Chapter 9: Chapter 8
Emily
I woke up and the first thing I felt was pain. So much of it. I checked my arms from under the blankets. The once clean bandages were now bloody. I winced at the sight and the pain. As I sat up in bed, Hunter walked into the room.
"Bathroom is ready for you. How are you feeling?"
"I'm sore, and pain is all I feel."
"That would make sense. I'll help you with them, my mother taught me a thing or two."
"Thank you."
I stood up and Hunter followed behind me. The tub was full of water to wash my arms in and to catch the extra blood. I put my legs into the tub so I was sitting on the end of it. Hunter joined me and had the first aid kit sitting ready on the toilet seat.
"Ready?"
I nodded my head, but I wasn't. He slowly unwrapped the bandages and I winced a little to the dried blood coming unstuck from the cotton around the deep parts of my skin. He stopped and threw them away.
"Need a break?"
I nodded again and put my arms in the water. It was cold, and it stung, but it felt like heaven. Hunter rubbed my back to help me cope with the pain.
"Okay. I'm ready for the hard part."
He nodded and removed one arm from the water. He carefully took off the bloodstained cotton and I screamed in pain. After he took the cotton off, he put my arm back in the water so the dried blood and other gross things could be washed off. He did the same for the other arm, and I had the same painful reaction. The water was a nice relief to the pain as it washed the gore off my arms.
"Sorry, did I go too fast?"
"No. It just hurts in general. This is the worst that has ever happened to me, that's probably why."
He nodded and dried one arm gently with a soft towel and wrapped the arm back up in a new bandage. Then he did the same thing to the other arm.
"Thank you." I said after he finished and drained the tub. "I'm still sorry you had to see that last night."
"I'm glad I was there to protect you, even though you saved me in the end which only hurt you more."
"No need to apologize. You did nothing wrong. You have saved me again." I hugged him to tell him that I meant what I said. He moved his hands up my back and hugged me back. I then felt his hands around the back of my neck as he put the necklace back on.
"How did you fix it?"
"I have my ways."
I laughed at his humor and helped him clean up, even though he told me not to.
"Are you hungry yet?"
"No. I think I'll skip today."
"Okay, but do you want something to drink?"
"Cider?"
"Of course. I should've guessed."
He got up and left the bathroom to make the drink. Once he was finished he came back to his room where I was and set down the two hot mugs of apple cider.
"What's wrong?" He asked me, because my mood was so off.
"I need to change my shirt, but my arms…"
"Do you need help?"
"Would you be ashamed if you saw my body?"
"No, why would I?"
"Because of the scars."
As soon as I finished that sentence, Hunter yanked the shirt off of me and stared at my body.
"Hunter…" I said flustered as I turned away and covered my body with my crossed arms. But his hands gently grabbed my arms and untangled them from my chest. He kissed my scarred back and held me in his arms.
"Your body is a masterpiece. No need to be ashamed, or hide it okay?"
I nodded because I was too flustered to say anything. He put a new shirt on me and handed me a cider mug to drink. "Thank you for everything again. I feel like I'm not giving you anything in return for all of your kindness." I looked into my mug, and I could see a bronze reflection of my face.
"Hey. Look at me."
I looked into his emerald eyes.
"You don't have to do anything, okay? I just want you to be with me, and that's all I need. I can do anything you want me to do, I don't care. That's what boyfriends are for. Just let me do this for you okay?"
"I don't know much about love, the only thing I knew about life was that you have to be punished. But you, you gave me light in my darkness, and I want to do this correctly; I want to love you correctly. But I don't know how to, because I don't know love like you do."
"Then I'll teach you. I'll teach you all you want to know. About love, kindness, and light in your dark world."
"Yes. I would love that. Thank you Hunter." I took another sip of my hot cider and leaned against him. We're both trying our hardest for each other, and we'll do that together.
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