[This post is from Seamus’s point of view.]
Thom groaned, his head lolling toward J.T.’s shoulder as he started to come around. Seamus exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, shaking his head. “Let’s get him over there,” he said, jerking his chin toward the wall a few feet from the gates. He lifted his free hand to motion to Rory and Gray, approaching from the tents. “Get that gate sealed up,” he ordered. “Don’t open it until you see the Hunt’s scouts coming back. We need bodies up on the walls and in the tower.” He glanced upward, squinting. The light was at the wrong angle; he couldn’t see if Paul or anyone else was manning the lookout.
“Fuck, man,” J.T. said softly as they carried Thom toward the shadows beneath the wall. “If I didn’t already know that you had experience with this sort of shit, that would have convinced me.”
Seamus choked on a bitter laugh and shook his head. “Just common sense,” he muttered, turning his attention to Thom. The man’s eyelids were fluttering as they leaned him back against the concrete and stone, settled in the sparse grass at the base of the wall.
One of Thom’s hands flailed toward J.T.’s wrist, knocking his friend’s hand and the gauze it held away from the nose. Thom sneezed once, then again, spraying blood. He leaned forward, groaning, hunched over like a man about to be thoroughly ill.
“Matt,” Thom whispered. “Goddammit, Matt.”
J.T. put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back against the wall again, jamming the gauze against his nose again. “Hold still,” the medic growled, eyes narrowing. “What did you see?”
“Matt,” Thom repeated. His eyes were a little glassy but were clearing fast as he regained full awareness. “Up on the wall. There was a fight. He was bleeding. Then there was this light and then—” He broke off, pressing the heel of his hand against his temple and squeezing his eyes shut. “Fuck, that one hit like a ton of bricks.”
“Apparently,” J.T. said, his tone dry. He grabbed Thom’s hand and moved it to hold the gauze in place. “Keep that there.” He glanced at Seamus. “Stay with him? I’m going to go get my kit.”
Seamus nodded. “Go, but be quick. Bring Phelan, if you can.”
“No promises,” J.T. said, then jogged away.
Seamus shook his head, smiling grimly despite himself.
The smile didn’t last.
