Falice One Shots by falicewins

Old Wounds

With a wet towel now touching the fresh flesh wound on his body he winced in pain by the direct touch. Alice carefully dipped the towel against his hurt skin as she looked up at him. His eyes were closed and he gritted his teeth trying to get through the pain. He hold his breath as if it would help him get through it as the tepid water tingled his healing wound.

FP had been home for just a few hours now, with instructions from the doctor to clean his shot wound at least three times a day to stop it from getting an infection. Alice knew that FP wasn't going to take this advice seriously since it wasn't the first time he was shot, but she wanted him to recover as soon as possible and made him sit down on the couch so she could properly clean the wound.

It was almost bedtime, so Alice had been dressed in her pyjamas already, ready to go to bed afterwards. He was shirtless now, so his wound would be exposed and his hands clenched into his maroon colored sleeping shirt to ease some of the burning on his skin. She wiped with her fingers over his cheek and tried to look at him, but he could just stare down at the wound and how the white towel was now covered in red blood stains.

''Does it hurt?'' Alice asked softly, as she brought the towel towards his body again. He looked at her movements and breathed out the moment the cotton fabric touched his skin again. Slowly but steady the burning feeling made place for a calming feeling, now she clenched some of the dirt of it.

''It's fine.'' He breathed out in pain and now looked up at her for the first time since she made him sit down. Actually he was everything but fine but he didn't want to have the confrontation about his actions with her.

Tonight had made him feel alive, even if was ironic that he risked his life that night. The flesh wound was hurting, which was a good sign that it was healing, but it didn't mean that what happened yesterday night wasn't dangerous.

She took some time to answer as she grabbed a new fresh bandage that she wrapped around his arm and part of his chest. As carefully as possible she patted on the wound, making sure it was secure before her eyes looked up at him again.

Looking at that wound not only made her realise that he was physically hurting, but it made her open her eyes about his decision to put on his Serpent jacket again. There was no bone in her body that wanted him to feel like a prisoner in his Sheriff uniform, but the thought of him risking his life now he was Serpent King again terrified her til in her core.

FP couldn't notice Alice staring at him, tears welling up in her eyes as he tried to tighten the bandage a little, until her hand slid slowly into his own. He stopped his movements and now looked at the teared up woman in front of him. As he saw that she fighting to not let her tears fall he squeezed her hand.

''It's just a wound, Al. I'll be fine.'' He said assuringly, hoping that it was enough to convince her that he didn't get defeated that easily. By the look on her face he thought that she was more worried about the shot incident than he was and he couldn't quite figure out why.

As someone practically born into the Serpent and becoming king at young age he knew what he was doing. In a way he almost saw the wound as a victory, as if it was a sign that he was back in the game.

In one night back as Serpent King he had helped Archie and therefore the town more than he had when he was on duty as the Sheriff. Not because he didn't work hard, but because he was so limited in what he could do. It felt satisfying to take matters into his own hands and serve some justice with his fists as his weapon instead of his Sheriff badge.

Alice poked her tongue into her cheek and shook her head as she looked down at their intertwined hands, taking her own back out of his.

''What if they don't miss the next time, FP? Now it's your arm, but it could be--'' Her voice cracked in the middle of her sentence, unable to even say those words out loud.