Barbed Lives ☑️

22. Side Subsidy

"Won't give you a chance, Instructor."
That's enough testing for now!

"Boys, get him to med care."
We all rushed to pick him up and carried him to the medcare before anybody sees his swollen eye which was starting to turn dark.

*****

"What the heck?"
Major Richard was surprised but acted quicker than I could register.

After examining Neil's face and ensuring that there's no permanent damage, he handed Neil an ice pack to cover his black eye and gave him ice cubes to keep in his mouth to stop the bleeding from his gums.

He then examined his pinky finger and let a loud sigh.
"That's not good."
He remarked and all of us raised our eyebrows.

"Broken?"
I asked him.

"No. It's dislocated. Must be hurting, right?"
Marks asked Neil who jerked a violent yes.

Damn.
And he pushed twenty with that!
Fuck.

"Any other day I'd relocate the joint without a warning. But not today. Hold him."
Marks told Charles and Kelly.

"What do you mean hold him?"
"Hold?"

Both of them asked in the same tone.
I would have laughed if Neil wasn't going crazy.

"He's going to kick me off while I place it back. Instructor, hold his arm. And Kelly - hold his feet. Firmly."
He replied quickly and Neil gulped.

'It will hurt more?' was clear on Neil's swollen face with one eye open and other covered with ice pack.

Nevertheless, he was captivated and Marks got hold of his left hand.
He used all his power and snapped his pinky finger out.

The plop sound was louder than Neil's muffled cry.
But it lasted for only a second.

"Bend it."
Marks told Neil and was glad that he replaced the joint correctly.

Neil had relaxed visibly since the most painful problem was tackled.

Charles and Kelly stepped aside and Marks examined rest of his body.
Neil was stripped to just his shorts and was made to stand with support.

There were countless marks and bruises over his torso, back and arms.

Marks tested and poked between his ribs to look for any broken ones. Gladly there was none.

After doing a detailed assessment and ensuring that there wasn't any other grave injury, Marks turned infuriated.

"Now. Will you care to explain what the fuck happened?"
I've never seen Major Richard Marks lose patience and talk angrily.
Neil did a great job pissing everyone.

"I'm sorry. I.. I should have controlled myself. Warren said something and I just lost it. I swear it won't happen again."
Neil apologised honestly.

"You were lucky he just displaced your finger joint. If it was any of us, we would have broken it into pieces."
Okay.
Marks is not just pissed.
He's boiling.

Neil continued to look down as the seniormost member of his team scolded him.

"All of us are here because we said bye bye to our personal problems and accepted you for who you are. If you can't give it back the same way, you know what to expect."
Marks said pointing at all of us.

"This better be the last time I hear you losing control of your tongue and temper."
That was a scary ass warning.

"Yes sir. I promise that was the last time I brought you all down."
Neil replied with his eyes on the ground.