His Gold Assassin

Part 6

I awoke to the foul smell of blood with an aching headache that seemed to be fueled by the wretched smells around me.

"Eight." Hermial's voice came from behind me, its texture dry and catching as though he had been choked. I slowly sat up, noting that my ribs were on fire like much of the rest of my body. My head was pounding and when I opened my eyes the dim lights from outside of the cell still managed to make my head throb. Hermial was sitting in between Dokita and myself in the small cage. Dokita's eyes were almost completely swollen shut and the right side of his jaw was bruised. He definitely didn't look nearly as hurt as Hermeil who was sporting a black and swollen eye, a busted lip, a cracked eyebrow and a possibly broken nose. His knuckles were busted and his hands covered with blood but what concerned me the most was the raspy breaths I could hear him take. He needed to get checked out or at least let Dokita or I take a look at him.

"How long did I fight?" My voice barely made it past my lips and my burning throat.

"Not sure. Woke up when you were already back." I glanced around the room outside of the cell but found it to still be empty. I returned my gaze back to Hermiel who seemed pretty relaxed despite being in pain.

"Let me take a look at you," I offered and Hermiel nodded in compliance before scooting closer to me. I doubted that the Huskilarians would offer us any medical aid so we needed to make sure nothing was too serious and if so, we needed to find a solution.

I gently helped guide Hermiel onto the cold grated floor and gestured for him to unzip his suit so I could examine his ribs. Upon further inspection of his bruised chest I found he had major bruising across his muscular chest and stomach though I didn't prod too much in case something was broken. His hands were busted open with several cuts, some of them surprisingly deep as though he had hit someone's bone or teeth. His nose also needed to be set so I worked quickly to break the bone back into place as Dokita offered a forearm to grip for the pain.

"We need to wrap you up and clean your cuts." I looked around the room but saw nothing that was close enough to the cage to use. And it wasn't like our suits were exactly tearable.

"I doubt we'll find that here. Let me see your injuries for now." I obliged and laid down on the cold metal floor, grateful that it appeared at least semi-clean for the time being. The hard metal dug into the back of my skull but I held still as Hermiel began to examine my wrist, muttering about it being fractured. I didn't need him to confirm my own thoughts but it was admittedly nice for someone else to be checking my wounds for once. "Open your suit and I'll check your ribs."

"God, get a room you two," Dokita whined from his spot against one wall.

"Just because you have the mind of a delinquent boy doesn't mean the rest of us do, Seven," Hermiel scowled even with his marred face. I ignored their bickering and unzipped my suit down to my lower stomach. Hermiel reached under my open suit to feel my ribs rather than expose me completely, but I didn't have a preference one way or the other. I'd prefer knowing if I had any serious injuries over keeping my modesty in a jail cell.

"I don't feel anything broken." It hurt like hell when I breathed deeply, so I'd assume I had some fractures or major bruising. I zipped my suit back up and Hermial helped me to sit back up before examining my face. "I'm sure you also have contusions on the rest of your body but there's minimal to your face. There's... a lot of rough bruising around your neck and a large bruise on your left cheek with swelling but your face seems intact." I nodded, grateful for the evaluation though a small part of me was defeated that Zarth would still train me as a succubus if we ever got back. "I also wouldn't be surprised if a few bones in your hands were fractured or broken. They look pretty swollen but there's nothing we can exactly do from inside this cage."