Scorched

Chapter 11

Pain like Gwen had never felt before raced through her body. Her arm was in agonizing pain, but she refused to open her eyes to assess the damage. It took all of her willpower to keep from screaming, but she would not do so in front of any of the competitors. A low panicked chattering reached Gwen's ears. She picked up snippets of conversation.

"We should move her," muttered a low voice

"No, we can't, something-" Gwen's ears were ringing painfully

"You can't stop me from-"

Gwen stopped paying attention to the voices and focused on trying to stay conscious. They were at the castle; someone would take care of her.

Suddenly a large burst of pain shot through her body. Her arm was being jostled around as she was lifted into the air by a pair of strong arms.

"Be careful with her!" an anxious voice exclaimed, sounding angry.

Gwen cracked open her eyes and was immediately blinded by the bright sun. She looked up to see a stony faced Rowan marching towards the castle. Every step he took moved her arm, making the walk back to the castle excruciating. Behind Rowan walked Xander, bouncing up and down in a panic, peering over Rowan's shoulder every once in awhile to look at her.

They walked and walked for what seemed like forever. She continued to fade in and out of consciousness, listening to the voices. One voice always sounded angry, the other low and calm. She didn't have to be a genius to figure out who was speaking.

Finally the bouncing motion stopped and she was laid down onto a soft bed. She let out a small sigh of relief and opened her eyes to survey the scene around her. She was in a large infirmary with a row of identical beds pushed against the wall.

An old looking woman in a white uniform hurried towards her, looking concerned. Gwen struggled to hear what the woman was saying, her brain feeling as if it were stuffed with cotton.

"What happened?" she exclaimed, looking to Rowan and Xander angrily. "I was assured these trails would be perfectly safe."

Rowan glanced over at Gwen with a pained expression on his face.

"I thought the same. I don't know what happened. She was fine until the Pegasus threw her off. It was amazing she stayed on as long as she did. It got close enough to the ground before it threw her off that she was able to avoid serious injury."

"I'll be the one to decide how seriously she's injured," she snapped back.

Gwen watched the scene through her eyelashes, surprised at the way the nurse addressed Rowan.

The nurse started hurrying around the infirmary gathering supplies.

"You two," she barked at Rowan and Xander. "make yourselves useful."

She handed Rowan a damp cloth and a bottle of something pale blue, and sent Xander scurrying off to find bandages.

Rowan sat down heavily on the short wooden stool by Gwen's bed. She lay completely still as his gentle hands moved across her aching body. Everywhere he touched with the ointment stung painfully. She gasped as he rubbed the scrapes on her legs. He didn't say anything, but worked methodically across the exposed skin of her arms and legs.

Xander walked up behind Rowan, holding an armful of bandages, and dumped them on the bed beside her. He pulled up a second stool and watched Rowan carefully.

"You're hurting her!" he exclaimed, pulling Rowan's hand away roughly. "Can't you see her flinch every time you touch her?" Rowan stood up, knocking his stool to the ground.