"I didn't come all this way to have you die on me for nothing," Maximus bit out, the manufactured calm of his voice slipping for a fractured moment. "We're in this together. So stay with me, Wyatt."

The wounds were are clean as he could make them, and he reached for the needle and thread.

"Remember how I said that was going to hurt?" He asked as he rolled out a length of thread and secured it through the needle's eye. "This is going to hurt more. So stay with me, Wyatt. I'm right here with you."

He sucked in a breath and held it to steady his hand, making sure there wasn't a single solitary shake in his fingers before he leaned over to stitch up Wyatt's flesh.