Always

Chapter 29

"Let me clean you up," I said, gripping his hands as I stood up in front of him. He didn't look any better from this new angle. He just nodded slowly without opening his eyes. I raised his hands to my lips one more time, pressing a kiss to his knuckles before releasing them. "I'll be right back," I told him as I turned and left the room.

I practically ran to his bathroom, hoping I would find some first aid supplies there. I whipped open the mirror cabinet, disappointed that it only hid toothbrushes and toothpaste. Crouching down, I jerked open the drawers under the sink, finding a washcloth. I let out a sigh of relief at the last cupboard I opened, immediately spotting the white box with the large red cross on it. A first aid kit.

Grabbing it, I hauled it up to the counter and opened it to examine its contents. Luckily, I had learned the basics of first aid in a class at school, so I knew when I saw peroxide, gauze, bandages, and antibacterial ointment that these basic materials were as good as I could hope for. I got the washrag wet with warm water, ringing it out slightly before gathering my items and running back to Harry's room.

He sat exactly where I had left him, eyes still closed, lips slightly parted, hands sprawled out next to him holding him up. It was then that I noticed his white t-shirt was absolutely covered in blood. His jeans had fared better, although it was hard to tell because of their dark color.

"Baby," I said gently, petting my hands softly through his hair as he opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to try and take your shirt off, it's covered in blood. Will you be okay?" I asked. "Be honest."

"I'll be fine, Jo," he said, slightly exasperated at my babying. He raised his arms up above his head, somehow managing to keep his face straight. I grabbed the hem of his shirt and slowly slid it up his body and over his head, freeing his arms from the holes. Balling it up, I tossed it in the trashcan in the corner of his room. That amount of blood would not wash out.

Now that I had a clear view of his body, I couldn't help but gasp at the sight. Deep purple bruises were already springing up all over his lean torso, similar to the ones on his face only much larger in size. His rib cage, in particular, was practically one huge black splotch.

"Oh, Harry..." I trailed off, covering my mouth with my hand as my eyes searched his body further.

"I'm fine, Joey," he repeated. I finally tore my eyes from his damaged torso to see he was examining my face. Right, I was going to be strong. For him. I kneeled down and grabbed my supplies off the floor to set them on his bed. Gripping the rag, I wound it around my fingers to begin cleaning him off.

"This is just water, okay?" I told him. He nodded. Gingerly, I pressed the rag to his forehead, wiping away the dried blood there. The closer I got to the cuts on his face, the more he struggled to keep himself composed. I could clearly see he was clenching his jaw, but he worked hard to keep his breathing even and his eyes neutral as they focused intently on my own. My gaze, however, was focused on his skin, being careful to only wipe at the dried blood and not any actually cuts.

When I had his face mostly cleared, I moved to his hair, trying to clean the matted strands. My fingers worked cautiously, not wanting to touch him unnecessarily and cause him pain. As I worked on his hair, my eyes flitted down to his, finding them searing into mine. I gave him a sad smile that didn't reach my eyes before returning my focus on cleaning him up. Finally, I had most of the dried blood wiped away.

Setting the rag down, I hesitated as I stared at the rest of my supplies. Peroxide. That was next. Remembering a time I had fallen off my bike and my mother had poured it onto gauze to clean my wound, I figured that's what I should do as well. I picked up a square of gauze before pouring some of the liquid onto it.