Hold True

Chapter 14

Niles had me sit on the bed with my legs crossed. He placed a bowl between my legs to catch the water and a pillow on top of it and to the side. He then had Elliot lay on the bed and his head onto the pillow. The way he organized us made it so Elliot's neck was right above the bowl. 

"You should probably hold his hand while I do this." Niles suggested. To explain why he added. "This is going to hurt, he'll need something to hold on to." He reached over to the table that he pulled next to the bed earlier so he would have some place close to set his supplies. He had a bowl full of holly water, an empty cup, and some shredded up cloth. He reached over and ripped off a part of a rag and wadded it up.

"Open your mouth." He ordered Elliot.

"What's that for?" I wondered as Elliot opened his mouth and Niles placed the piece of the fabric into his mouth.

"I don't want him to bite off his tongue or grind his teeth." He explained. 

"Oh...How much pain is he going to be in?" I worried. Like I've said before I didn't like seeing Elliot suffer. "Isn't there something else less painful we can do?"

Niles looked at me with a sad smile and shook his head. "I wish there was, but no. This is the only way."

Elliot spit the rag out of his mouth. "Don't worry. I can handle it." He put the cloth back in and rested his head on my pillowed lap. I adjusted the pillow to make him more comfortable. 

"You've done this before?" 

He shook his head and Niles answered for him. "No, this will be his first time."

"How about you? Have you been bitten?" I asked looking to his neck to see if I could see a mark.

"Sure have. Cleaning it hurts worse than the bite itself. Almost feels like you're being burned...Only worse." He pulled the neck of his shirt aside to show me two half moon shaped scars on his collar bone. They looked like they must have been deep and somewhat new.  They were still dark purple in color.

Elliot moved as if he was getting restless. We looked at him and Niles asked. "Are you ready?" Elliot nodded and turned his head to the side exposing his wounds. They were very similar to Niles only new and higher up on his neck.

Niles reached for the cup that sat beside the bowl of holly water. He filled the cup half full and told me to take a hold of Elliot's hand. I reached for it and Elliot quickly took hold. He looked frightened and ready to run.

"Ok Elliot, here we go." He poured a little onto the bite. The minute it touched Elliot's skin he screamed around the rag in his mouth. His hand squeezed mine and his eyes bulged out as tears started to fall. He began to struggle trying to get away from the pain. Tears sprang to my eyes instantly.  Niles yelled over Elliot's cries, "Hold him still!"

With the hand Elliot wasn't holding I held down his head and Niles put his knee on the shoulder that was closest to him. He then filled the cup again and mouthed sorry before pouring more. Tears were now flowing from my eyes. Seeing my friend in so much pain made me hurt too. It didn't help that I was one of the people causing it. At this very moment I reminded myself of the men that were always there to help sir. Thinking of them I almost let Elliot up. The only thing that kept me from letting go was knowing that we were not doing this to harm him, we were doing this to help. If this stopped him from turning into the monster that did this to him I would have to stay strong.

As Niles poured more and more water onto the wound it caused Elliot's struggles to increase tenfold. I didn't like this one bit. In fact I absolutely hated it.

It took about an hour maybe two, but it felt more like days. Elliot calmed down just minutes ago and I was relieved. Niles said that it was an indication that the poison was almost gone. When the water no longer caused pain the venom would be out of his system.

Niles dumped the rest of the holly water on the wound and Elliot didn't struggle or whimper. He placed the cup back on the table and then took the cloth out of his mouth. "Is there anymore pain?" He asked.

Elliot wheezed back having lost his voice. "It's gone."

"Thank god." I said thinking I couldn't take anymore. I couldn't imagine what Elliot was feeling being the one going through the pain.

"Is it alright if he says here? I don't think any of us has the strength to move him." Niles asked standing up and stretching.

I nodded my agreement and stood up too. We moved Elliot to a more comfortable position on my bed and pulled the covers over him. He cuddled into the bed and was asleep instantly. I helped Niles clean up our mess and move the table back over to it's place. I walked him to the door and held it open for him.

"I'll come in the morning to collect him." Niles said looking at Elliot.

"Is he going to be ok?" I asked.

"He'll be fine...He just needs some rest." He ran his hand through his hair. He truly looked tired.

"Thank you," I said before he could leave.

Niles smiled back at me. "I'm glad he has you. I think tonight would've been worse if you weren't here." He pulled me into a hug, "Thank you." he pulled back, "We'll discuss training when I pick Elliot up in the morning."

I nodded as he left and closed my new bedroom door behind him.