Captive To Captivated

Part 14

❤️ PLEASE VOTE IF YOU LIKE IT ❤️

Carmella

Dull throbbing aches pulled me mercilessly out of my slumber. My face scrunched up instantly as the pain grew stronger and stronger the more I awakened. I blinked a few times before stopping as soon as my left eye started pounding. It stayed shut, too swollen to open. My lips parted to cry but a slow cracked whine drew out instead.

This triggered my parched throat causing me to cough. My whole body to erupted in pain from the movement and I gasped. I ran my tongue over my bottom lip, tasting my own blood from a stinging cut. I continued to stare at the mouldy ceiling with my one good eye, too sore to move, too sore to breathe.

Each breath I took into my lungs only caused more distress in my chest and torso. I used my non-bruised arm to reach up to my ribcage and gently touch it. A wince escaped my lips from the soft contact. I pulled my head up and struggled to use my good arm to push my upper body against the headrest.

Breathing in sharply, pain crammed through my abdomen and ribs yet again. After the dizziness passed, I noticed a bottle of water sitting next to me on the mattress. I quickly looked around the room to see if anyone was inside, instantly regretting my speed when I felt my headache turn into a migraine from spinning my neck. I winced and examined the room slowly. I was alone.

I grabbed the water, rushing to unscrew the seal even though my arms felt heavy with pain. I put the rim to my mouth and whimpered, withdrawing as soon as the plastic touched my sliced lip. I gently licked the cut in attempts to lessen the stinging sensation before carefully taking a sip from the bottle. Each gulp that rushed down my throat gave me more liveliness but also caused more pain in my stomach. I downed it quicker than a kid could melt fairy floss in their mouth.

I twisted the cap back on the empty bottle and dropped it next to me, breathing heavily like I'd just done some vigorous cardio. I hesitantly pulled my shirt up a little, revealing a massive, dark blotch on my side. The dark purple blended in with brown and green over my tender skin the size of a melon. Before I could put my shirt down to cover the hideous bruise, the door unlocked and pushed open.

My body tensed when I glanced up to see Jason saunter in. He was carrying a feeble wooden chair in one hand and a bucket in his other hand. I had quickly tugged my shirt back down and pulled my knees to my chest, ignoring the incredible agony that one movement caused. But I knew he'd already gotten a glimpse because he stopped in his tracks and froze with his eyes lingering awkwardly over where I just drew my shirt. "You should've just kept your mouth shut," he muttered sounding distracted.

"Why don't you just shut your face?" I croaked with a groggy throat, my anger overpowering the wave of terror that secretly cloaked me from being in his presence.

Shut up, Carmella. You're in no fit state to fight back right now. You're going to get yourself killed if you don't−

"...Watch yourself," he lowered his voice into a husky threat, his eyes now on mine.

I clenched my sore jaw to try and keep from affronting him more. If I weren't in immeasurable pain, I probably wouldn't have kept my mouth shut but spat out every insult I could think of until he also knocked me out cold.

He seemed pleased when I decided to stop verbally abusing him and made his way inside. He set the chair next to the bed and sat down in front of me so we were only about a foot apart. I sat up warily but fought to stay in place so he wouldn't know how much he intimidated me.

He took out a medical kit from the bin and placed it on the bed in front of him. Next he pulled out a small square towel and chucked it next to the kit as well as a bag of ice. But when he pulled out a tissue box and placed it on the floor next to the bed along with the bucket, I contemplated what that was all about. 

Did he think I'd need it to constantly wipe away my tears or something? That I'd cry so much and fill up the whole wastebasket with my snotty tissues? I felt incensed at my assumption of his presumption.

He leaned forward and wiped the towel on my forehead, pulling me out of my offended thoughts. I instantly recoiled my head backwards out of surprise from the cool dampness of the towel and looked at him with suspicion.

"Sit still. Unless you want the blood all over your face to stay?" he snapped.

I glared at him but chose to listen. He patted the cold cloth against the cut on my head and I had to close my eyes from the discomfort. Once he had cleaned away the blood, I had to admit to myself it did feel refreshing; especially since that was the closest thing I'd had to a shower in the last three days. 

He opened the first aid box and drew out a bottle of some sort of liquid along with a few cotton balls. I eyed his movements cautiously while he dabbed the clear fluid on the cotton. A strong acidic stench filled my nostrils distastefully and I involuntarily cringed, making the muscles all over my face ache deeply.

"If you think the smell's bad..." he trailed off as he pressed the damp cotton onto the open wound on my forehead.

I instantly let out a yelp from the burning discomfort and my hands directly reached up around his wrist and tried to push them away. But he wasn't budging.

"Stop!" I exclaimed frantically.

I willed for the painful blazing to stop and as I moved further back he finally dropped his arm. I had edged myself to the corner of the tiny bed, trying to put some distance between us.

"It needs to be disinfected," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Why are you even bothering?" I shouted, extremely confused as to why he was doing this. He didn't say anything while I continued gasping in the pain and he waited for me to grow a pair.

"Come here," his firm voice instructed for me to move back closer but I shook my head stubbornly with my forehead still blazing and my migraine still pounding. His eyes flashed dangerously, "don't make me say it twice."

I knew I had to cooperate just from the mere look he was giving me. He really didn't like to repeat himself. I reluctantly inched back closer to him, slightly panting, and readied myself for more smouldering. He wiped the cotton back onto the cut and I squeezed my eyes shut, ignoring the twinge from my bruised eye. I felt them sting with tears but I forced myself to restrain them. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

He finally finished and removed the bloodied cotton. My hand had barely moved to touch my head when he spoke. "Don't touch it. It needs to dry." While my attention was focused on not touching my scorching head, I suddenly felt the hem of my shirt being pulled up. I yanked it back down just as I moved to glare at him wide-eyed.

"What the hell are you doing?" I exclaimed.

***

Ah another half chapter, I apologise! Don't worry though, Dr. McClane will be with you shortly ;) I'll try and upload the next chapter as soon as I finish editing!

Also just want to say thank you to all my readers, I'm really glad you're still reading (even if you're silent readers).

I've hit 1000 views and I know that's very little compared to many other wattpad stories on here, but for me that's a lot! haha

And thank you so much to those few same people who keep voting!! It really means a lot to know that you're enjoying and supporting my work.

Love you guys!