Danny Clark is a Nobody

Chapter Twenty Seven

I heard a knock on my door. "Come in." I spoke. James entered, holding a box. He came closer and sat on the edge of bed. He was wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a white t-shirt. He opened the box and revealed a bunch of medical supplies. "Stole these from Freddie." He said humorously. I smiled.

"Can I make sure that your wound is okay?" He asked quietly. I hesitated. He was being really considerate. But, then again, the fucking scars. "Um, sure." I mumbled. His face brightened. I guess he really was worried. He moved closer to me. "May I?" He asked meaning to lift my shirt up. I lifted it up and I heard his breath hitch.

Not meeting his intense gaze, I removed the bloody gauze. The wound was ugly, dry blood was sticking to my skin. James's eyes scanned the cut anxiously. "Would it be okay if I call a doctor? We wouldn't be going to a hospital." He asked. I nodded.

"Great." James exhaled. He texted Michael. "He said he's gonna call the doctor." James told me. "Okay," I replied. "I'm just gonna clean it for you, okay?" James said. I nodded. He walked into my bathroom and emerged, holding a wet cloth. He sat back down on my bed and with extreme focus, he rubbed it against my wound.

Holding back a wince, I watched as James gently cleaned the dry blood from my skin. He was frowning in concentration. I was entirely uncomfortable. Because now, I knew James saw my scars.

When I first moved here, I compiled a list of rules I was going to follow. Always be polite, never open up. I've broken both those rules. I was a mess. A complete and total mess. I lashed out at Michael once, and broken down in front of everyone countless of times. I was so stupid.

"Am I hurting you?" James asked. "No." I muttered absentmindedly. James's phone then rang. He picked it up. "Hello?" He said. I couldn't hear the other end of the phone call, but James muttered an "okay" after a long silence and then hung up. He then turned to me. "The doctor said there's no need for closing the stitches. We can just use bandages to... honestly, I don't know what he meant. I have no idea." James said, smiling embarrassedly.

"Oh, like, letting the wound close itself naturally?" I asked. James nodded. "Yeah. Freddie's better at this sort of stuff. Do you want me to get him?" He asked. I hesitated. "Um, can I do it myself?" I asked. James frowned. "But, you don't have to." He mumbled. Maybe he thought I didn't want their help. "Okay." I sighed. James's face brightened and he left my room, returning shortly with Freddie by his side.

Freddie smiled supportively at me and then sat at my bed. He raised his eyebrows at James when he saw his medical box. James grinned sheepishly. Freddie got antibiotics and ointment from the box. He was gentle and skilled in his application of the ointment on my wound. He didn't react to my scars, which made me slightly more comfortable.

"This is to prevent infection." Freddie muttered as he focused on closing the wound with bandages. After he was done, I pulled my shirt back down. "Thank you." I said, smiling gratefully at James and Freddie. "No problem. But Danny, you can't be too active until this is fully healed." Freddie warned. I nodded. "You should get some sleep." James said, as he and Freddie both left my bedroom. I nodded and smiled. "Good night." I said. With a mumbled "good night" by each of Freddie and James, they closed the door behind them.

I hated bandages. I itched to remove them, but I knew I'd be risking infection. Not that it stopped me before, but the thing is, I have Freddie and James monitoring me now. I heard a notification from my phone.

Lily
is your wound infected?
can you even tell if it infected yet?
is it still bleeding?

Me
It's not infected, as far as I could tell
No, the bleeding stopped