Months

25

Lavender doesn't like playing nurse. It's not natural. She's the one who causes cuts and bruises, both on herself and on others. She's the one who sends people to the ER— where they're out of sight, out of mind. Sure, she's learned enough about first aid on her own ever since the school nurses started turning her away, but constantly patching herself up is one thing. Patching up Kenton is another.

She's had to change his bandages several times already, often more than once a day, thanks to Mateo. She told him to take it easy with the videos so Kenton could heal up, but apparently Mateo doesn't know what "take it easy" means. Lavender kicks him out of the room for the third time so she can do her job (that he assigned to her in the first place) uninterrupted.

"Hurry up, we've got orders to fill."

"Yeah, yeah. Just keep your hands to yourself until I'm done," she says, throwing her water bottle at his head. She misses, and it hits the wall next to the door and rolls on the floor.

Mateo grumbles and walks off, muttering to himself under his breath, and then they're alone. Kenton is already sitting down in a chair, his wrists tied to the back. He's not gagged or blindfolded for the time being. Turns out he kicks and yells a lot more with them than without.

Lavender turns away to look at the supplies she has left, which isn't much. She can hear the chair creak as Kenton shifts nervously behind her. It might be a good idea to tell Mateo to pick up some more hand sanitizer. And maybe some antiseptic wipes. And some—

"Are you just going to ignore me?" Kenton gripes.

She should also tell Mateo to get more duct tape. Lavender turns around and Kenton startles. He shuffles his feet awkwardly. He's still without pants. She thought he'd stop being so shy about it, especially now that he's not wearing pants most of the time these days. He gets more worked up when she looks at him. She turns away again.

"Any throbbing?" Lavender asks.

"... What?"

"Is your wound throbbing. Swelling. Extra red. Hurts more. Is it infected," she reiterates.

"Oh. Uh. No. No, it's feeling better," Kenton mumbles. Lavender bobs her head. That's good. She can be done with this sooner. And there aren't any antibiotics left anyways. She cleans her hands, grabs an alcohol wipe and more bandages and approaches him. He immediately tenses.

"Fucking relax, I just need to see how it's healing."

Kenton's uneasy glare stays fixed on her. Lavender kneels beside him to peel the bandage from his leg. It doesn't stick— there's no dried blood. Not like she's expecting any. The wound should be closed by now. Lavender presses on it.

"Ow! Fuck, stop it!"

"Does that hurt?"

"Yes! Quit it!"

"How much does it hurt?"

"Not as much as when you fucking stabbed me in the first place!"

Lavender grunts and takes her hand away. It's looking a little irritated now— the wound, but also Kenton— but it'll be fine. She tears open the wipe and dabs it on Kenton's thigh. He tenses up at the icy touch. He breathes deeply, shakily, as Lavender cleans the wound again.

This is the only time she's noticed he truly shuts the fuck up. She can tell he wants to make some sort of contemptuous comment, but he doesn't actually say anything. She doubts it's because he's learned better.

Lavender tosses the used wipe aside and unwraps the bandage. Carefully, she places it on his thigh and smooths down the edges.

"Now move your leg," she tells him. Kenton blinks and lifts his foot from the floor, stretches his leg, bends his knee, and settles back down. Lavender thinks. With Mateo's planned activities later, it'll probably come undone. She unrolls some more bandages.

"It's fine," Kenton grumbles. Lavender ignores him and starts to wrap over the first dressing.

"I said it's fine!"

"It'd fall off in five minutes with all your usual squirming," Lavender says while adding another layer.

"I won't squirm!"

She looks at him.

Kenton looks away.

Lavender finishes wrapping the bandage and secures it in place. "Done. It'll still fall off, but after tomorrow, it won't need to be replaced."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, I've got better things to do. You'll live." She stands and tidies up, while Kenton restlessly pulls against the rope. He's eyeing the water bottle on the floor. Lavender pauses at the door. "Has Mateo given you anything to drink today?"

Kenton shakes his head. Lavender rolls her eyes and grabs the bottle she was saving for herself, cracks it open, and puts it to his lips. He drinks thirstily, not spilling a single drop, and Lavender takes the bottle away when it's empty.

"Yell if you need something. I'm done."

Kenton nods in appreciation and watches her leave. She doesn't see how he opens his mouth to say something, but closes it again after another thought.