a thousand instincts (#1)

Pain and Desire (40)

     "On what side of her body?" Diana demanded, "nothing's untouched, it'll hurt her if we put her down!” Aeress could not have agreed more. 

     "Look at what we did to her!" Maribelle cried. "She can barely breathe. How-"

     "Calm down, you're not helping!" Another male cut in. "What's done is done. Right now, she needs us, we can not fail her." 

     Aeress cried out when she was put on her back. Her skin was so tender, the most subtle contact sent a lash of pain throughout her entire body. Her mind threatened to shut down. She would black out before she could endure any more abuse, this she knew as the truth. 

     Her eyes finally came closed as she fought to stay conscious. 

     And then she felt his presence, covering her, embracing her like a warm blanket. Finally, she felt safe. 

     "David, go fetch-Premier! Sir! We-“ 

     “Leave now.” His voice left no room for discussion. In fact, she could feel the concealed fury underneath his calm and cold demeanor. She never recalled being able to read him so easily before. “Heal yourselves. I will handle her.” They failed to move for a hot second, but eventually did. 

     As soon as they were the only two souls in the room, he was by her side immediately. 

     “Look what they did to you… It’s okay now, it’s just me, Aeress.” 

     “Warrick,” she sobbed, it was a mumble but she knew he could understand her, “Warrick make it stop, please!” The tears rolled down her cheeks and she sobbed like a baby. “It hurts so bad, please.” She couldn’t breathe. Maybe she would die right there. 

     She screeched when he grabbed her. She was burning alive. This was what dying felt like. Every nerve was shot to shit. Aeress trembled, even as it only worsened how she felt. There was not much she could do but lay there. 

     “This salve is infused with my blood, it will hasten the healing process. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to stitch some of these shut, and I need to put many of these bones back in their places. Anyone would have blacked out by now, but you are still conscious because you are too strong… I will help you.” 

     She felt a small prick in her arm and that was it.

______________________________________

    Her entire physique was an echo of pain. Every part of her reverberated with aching memories thrust into the core of her bones, bones which had been shattered not so long ago. But a dull, background ache she could take, and at this point, any moment of repose, she would gladly embrace. 

    She took a deep breath, and yes it hurt like hell, but at least she could breathe. 

    She felt the arms around her and whimpered. It was Warrick, she knew his touch all too well, but this time the contact between them did not torture her, and instead brought comfort like it always did before. 

    "Shh," he whispered into her ear. "I've got you. It's alright.” 

    She groaned as he let her naked form down into a warm pool of water. The shock of it startled her, but the healing effects soon made themselves known and soothed her before she could cry. Her eyes briefly shot up to Warrick. He was covered in blood, her blood. 

    The exhaustion is his eyes gave her a sadness, or maybe it was his sadness she was feeling. Aeress couldn’t quite tell anymore 

     He pulled off his murky clothing, one article at a time, revealing those tattoos she had come to think of as beautiful. The crimson had seeped through the cloth, coloring the spots of flesh uncovered by ink with lighter shades of red.