𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 | outlander ↠ jamie fraser

10 | Old Wounds

I tried to carefully tug the bandages I had applied earlier, but some of the cloth stuck to the flesh. While I had dealt with removing bandages before, I still couldn't help but apologize as fresh blood oozed from the wounds I had just removed a bandage from. Sometimes there was just no going around hurting someone to help them. Not that knowing it made things easier.

After I quietly apologised for the fourth time, he smiled slightly and tipped my chin up to meet his gaze. "No worry, lass. I've been hurt much worse and by people much less pretty."

My cheeks immediately felt like they were on fire. He thought I was pretty. I wasn't so sure why that mattered so much or why it affected me so. Had I been with Lottie she would have endlessly teased me on the matter. Not wanting him to notice my blushing, I looked down at the boiled garlic decoction and prepared it to wash his wound.

He leaned forward and the quilt slipped from around him and I immediately knew what he had meant by his statement. Whether he had meant his words to sound flirtatious, he was being truthful, matter-of-fact. He had been hurt terribly. That much was clear.

His back was covered in scars. No, covered wasn't a good enough description. His back was almost entirely made up of scars. White and pink lines crisscrossed each other in a way human skin shouldn't look. I had only seen scarring this bad come from machinery injuries. I found myself reaching out to touch the scars, but I stopped myself. I sucked in a breath as I furrowed my brow in anger. Machinery couldn't have caused this. This had likely been caused by someone. It was barbaric - the fact that another human could inflict this kind of damage upon another.

"Randall," Jamie said after he noticed I had been staring, which made me blush again. "Flogged me twice in the space of a week. He'd ha' done it twice in the same day, I expect, were he not afraid of killing me. No joy in flogging a dead man." He paused for a moment before adding, "If he could do tha' to me, I can only imagine what he could do to a pretty lassie like ye."

I pursed my lips and nodded. I made eye contact with him as I pressed the garlic against his wound. "I should have kicked him harder then. Or given him several more kicks while he was down. Perhaps a good stomp too."

Jamie let out a strangled laugh.

My lips pursed again as I began to tend to the wound, but something was gnawing at the back of my mind. He seemed amiable enough, so I took a chance that he might speak honestly with me. If he proved not to be agreeable, I would shut my mouth and continue cleaning his wound in silence. I cleared my throat. "I don't know what you supposedly did, but nothing, nothing deserves such brutality. But I must confess myself curious - why were you flogged?"

Jamie seemed to inhale sharply. While I couldn't be certain whether it was my words or my ministrations on his shoulder that caused it, I still scrambled to correct myself to make him understand my curiosity. Growing up, people would always tell my father my curiosity would get me into trouble.

I nervously tucked a strand of hair behind my ear before I explained further. "Although, if you aren't comfortable sharing with me, a complete stranger, I'll respect that and won't be offended. I don't mean to pry any old wounds open, I'm genuinely curious." I looked at him and offered him a small smile. "It's probably one of my greatest faults, or so I've been told."

My self-depreciation seemed to work some. His expression softened. He made eye contact with me before he slowly nodded his head in understanding. "The first time was escape, and the second was theft - or at least that's what the charge sheet read."

I nodded my head and continued to care for his wounds. Clearly, he didn't agree with the second charge. From my knowledge of history, I knew that the English weren't above such dirty tactics as making things up for their own benefit. But I didn't truly know the man before me to know if it was him or the English at fault. I intended to find out as much as I could before I made my judgement. "I'm going to assume you were escaping the English?" I asked.