“Oh my god!” Marly scrambles out of bed, “What happened? We need to go to the hospital!”
“Shh,” I groan, breathing through the pain, “It’s alright, princess.”
“Alright!?” She shrieks, “This isn’t okay!”
When the worst of the pain eases, I roll onto my back and push up her bed, using the headboard to lean against. I am fucking exhausted.
“I’m okay,” I catch her eyes and nod my head to the space she just vacated, “Come lay with me.”
“River, your lip,” She crosses her arms over herself, covering the garage logo on the shirt with her arms, “And your jaw is bruised and I’m assuming there’s more that I just can’t see.”
“There’s more,” I confirm, “But nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”
“What happened?” She demands, her voice getting an edge to it I haven’t heard before, not quite anger, but something close to it.
I like it.
“I got into a…” I pause, choosing my next words carefully. I don’t want her knowing anything about the fighting rings, I don’t want her anywhere near it, not even the knowledge that it exists. “Altercation.”
“At the garage?”
“Come lay with me, Marly.” I change the subject, “Please.”
Her shoulders soften, “Can I clean up your face first?”
“I already did it.”
“Well, you didn’t do a good job,” She huffs, “Let me do it.”
“Then you’ll lay with me?”
“Promise,” She whispers.
At my nod, she darts from the room, and I listen to her feet slap against the floor as she races to wherever the first aid kit is and is back in under two minutes. She’s breathless from sprinting butdoesn’t pause as she comes straight to me and climbs onto the mattress, resting on her knees.
She opens the kit and begins to pull out a few things before she finds what she wants.
“This’ll sting,” She warns me before she places a wipe against the cut in my lip. It’s instant and I hiss through my teeth, the cut and skin around it burning with whatever she just put on it.
She works on my face quietly, her concern for me pulling down her brows and I can’t help but reach up and smooth out the line that’s formed between them. Her hand pauses as she flicks her eyes up to meet mine.
“Did you sleep well, princess?” I ask as she pulls out a small white tub and opens the lid.
“Not really,” She answers quietly, “Hold still.”
She scoops a small amount of the cream onto her fingers and begins to rub it into my jaw, the flesh tender but not overly painful, just bruised I guess.
“Why didn’t you sleep?”
“I slept,” She answers quickly, “Just not well.”
“But why?”
“Because I didn’t,” She snaps and then freezes as if she shocked herself with the show of anger.
“Are you mad at me, princess?” My grin pulls on the cut on my lip.
“No.”
