Part of Them

Part 24

It was Rei who said those words.

I had no clue what to do. Like not at all.

So when Alerus stepped forward with scissors in his hand, I didn't make any effort to dodge him.

"I am going to cut open your pants so that we don't have to stripe them over your foot. Do not move," he stated without expecting a response.

Next thing I know, he's leaning forward and destroying my poor pants by cutting it up my leg to my knee. When my entire blue-green swollen ankle was exposed, I heard the others hiss in empathy. But the ankle wasn't the only thing that caused that reaction, but also the wide, pale scar that adorned my shin.

I cringed when I remembered where I had gotten it from. There was nothing more to say other than I had to fight for survival that night. I hate those dang wolves, they are such unpleasant visitors when they're hungry.

Alerus averted his emotionless gaze from the scar back to the swollen ankle.

With professional and precise fingers, he started to feel around the swelling and spoke up.

"Tell me when I touch a sensitive area, alright?" asked Alerus.

When I nodded in response, he shifted his eyes to my face for a split second before putting all his attention back on my foot.

While he was feeling around the painful area, I noticed that the others in the room weren't making any sound. I didn't exactly want to turn my head to look at them, because that would be somewhat awkward, but I desperately wanted to see their expressions.

Suddenly Alerus pressed onto a sensitive spot and I drew in a sharp breath and almost immediately, Alerus took his hands away from my foot and looked at me with a concerned expression.

"Can you move your foot a bit?" Alerus questioned.

I tried to move it a bit, but the pain was just too much, so I had to shake my head in response.

"It appears to be broken, as expected," he spoke with a small sigh.

Looking up into his light blue, calculating eyes, I noticed a slight hint of relief in them.

"Well, at least you won't be able to make a run for it anymore," whispered Alerus satisfied.

Squinting my eyes menacingly, I spoke up.

"I wouldn't be so sure there if I were you."

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, he let out a soft chuckle.

"Don't act so tough, little one. We know that somewhere behind that thick skull of yours is that cute little boy we know," he continued.

Our light conversation seemed to ease the tension in the air a bit, but it seemed that only I felt that way, because the next second, the others started bombarding me with questions.

"Where did you get that scar, though?!"

"Who did-, no what did that to you?!"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Did it hurt a lot?"

"When-"

"Stop it, it's enough!" shouted Grimm. And for once, I was actually thankful for something he said. He was usually the one who always questioned me, but it didn't seem like he liked it when others did it to me-

"You're hiding more from us, aren't you?" continued Grimm. "You look a little sick."

Nevermind, forget what I just said, he's an absolute scumbag.

"I-I'm alright, Grimm. No need for you to question me like that," I stuttered. Tilting my head to look him in the eyes, I noticed that he was glaring at me with disappointment.

"Honestly, I expected better of you. I will ask you one last time though. Are you sure you're alright, Faer?" inquired Grimm, his dark hair falling over his black, disapproving looking eyes.

Gulping, I averted my gaze to the white hospital-like sheets of the bed.

What should I do?

I don't think I'd be able to lie my way out of this again. I had started digging my hole the moment I didn't run for my life when I first saw Rayi walking through the abandoned village when I was still free, and now, I couldn't climb back out of it again.

Letting out a deep sigh inwardly, I gave it one last try to try and convince them that they were just overthinking.

"Hm, I might've caught a small cold, but other than feeling a little worn out, I'm fine," I said.

As a response, I just heard Grimm sigh. Nodding to Alerus, Grimm spoke up again.

"He's got an infected wound somewhere, I can smell it. You better check him out before his condition worsens."

Turning his head accusingly in my direction, Alerus held a worried expression.

"An infected wound is nothing to mess around with, Faer. You should have told me that you were seriously injured before it even got this far," he sighed. "Now, where is it? Please cooperate, it'll be over more quickly if you do," he continued.

To be honest, due to the painkillers and my high pain tolerance, I barely felt any pain the past few days. If Grimm has really smelled an infection, then I'm completely clueless as to where it is.

Well, it could be my stomach as I still had a couple scratches from a fox fight there. I didn't dare to take a look under the old bandages, there was no way they had healed properly. Those scratches were pretty deep and they got reopened when I was dragged out of the burrow which I used as a hiding spot from my brothers while I was trying to escape from their grasp.

When I didn't answer immediately, Grimm stepped forward.

"Lift your shirt, boy."

Ah, fuck you, Grimm.