Frost & Flames | Soulmate AU 2 |

Four

Jacob notices the sling my arm is in as he's handing me some clothes to change into and tells me to wait before I jump into the shower. He disappears down the same hall the bathroom and is back quickly with rolls of fiberglass meant for casts and some fluffy cotton in his hand.

"C'mon," he says, jerking his head back in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll cast your arm up for you."

"It's already healing," I say, follow him despite this. "It'll only take a week, really, you don't have to."

He pulls out one of the chairs at the kitchen table, dragging one for himself close to it as I sit down.

"That won't do any good if it heals wrong," he replies. "You'll just have to get it rebroken and, trust me, it's not very fun."

I nod, allowing him to reach around my neck and untie the knot Alex tied into the shirt he ripped up. It hurts every time Jacob touches me arm as he peels off the medical tape holding the broken meter stick to either side of it. I grit my teeth and bear it because this guy is only trying to help. I'd rather not have to get my arm rebroken.

"I'm just gonna wrap it in some of this cotton and then cover it in this fancy fiberglass cast material," Jacob tells me, holding my arm with gentle fingers as he winds the rolls of cotton round and round it. Next comes the blue fiberglass, which look a little bit like normal tape. He uses the whole roll of the stuff, and I'm wondering how exactly this is the stuff casts are made of.

"It'll harden up in about ten minutes," he tells me. "Chemical reactions, kid, crazy shit."

He stands, grabbing the empty cardboard rolls and the ripped up t-shirt that used to be my sling. I turn, staring as he tosses them into his kitchen garbage and then ducks to pull a plastic bag out from beneath the sink.

"Let's wrap you up and then I'll show you how the dials in the shower work," he says, sliding the bag up my arm and doing his best to tie it tight enough to make sure water won't automatically slide inside.

Jacob shows me how the shower works, places the clothes he got me on the closed toilet lid, and then leaves me to my own devices. I lock the door once he's gone and then check that I actually locked it and didn't just imagine it a moment later. Next is the shower. I crank the water on hot and move the clothes to sit on the toilet while the water heats up. The good news is that I've finally stopped bleeding. I toss the wad of toilet paper into the little waste basket next to the toilet and try not to think about it.

The shower itself is quite the experience. My body practically melts under the heat pelting against it. I try to keep my arm out of the spray as much as possible, scrubbing Irish Spring shampoo into my hair and rinsing it out just as fast. There's a bar of it, too, which I use to wash my body. It reminds me of home, really, because while I don't normally use the soap brand, Rowan does. It smells just like him. There's a sudden ache in my chest, something like a loss. I'd trade this godsend of shower if it meant getting to see Rowan instead any day.

I do my best to towel off with one hand, tugging on the clothes Jacob left for me. They're about two sizes too big, but it doesn't really bother me considering Rowan's clothes are too and I steal those for myself all the time.

Jacob is sitting on the couch in front of the TV when I get back to the living room.

"Hey, kid, I was planning on ordering Chinese food. How's that sound?" he asks.

"That's okay," I reply, sitting on the opposite end of the couch from him.

"Alrighty, lemme grab the phone."