Chapter 10 #2
“I’m ok, Shortcake, I swear,” Sam said, pulling his wrist free from my grip. “Just haven’t slept much in the past twelve days.”
“How are you feelin’, Bones?” Griz asked.
I hesitated, still studying Sam and struggling with my compulsive need to lie. “I’ve felt better.”
Sam snorted again.
“Well, I guess that’s kinda progress,” Griz muttered.
A knock on the door startled all of us, and we looked to see Sable step into the room.
“Hi, Ember,” Sable said with a polite smile. “I asked Mac if I could give you an examination, and he said so long as you were alright with it?—”
“No,” I snapped, my entire body tensing.
Griz and Sam looked at me, eyes narrowed.
“I think all of us would feel better if a healer checked you over,” Sable tried.
I looked to Griz for backup, but he was frowning slightly.
“I’ve been workin’ in the clinic with him,” he explained quietly, “and he’s a good healer. I know I’d feel better if a healer made sure you were alright.”
“I’m—” I started hotly, but Griz held a hand up, glaring.
“Don’t you dare say ‘fine.’”
“I was gonna say ‘ok,’” I muttered.
“Bones,” Griz groaned, scrubbing his hand over his face.
“So what, you’re friends now?” I demanded, feeling strangely hurt.
“No,” Sam answered sharply, but Griz grimaced.
“Look, I can’t speak for all of ’em, but Sable seems decent. That’s all I’m sayin’,” Griz murmured.
“It’s your choice, though,” Sam said firmly.
I glanced at Griz again, and the clear worry in his eyes cracked through my defensiveness.
“Fine,” I muttered.
“You want us to stay?” Griz asked, and I nodded, feeling relieved.
Sable slowly approached the bed when Griz waved him over, looking unbothered by the hushed discussion the three of us had just had about him.
“Alright, I’m just going to start with your vitals,” Sable said in a calm healer voice.
He continued to narrate everything he was doing as I grumpily cooperated. Griz and Sam hovered close, watching.
“You had a high fever for eight days,” Sable said as he worked. “Your crew said that happens after you use too much of your healing power, but the longest you’d ever been out was four days. Is that correct?”
I nodded, trying to breathe normally.
“Griz told me his theory that you heal yourself as well, but slower. I think he’s right. That must be why you survived in that river for so long.”
I glanced at Griz, who muttered something about reckless decisions while glaring at me and chewed nervously on the inside of my cheek.
“That’s quite incredible,” Sable continued, almost to himself. “I wonder if your body can regenerate or if your powers kept your body tissue from freezing?” He paused, and I glanced at his face to see him studying me. “Can I look at the scar on your chest?”
My hands twitched to my shirt collar, and my panicked eyes found Griz again. He took my hand in his and squeezed it.
“Has anyone ever examined it?” Griz asked quietly. “I mean, a healer?”
I shook my head, my lips pressed tightly together.
“I know how it feels,” Sable said, his voice low. “To have a mark on your skin you can never remove, that is a constant reminder of horror and pain.” I hated the honesty I could see in his eyes. “I only want to examine it and ensure there were no complications in healing.”
“Please, Bones?” Griz murmured.
I swallowed hard, my mind flashing back to Trey standing in the rover headlight, his brown eyes so gentle and kind.
I unbuttoned my shirt with trembling fingers, noting for the first time I was wearing another oversized button-up shirt.
I dropped my hands back into my lap and tried to relax my tense muscles.
Sable carefully parted my shirt, and when I sensed him go still, I couldn’t resist glancing at his face. His eyes were narrowed and angry.
“What was this done with?” he asked in a low voice.
I flinched slightly when his cool fingers brushed my skin. I was not going to cry. “Metal fencing.”
Griz swore under his breath.
“I could tell it wasn’t with a flat iron like mine,” Sable said, pressing against the scar tissue as he examined it.
“It’s too jagged.” His voice darkened. “And it was applied with unnecessary force. Most brands only go through the first two layers of skin, but this looks like it went all the way to the muscle in places. Can you feel this, Ember?”
My hands were clenched into fists so tightly it hurt, but I couldn’t feel anything on my chest. I thought Sable had stopped touching me, but he looked at me expectantly.
I shook my head, my fingernails biting harder into my palms. I remembered Trey gently kissing the rough skin. I’d felt that or, at least, some of it.
I could not think about Trey, right now.
“Luckily, only a couple of places appear to have nerve damage,” Sable continued. “Did Juck do this himself? Or did?—”
I was on my back, kicking in the sand, spraying it into Cobra’s face. He swore, releasing my legs to swipe at his eyes, but someone else just took his place.
