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I rushed to Xaden’s side, my hands shaking as I reached out to touch his hand. His skin was hot, feverish. I blinked back tears.
“I’m so sorry.” This was all my fault. If I had told Xaden I couldn’t stop thinking about his kiss or him. How I wanted him to touch me, to touch him. That we could’ve played more at what they wanted without giving in completely. All we’d needed was a little more time for his wings to heal.
“If you wanna save him,” one of the Roulex guards grumbled from the re-opened door, pushing in our measly dinner and water through the opening, “then get pregnant pronto.”
“You fucking bastards!” I yelled, rushing toward him.
He laughed, slamming the bared door in my face. His nasally whistle made me cringe.
I picked up one of the water cups, my hand trembling as I carried it over to Xaden. “Here, you need to drink.”
I lifted his head, dribbling the water into his mouth. He was so hot I felt like I was holding an overheating battery. His eye was swollen shut and both his forehead and corner of his other eye had a gash. Knife wounds dotted his chest, but the worst was his wings. My mouth dried at seeing their broken, sharp edges.
Even though Xaden had said he healed fast, could his body repair what wasn’t there? Not one single feather was left whole.
My gut heaved and I turned away, swallowing down bitter acid that burned my throat. After taking big breaths, I turned back to Xaden. No idea what his healing of this magnitude entailed, but I had to get his fever down. It scared the living shit out of me that he could be getting an infection or something.
My chest seized and I couldn’t breathe. What else could I do besides trickle water into his mouth? I had no medicine or even bandages.
I glanced down at myself. My prison uniform was fairly big. I could tear off pieces of the pants though they wouldn’t be sterile, they might help hold his wings in place long enough for them to heal properly, if that was even possible.
After I finished giving him one of the cups of water and saved the other one for later.
I sat across from him, his body heat taking away the chill of the prison but only added to my worry. Quickly, I tore off the edges of the pants until I thought I had enough to help bandage him, leaving myself with super tiny shorts to wear. Too bad this place didn’t believe in underwear. But if I needed more material, I’d use the bottom of the shirt.
Who knew, maybe I’d start a new trend of prison cropped shirt and showing butt cheeks shorts. I snorted at my own stupid joke. Maybe Xaden’s fever was rubbing off on me.
Slowly, I turned Xaden over on his stomach. Blood coated the prison floor and I held back an anguished cry. Whoever had done this should be shot as many times as Xaden had wounds.
I poured a little bit of water over my hands, wanting to keep most of it for him. Then, I took several of the strips of cloth, softly dabbing the wounds so I could see the damage easier and know where to tie off the pieces of his wings. I had no idea what I was doing, but I pictured each fiber I found as an intricate mesh of computer wires that needed reconnecting.
Sweat beaded my brow as I worked until my hands cramped and I had no more strips left.
I turned him on his side, fearful laying on his wings would damage them further. I held his head in my lap and gave him the last of our water and I prayed that his fever would somehow break during the night.
12
Xaden
My wings were on fire. Pain shot through every muscle, every bone through my entire body. I shivered; my teeth chattered no matter how hard I clamped them down. But I shouldn’t be awake. Something had triggered my healing sleep to pause and the twisting I felt in my gut said whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
I squinted an eye open, my other one was still too swollen. The Roulex had thrown me back in my cell.
“Riley,” I croaked out, my voice scrapped my throat raw.
She lay next to me in her prison shirt that was torn and exposed her bare stomach. Her prison pants barely covered her ass.
What the fuck?
I crawled over to her. Her hand held one of the cups, but the water had splashed out onto the floor. I touched her cheek. Cold. Too cold. Her lips were dry and cracked, her skin was pale.
“What the hell did you do?” I asked her, not expecting an answer.
I searched the cell, but the other water cup lay on its side, empty. Silly woman must have given me the water and kept none for herself. I’d told her about my healing… had she not believed me?
Gathering her up in my arms, I cradled her body to me. Her cool skin felt soothing against my feverish one.
Shit, shit, shit!
