Dr. Alex Nolan II's Arc

Chapter 8 of 13

The fever started that night. Nolan woke shaking in the dark shack, his left arm burning worse than the brand ever had. When dawn came, he peeled back his sleeve and found the torn skin around the brand had turned dark red, hot to the touch. He couldn't walk three more days like this. The infection would spread faster than he could move. He left the shack and searched the jungle floor, looking for anything his grandfather had taught him about during childhood summers in Virginia—willow bark for fever, yarrow for wounds. But this wasn't Virginia. He found ferns he didn't recognize, vines with sap that smelled wrong, mushrooms clustered on a rotting log covered in dark moss. Then, near the river, he spotted a plant with broad green leaves and small orange flowers. The shape was right. His grandfather had shown him drawings in an old field guide, plants the indigenous people used. He broke off several stems, crushed the leaves between his fingers, and smelled bitter mint. It might work. It might poison him. He was out of better options. He built a small fire beside the mossy log and boiled water in his dented canteen. The leaves steeped until the water turned brown-green. He tore a strip from his shirt, soaked it in the hot tea, and wrapped it around the brand. The heat made him gasp, but he pulled it tight and tied it off with his teeth. The artifact pulsed once against his ribs, neither helping nor stopping him. He sat with his back against the log and waited to see if he'd made things better or worse. By evening, the skin around the brand looked less angry. The fever hadn't broken but it hadn't climbed higher either. He could move his fingers without white pain shooting up to his shoulder. It wasn't healing—not really—but it had stopped getting worse. He'd bought himself time. Maybe enough to reach the settlement. Maybe not. He stood, kicked dirt over the fire, and started south again. The artifact stayed warm and quiet. The bandage stayed wet against his skin. Three days had become possible again.