Queen's Play

17. Wounds

Ima

I steered the horse into the gates that led to the gladiatrix compound. It was were we trained, lounged, and took refuge.

Theo steps off the horse first and helps me down. "Come on" I whisper. He stumbles to find his balance. I take his arm and loop it around my shoulders. His body instantly leans on mine as he struggles to balance himself. I could tell his spirit was weakened by the loss of blood but my aide was a bit of relief.

I needed to get his wound closed and fast.

We step into the compound but there is no movement. All the girls were fast asleep or gone. Only a dim candlelight illuminated the common room where we used to lounge and gossip.

"Hello?" I shout, trying to wake anyone up. "Anyone here?"

I hear footsteps in the shadows. Hera yawns and comes out her room with a candle.
"Ima?" She sees me and smiles then then turns her head to Theo. "Hey! You know the rules. No men allowed in the—". Her eyes drop to his bloody wound and she frowns.

"Ahh I see" she smirks.

"Hera. I know it's against the rules but—"

"You know where the bandages and needles are" she waves me off before retreating back to her room.

"No men allowed?"He asks curiously. Hera's lack of enthusiasm to help him was noted.

"A rule we made some time ago. Some of the women couldn't sleep at night.." I hint. He watches me and tries not to laugh.

"A lot of injuries as well?" He watched as I move with him to the center of the room where  the couch was.

"A few" I nod and lead him to it. He plops down but winces as the pain of the wound overcomes him.

I walk across the room and take a thick healing pigment from the wooden chest along with ginger, a sharp needle, and thread. I fill up a small bucket with water and snatch a rag from the storage chest before sitting on the floor across from him.

Theo takes off his shirt without warning and waits for me to begin.

I try to force down the lump in my throat a I stare. He was so...invasive. His muscles seemed to glisten against the dim candle light of the room.

Focus Ima

There is only silence in the room as I begin aiding him.

I dip the rag in the bucket and wipe away the blood from his cheek and chest. 

It didn't help that he was the perfect peak of health.
I knew it... he knew it.
Why was he so.... chiseled...

focus Ima!

"Fu*k" He curses  breaking ne from my thoughts. I was pressing the rag with antiseptic against his body.

"Sorry" I whisper in the faintest voice, moving my fingers against his skin. I take the ginger and crush it into a thick paste before applying it against his cuts and bruises.

"Its supposed to have healing properties." I clue him in. He nods and watches me still.

Now, it was onto the hardest part.I had never sewn a wound closed before, but Theo was bleeding and needed my help. I glanced over at him, and my heart lurched. He was watching me so intently. It was as if he was trying to decipher my thoughts.

He is silent and I am silent.
We only breathe.

"Hold that there" I instructed, pressing a soft rag against the wound. He listens immediately and takes if.

I take the needle and hold it up to the fire to disinfect it before taking a deep breath.

I tried my hardest to steady my hands as I loop the thread through the needle. I was shaking with nerves.

"Here" I take a towel and twist it so he could bite down on it. Seeing the wound closed was going to hurt.

"Are you sure you can do this?" He asked, his voice direct. He gripped the towel before pushing it over his eyes. I nodded, determination set in my eyes.

I reached for the needle and thread, trying to ignore the tremble in my fingers. I had watched enough gladiatrixes to know the basics, but actually doing it was a whole different story.

"Fu*ck" Theo curses as I slowly pushed the needle into his flesh. I pressed it again few more turns before he sat up and grabbed my wrist.

"You're not doing it right !" He shouts, making me jump. It wasn't my lack of skill that he was annoyed with; it was his immature way of saying that it hurt. Of course he couldn't verbally express it...I suppose he thought it would made him look weak?

"I'm doing the best I can" I charge back, making sure my tone matched his.

"Well your best sucks" he retorts.

"Fine." I stand up to leave. I had enough of his verbal attacks. "I'll call Hera to do it!" I put the needle down and walk away but he prohibits my departure.

He pulls my wrist into his palm and snatches me into his arms. He open his legs and makes me stand between them.

I swallowed hard, feeling a lump forming in my throat.  I knew my cheeks were reddening with warm.

It's so strange. To be so physically close to someone who was so distant....

Theo and I barley knew each other yet here I was, in his selfish embrace, sewing his wounds shut. His eyes blared into mine, observing my features as if it were the first time he had seen them but he still said nothing.

I couldn't mess this up. I had to focus on the task at hand and try to stitch the wound closed as neatly as possible. I push the needle in at an angle, making sure to relieve some pressure.

"It's your first time?" He asks through a wince. It was an honest question, not one filled with judgement.

"Yes. I always watched the other women after our matches" I guess the conversation was distracting him from the pain.

His palm was around my waist. He needed something to grab onto. I didn't mind it... I actually quite liked it.

"I can tell" he says. It wasn't a slight, but an honest conversation.
I continue sewing the wound.
It wasn't easy, and I had to stop a few times to take a deep breath and steady my hands, but eventually, I managed to close the wound, tying off the thread with a knot.

Theo looked up at me, his eyes full of gratitude. He would never say thank you but I knew he wanted to.

"You snuck out again" he says, breaking our somewhat wholesome moment, "why?"

"You followed me." I reminded him, refusing to admit my true intentions.

"After I told you not to step foot out the palace" he retorts, pulling me closer to him.

"We'll...if you would have stayed, you wouldn't have been stabbed. That was foolish..."

"What you did was foolish!
Sneaking out! Wearing gold in the worst part of the city!Those men could have killed you Ima! Or worse"

I was quiet because he was right.

I still work meticulously, tending to his other surface wounds. We were both in the wrong; Me, more so than him, but I wouldn't admit it.

A few more minutes of silence pass before he breaks it. "Thank you" it looked like it pained him to say it.

I try not to smile as I feel a warm glow spread through my chest. He still watches me with his handsome brown eyes.
I wanted to scream, praying he would stop. His eyes would drive me into insanity.

I tore my eyes away and wrapped the last bandage against his chest before standing up to clean the mess.

He watches me silently, convincing himself to do something. I didn't know what, but our tension was intense.