involuntary responses that told him more than any description would. Two ribs, possibly a third, not breaks, fractures, but fractures from impact and cold, he thought first. Then he looked at the bruising deep purple green. Old enough to have developed color, not from the ground when she fell from before, from a blow.
He sat back on his heels, looked at Desa, who was looking back at him with eyes that were waiting, specifically waiting to see what he did with what he had just found. "This bruising, " he said carefully. "It didn't happen today. " "No, " Desessa said, "It didn't. The fire settled.
I'm going to wrap the left side, " he said. "It'll stabilize the fractures and reduce the pain with breathing. " "That's all I'm doing. " Desa looked at Amma. Ama nodded.
He worked with methodical gentleness. When he finished, Ama's breathing eased slightly. The cost of each breath reduced. He stood, moved back. Sleep if you can, he said.
You're safe. I'll keep the fire. Desa looked at him for a long moment. Why? She said.
Just that. One word. He thought about it honestly. Because I found you, he said. And finding means something, she watched him.