“No!” I was sobbing in panic. “Please, Juck!”
Whoever was holding my arms snickered.
“Juck, c’mon man,” Vulture tried from where Lobo and Vandal held him back. His voice was steady, but his eyes were full of fear. “It’s not what you ? —”
“Shut up,” Juck snarled at him.
A sob escaped through my trembling lips, and Juck looked at me from where he stood by the fire, holding the metal fencing in the flames. Tears streamed down my face, but his expression held only cold fury.
“Please,” I begged.
He started stalking toward me, the metal fencing glowing orange, and I renewed my efforts to escape.
“Please! Juck, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“You belong to me, Angel,” he said in a dark voice as he stood over me. “Don’t you ever forget that again.” He looked at the men restraining me. “Hold her still.”
He brought the crude brand down with such force it felt like it knocked all the air out of my lungs. I couldn’t breathe, choking on the blinding pain that seared through my body ? —
“Bones, breathe.”
I blinked, focusing on Griz’s worried face. Tears were streaming down my face, and I was gasping in short, desperate breaths.
“Breathe,” he murmured, squeezing my shoulders.
Behind him, Sam hovered, his jaw tight. Sable stood on the other side, watching with sharp eyes. I realized I was clutching my shirt closed with both hands, but I couldn’t remember doing it. Had I pushed Sable away? My body shook.
“In through your nose, out through your mouth,” Griz urged, and I did try, but my lungs refused to work.
“She’s going to pass out,” I heard Sable say as though he was speaking in a tunnel. “Get the?—”
“—all the fuckin’ stupid things?—”
“Raven.”
“Don’t you ‘Raven’ me, Griz. When are you gonna learn to leave well enough alone?”
I pried my eyes open, confused.
Raven and Griz were standing beside my bed. Griz had his arms crossed, face impassive. Raven stood with her back to me, and I couldn’t see her expression, but from her violent arm gestures, I could tell she was pissed.
“You wanna go stomp on some anthills while you’re at it? Kick some hornet nests? Gods, of all the?—”
“Hey,” Griz interrupted Raven mid-rant when he noticed me.
Raven whirled, scanning me with sharp, angry eyes.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
“We’re surrounded by a bunch of fuckin’ idiots, is what happened,” Raven snapped, but she stomped over to the bed to tuck the blanket more securely around me.
“You panicked when Sable was examining the brand,” Griz answered, frowning. “You passed out.”
I winced, the memory smacking me across the face, and Raven muttered something about snakes and grass.
Griz sucked in a breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. “I gotta take care of some stuff. I’ll be back later, ok?”
I nodded. After Griz left, Raven stood beside the bed, glaring at me for a few breaths.
“You’re ok?” I asked, bracing myself.
“What?” she snapped.
“I saw you get shot.” My voice wobbled.
She stared at me, but to my shock, she simply sighed and sat on the bed beside me. “I’m alright, Boney. You healed all of us.”
“And Jax?” I wasn’t sure why I kept asking the same question. It’s not like I thought they were lying to me.
“He’s ok, too.”
I let out a shaky breath and glanced down at the shirt I wore. “Whose shirt is this?”
“It was one of Trey’s.”
Oh.
I pressed my sleeve-covered hands against my nose without thinking, but the fabric didn’t smell like him. His scent was gone, just like him.
Godsdamnit, I did not want to fucking cry again.
“There’s a whole drawer of his clothes at the bunkhouse,” Raven said, her voice slightly strained, “if you ever want to go through it.”
“I haven’t even been able to open his pack,” I mumbled, surprising myself.
Raven was quiet while I swiped angrily at my damp eyes with Sam’s handkerchief.
“You ever want help with that,” Raven began almost hesitantly, “lemme know.”
I glanced up to find her looking uncharacteristically serious, something almost gentle intermixed with the grief in her eyes. Several tears tumbled down my face, and I quickly swiped them away again as I nodded. I desperately needed to change the subject.
“I really have to pee,” I blurted out.
“Alright,” Raven said, looking slightly relieved I wasn’t bursting into tears, “c’mon, then.”
I thought I was going to pass out on the stairs, but somehow I managed. Raven hovered next to me, but to my relief, she didn’t offer to help. As the main floor of Nemo’s house came into view, I faltered. I had a fucking audience.
Nemo, and a handful of his people, stood around one of the tables covered in drawing plans.
Wolf stood at the bottom of the stairs, with Lee, Tuck, and Scar behind him.
Sam stood alone and off to the side. All of them were looking at me.
I hesitated, briefly considering going back up and just using the damn bedpan.
“Chin up,” Raven growled. “Don’t let ’em cow you.”