Imprisoned and Betrayed

/8\

Removing a key from her inner pocket, Scarlett unlocked Drayce's chains. "Lay down." She ordered.

He rubbed his sore wrists, the bandages still on them were brown with dried blood. He begrudgingly lowered his back onto the cement floor, wincing slightly.

Picking the knife up, Scarlett felt along his ribs, feeling for the caved in rib. Locating it, she grabbed gloves from a table, and put them on. Taking a deep breath, Scarlett felt once more for the rib, and began cutting. Drayce hissed, releasing a breath through clenched teeth. Scarlett continued cutting, until she could see the inside of Drayce. She swallowed hard as she saw the ribs. One was cracked and pushing towards his liver. Carefully, she set down the knife and grasped the rib, moving it back in place. He jerked slightly, a let out a quiet groan, obviously using all of the self control he had to stay still.

Scarlett stood up, quickly grabbed a needle and medical thread from a drawer, and returned to Drayce. Threading the needle with some difficulty, Scarlett stitched up the opening. She carefully pulled the stitches tight. Then selecting some bandages, Scarlett ordered Drayce, "Sit up."

At first, he hesitated. But after thinking through his options he decided to do as she asked. Slowly, he placed his hands on the floor and hoisted himself up. Sweat dripped down his face, making little rivers through the dirt and grime. Scarlett wrapped the bandages around his ribs tightly, so as to keep them in place, and examined her work for a moment.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Drayce hardened his expression and jumped up. He grabbed Scarlett and reached for her gun, hoping to use it against her. He had just located the gun and fumbled with Scarlett for it when a loud bang resonated through the air.

Drayce released Scarlett and looked down at his stomach. Instantly, the fresh bandages turned red. Travis had shot him.

Drayce choked and dropped to his knees. Scarlett turned pale and whirled around to face Travis, "What were you thinking, you moron?!" She screamed at him. Driven by rage she lunged at him, throwing a hard punch to his jaw. Without giving him a chance to recover, she threw another punch. And another.

After a few more hard punches, Scarlett stepped back, and taking a shaky breath, returned to Drayce.

To her own surprise, Scarlett realized tears were falling from her eyes. Desperately she tried to apply pressure to the wound, to stop the bleeding. Drayce had fallen back to the ground and was losing consciousness swiftly. His breathing was labored as blood continued to gush from the bullet wound.

Scarlett quickly grabbed a large towel, and pressed it to the wound. She held it for several moments, until she guessed the bleeding had slowed. Rummaging through the many drawers in the room, she found a tweezer, a couple matches, and a scalpel. Using the tweezer, Scarlett removed the bullet. Grabbing Drayce's cut up shirt, she started it on fire and held the blunt end of the scalpel over the fire until it was red-hot.

Swiftly, Scarlett brought the scalpel over and ripped the bandages away from the bullet hole. With a deep breath, she pressed the hot end of the scalpel onto the gaping hole. Instantly, Drayce screamed and his body jerked, rejecting the hot, blinding pain.

Scarlett lifted the scalpel up, and held it over the fire, heating it up again. She pressed it on the wound again for a few seconds, repeating the process until the wound was completely clotted up. By the time she was done, Drayce had passed out, the pain becoming too much for his body to handle.

Scarlett set the hot scalpel down on the cold cement floor, and drew her knees up to her body, resting her head on it.

She tried to sort through her feelings, which felt like a whirlwind within her. At first she had thought that why she didn't want Drayce to die was because of Clev, but she searched deeper and realized that that wasn't the truth. She didn't want him to die. She was sure of that now. And she was also sure that it wasn't because of her job, or Clev. However, she didn't have much to to reflect on these feelings as Travis stirred. He let out a long and annoyed groan, sitting up. Scarlett raised her eyes at him in an unpleasant expression.

His gaze turned to her and he growled, "What was that for?! You told me to shoot him if he tried anything funny!"

"Not in the stinking stomach!" Scarlett exploded, "I was thinking more like in the calf or something!"

Travis jumped up and clenched his fists. "Well maybe you should have said so!" He shouted.

Scarlett stood up slowly, "Well I thought even a moron like you would understand that Clev wouldn't be very happy if you killed the prisoner!"

"He's not dead, idiot!" Travis shot back.

"He barely survived!" Scarlett yelled at him, choking slightly as the reality of her own words hit her.

"But he did survive. So relax."

Scarlett swallowed hard, barely holding her temper, "Never," she started slowly, "do that again." She glared at him, hatred filling her.

"Why are you getting so upset, Scarlett? He's just a prisoner." Travis asked, slightly confused.

Scarlett hesitated a moment before saying, "Clev would be very upset with me if he died. We might need more information from him, and then what would happen if he had died?" Scarlett lied, knowing that it wasn't because of her job that she wanted him alive anymore.

"Okay. I'm sorry." He forced out, raising his hands in a calming manner. "But I think we should probably chain him back up soon." Travis suggested, glancing at the unconscious figure on the blood-stained floor.

Scarlett nodded, "In a little bit, I'll chain him back up. You can leave now."

"Fine. But get someone else to help you next time." Travis muttered as he typed in the passcode to leave. He waited while the door slid back and soon was gone. A quiet click was the only sound as the door shut tightly. Scarlett rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Drayce. 'Why do I want him alive?' She asked herself, seeking answers, 'Is this lov- no. Stop being ridiculous Scarlett. He is your job. Nothing more.' Briskly, she walked over to a chair and plunked down into it.

She slouched there for several hours and still Drayce remained unconscious. Not a single sound nor movement came from him except for the steady rise and fall of his chest. Scarlett watched him, mulling over the troubling question,
'Why? Why, Scarlett, do you want him alive?' Scarlett asked herself angrily, 'Why did you react like that when Travis nearly killed him?'

A/N

Hey guys! I hope you are enjoying this story! I know it's been a while since I updated... Eesh. Sorry bout that. I'll try to do better in the future. Anyways, please vote, comment, or follow if you liked it:)

Ithildae and Evara