Bound

Chapter 65 - Help

Dmitri

Skylar is lying on her bed, her breathing labored and tears once again fresh on her beautiful face. I tried to be as gentle as possible when carrying her, but the position of this bruise was in an awkward place, making that quite tricky.

I hand her more tissues and then head to the kitchen to put the kettle on and get some water and an ice pack. I head back, giving her the water, which she drinks silently while her pain-filled eyes examine me. I hand her the ice pack, which she gently holds against the right hip joint, flinching at the contact.

"I'll make you some chamomile tea. Have you had dinner? Before you answer, remember I'm good at distinguishing lies from truth." My gut tells me she hasn't even had lunch. On more than one occasion. She looks like she has lost some of the weight she put back on while staying at Andrea's.

She looks away as she mumbles quietly, "At least one of us is." 

"I haven't yet. But I'm not that hungry, so you don't have to worry," she says, looking at me. I want to ask her if she ate lunch but decide now is not the time to argue about her bad non-eating habits.

"I haven't had dinner either, so I'll make something." I leave, not waiting for more excuses. Just in time as the kettle is singing. I take Sky her tea, her small thanks the only words we exchange. She looks fragile and lonely in her bed, the sadness permeating the space around us.

I know she is sad. I can hear her cries every night before she falls asleep. While she hasn't seen me for two weeks, I have seen her daily. I tried to stay away, but I couldn't. I lurk in the tree line like a stalker, trying to catch a glimpse of her during the day while I hover outside her bedroom window at night, listening to her cry herself to sleep. Ivan and Kira have noticed my lack of concentration and missing episodes at work. They know where I am going without me telling them.

For the past year, I have been glued to my desk, every waking moment spent at the office. I hated being around Savannah and used work as an excuse to be absent. Suddenly Sky appears, and everything changes. Ivan and Kira are not that dumb that they can't join the dots, but thankfully, they say nothing.

I was loitering outside her place tonight when I heard her scream. When the second one escaped her lips, I knew something was wrong, and without thinking, I came in to check on her. When I saw her sobbing, hunched over by the table, my heart clenched in response. I hated seeing her like this and wished I could take her pain away. I was warring with the feelings inside of me constantly, ones pulling me to her and others saying I should stay away. I just didn't think I could stay away, in all honesty. She had no one. And I knew it was eating away at her.

The timer on the oven goes off, signaling the end of my introspection. I decided on a vegetarian pasta with cherry tomatoes and a cream cheese sauce, topped with grated cheese grilled in the oven. Simple but tasty. I dish a large portion for myself and a smaller portion for Sky before returning to her room.

She has stopped crying, but her eyes are puffy. She looks tired. I hand her a bowl before sitting in a chair opposite the bed by the window. It isn't made for a big man like me, but it will do. We eat in silence. A comfortable one, surprisingly.

"Wow, Dmitri, I didn't think I was hungry, but once I started, I couldn't stop," she chuckles as I take her empty bowl from her and put it on mine. "Thank you, it was delicious." I smile back at her, genuinely happy she has eaten everything.

"Would you like some more?" I doubt she will, but I ask anyway.

"Gods no, thank you, I'm stuffed. But can you please grab the jar of cream on the windowsill in the kitchen on your way back?"

"Sure." I head back to the kitchen and tidy up so she doesn't have to worry about a mess in the morning. Cream in hand, I head back to her room. I have seen a similar cream in her shop before.

Handing it to her, I watch as the gears start turning. She is thinking about what to do. She needs to apply the balm but needs help getting undressed, and I know she is hesitant to ask me. I'm not sure how I feel about being in such an intimate position with her, considering how things are between us now. But there is little option. I was also given strict instructions from Raina and Ally to let them know if anything was wrong. This fell into that category.

"Look, you need help, and I am here. I also need to see how it looks to let Ally and Raina know. They may need to give you more pain relief tea until we figure out what is causing this."

She knows this is the only way, and after some time, with the two of us just staring at each other and summing up the situation, she nods.

"Okay, let's do this quickly. I don't want you losing sleep over me, and it's getting pretty late," Sky says, depositing the balm on the side table.

She is wearing a pair of colorful loose boho pants and a loose sleeveless top. The bruise on her shoulder has started fading, but there is a new one on the inside of her left upper arm, a smaller one on the knuckle of her wrist, and one on the left inner upper arm. She follows my eyes and nervously laughs.

"Doesn't look so great, right? Don't worry. I've had worse. Okay, if you can come here and shimmy my pants down, we can have a look-see at the current culprit." She is nervous, her tell being the increased heart rate and anxious chuckle.

I move to her side, and we manage to get her pants off with surprisingly less impact on her hip than I thought was possible. She still flinches in pain, but there is no screaming or tears.

Sky moves her boy short panties out of the way to reveal the source of her current pain. While not the biggest I have seen on her, this one on her hip is certainly runner-up. It is pitch black and so inflamed it is raised from the rest of the skin. I sit on the side of the bed next to her, grabbing the balm from the side table.

"It's a new formula. I added some herbs that numb and ones that offer extra pain relief to this batch. Let's hope it works. It's the first time I'm using it." I take a small amount on my finger and gently apply it to the bruise, careful not to put any pressure on the spot.

"Have you tried what Raina suggested? You know, releasing the energy that's building up inside?" I ask her, watching as a blush creeps up to take its place on her cheeks.

"Um, no. I hadn't had time, and then the pain was too severe. So just no," she says shyly, looking away.

"Just asking. Anyway, get some sleep. I'll be here for a while until you fall asleep, in case you need anything, and then I'll head off." I make my way over to the small chair by the window.

"That chair is too small for you. Just lie here on the bed. There's a book on the side table if you are bored." She stifles a yawn at the end. Was it a wise idea to share a bed with her, even if it was only for a short while until she fell asleep? Which looked to be imminent.

"Dmitri, we're both adults, and you're just lying here, nothing else. So, stop overthinking it," Sky says as her eyes close.

I lower myself onto the side of the bed beside her, the frame creaking at the added weight. As suggested, I pick up the book next to me. The cover implies it's some new age, conscious living book. Not something I am averse to reading. I open the book and start reading, guessing I should be out of here in the next ten or fifteen minutes based on Sky's breathing.

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