Warped

Chapter 16: Lukas

"AH!"

My claws burst out and dig into the blanket I'm holding, my breaths short and pained. All the fur I have bristling and even my tail is coiled around Olivia's waist, at first to push her away but now just something to squeeze when a wave of pain hits.

"Agh! It burns!"

I don't mean to cry out like this, I know Olivia shouldn't hear it. But I can't help it, the words just flying out of my mouth as she tries to clean the wounds on my back. My entire back feeling so raw and busted up.

"I'm sorry Lukas, but I promise it will help them heal." Olivia scrubs some more water over them with her one arm, and my gasps stagger into a growl.

"Yeah, I- ah- know." I hiss when Olivia repeats this process, having to go slow since she as to suck water out of the tank. It's far from the cleanest way to clean wounds, but it is the best we can do here.

"Just give it a few more minutes and the sedative should kick in."

I kill the very bitter sarcastic remark I was about to throw at her. Olivia doesn't need that, she's just trying to help. I need to be at the top of my game at all times. It's going to be really hard to look for a way out of here if all my wounds get infected and I can barely move.

Taking deep breaths, I manage not to make any cry of pain except for a low growl as Olivia keeps cleaning my wounds. After this, I'm drinking some water and will have to lay on my stomach. Hopefully I'll still be cognitive to be able to talk with the others though.

She sighs, completely relieved. "There, I'm done. It's far from the best, but the best I can do. I hope it's good."

I nod, a bit too eagerly, and try to make my way towards the tank as carefully as possible. "Thank you Olivia, I'm sure you did a much better job even with your one arm than what Axel and Petra could do."

Olivia chuckles quietly before it suddenly cuts off. Those two are sleeping, so it's not like she doesn't want to get caught laughing. No, it's not that unfortunately. It's because she probably thought that a wolf or an iron golem might be really bad wound cleaners. Laughed at the thought, and then remembered how strange it is for a one armed spider to do that.

I bend, mewling in pain as the burn marks stretch, and begin to drink. The fierce instinct to just deny it and spit it out digs into me, but I ignore it. I have to stay hydrated, I have to. These stupid cat instincts can take a hike, the human instincts come first. So just move aside cat impulses.

With water slouching around in my stomach, I pull away. Feeling quite sick knowing what I just drank but feeling better with some water in me now. I glance at Olivia, who has returned to her bed, and quickly decide she's not up for talking about anything. She looks asleep if she isn't already.

I follow her lead and slowly lower myself onto my bed, my back shrieking at me about what poor choices I'm making. But at least the sedative is kicking in, the pain slowly dulling out. As if simply moving away from me.

A heavy fog drifts over me as I sigh, my body burning and sore while my mind frets. How long will it be until my friends have to go through that torture? Will I be strong enough to help them as they helped me? Will they even be punished? They won't be punished because of what I did, right?

Hissing, I discard the thoughts. No more sulking, no more of it. If I can go through this stuff and remain hopeful, that might help the others stay positive too. Maybe not positive, but at least determined enough to shove it in these monsters' faces.

So maybe I shouldn't be laying in bed at all, I'll end up falling asleep if I'm laying down. With the sedative flowing through my body again, it won't be long until my mind gives away into the exhaustion.