Frozen Chains

Chapter 13

Tooth watched worriedly as the two boys slept. They had been at the Pole for three days now. Most of their physical trauma made it impossible to walk, and the Guardians were also concerned that Jack and Jay were getting ill.

"They don't look much better, Toothy." Bunny said.

"I know." She replied, "In fact, I think they look worse."

It was true. Not only were they still thin and weak, now they had faces that were flushed with fever, coughs, glassy eyes, and as of late, headaches.

"We have medicine," said North, "Did you give them some of that?"

Sandman nodded miserably.

Jack stirred slightly in his sleep, a whimper coming from his mouth. Tooth tensed, asking quickly, "Is it another nightmare, Sandy?"

Sandman shook his head, frowning. A band-aid appeared over his head.

"He's in pain." Bunny translated.

"Should I wake him up and give him more medicine?" Tooth asked, "I feel like we should let him sleep."

Jay coughed feebly, his thin arms shaking against the Velcro. 

"I think we should wake them both up." North said. Sandman shrugged and nodded solemnly.

Oh, I wish we could just let them sleep!  Tooth thought, They look so tired...

However, she approached the bed where Jack slept nonetheless, gently laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Jack, wake up, kay? I need to get you medicine." She murmured. 

Jack jumped awake and pulled back instantly, fear clearly written across his features, trembling. Tooth felt her heart sink down to her feet. He was so afraid of them. It was clear that he had only known abuse and torment for so long that he actually expected it.

"I'm just gonna give you a little medicine, and then you can sleep." Tooth promised. "How do you feel?"

"F-fine." He whispered.

North was so surprised that he nearly fell. The fact that Jack actually answered Tooth was monumental, but saying he felt fine when he looked so sick...!

"Are ya sure about that?" Bunny asked.

Jack winced and nodded.

Sandman frowned.

"You're allowed to tell us if you're in pain, Jack." Tooth said gently. Jack's eyes widened and he started shaking slightly. "Pitch... Pitch probably never let you say when you were hurting, huh?"

At the sound of the name, a whimper escaped Jack's lips. His eyes darted around the room, searching for the Lord of the Shadows, and he began trembling violently, curling up slightly.

Tooth realized she probably shouldn't have mentioned Pitch.

"Hey, you can relax." Tooth said, "He isn't here. You're safe. He can't get to you anymore."

Jack only shook his head. "Y-you don't un-u-understand. He's-" He cut off with a gasp, tensing and grimacing from pain. 

"I was right, then. You do need medicine." Tooth said, though more to herself than anyone else.

As she filled a paper cup with pain and fever meds, she noticed Jack raise a trembling hand and stare at it, his eyes growing wide.

The hand was covered with scars.

Not cuts or bruises, actually, horribly, terribly scarred.

The skin on the hand was warped, twisted, and marred, like it had been dipped into boiling water. Jack probably hadn't seen the scars because it was dark where he lived before, because now he looked shocked.