Darkness Rising: Cursed Guardians

Tending the Wounds

Sweet Jesus I am going to f*****g kill whoever did this to him. I can feel my blood boiling and I know my eyes have gone all fury. And I don’t give a f**k. I am passed livid but that won’t do me any good. I need to breath before I shatter the windows. Looking down at Draco who’s eyes have closed I take a few deep breaths. Okay next steps. I need to get my kit from my room. Gently taking his hand in mine I tell him “Hey. I need to go get my emergency kit from my room.” I let go of his hand but he grabs it quickly and opens his eyes to look at me. I smooth a piece of hair from his forehead “I’m not leaving you. I’ll be right back.” He blinks and releases my hand. I bolt through the doors leading to the balcony and pray I left mine unlocked. Going through his bedroom door I could have been seen. Since he clearly didn’t want other people seeing him in this state our joint balcony was the safest bet. The doors were open and gripping the towel I still had on I went straight for the desk where I had seen my kit earlier. Cass had brought the few things I’d had in the room we’d shared earlier when we’re getting ready for work. Kit in hand I run out the door, closing it quietly and back into Dracos room locking the door behind me. 

Grabbing his hand gently and lightly squeezing “See right back.” Draco didn’t open his eyes but gave my hand a small squeeze. I let go and open the wooden box. This was not your average first aid emergency kit. This was a witch emergency first aid kit. In addition to the standard first aid items like band aids and anti septic there were herbs, ointment bases, and oils all infused with magical healing properties. I may be non practicing but Celest made damn sure I was a proficient healer. Healing was what she excelled at and she insisted the rest of us be just as proficient. I pulled out several bowls, cloth strips, and ointment base, various oils and herbs to crush and mix into the save I was mixing as well as tweezers. There was still so much blood coming from the wounds. Dracos eyes remained closed, his breathing labored. All I could think to do was talk him through what I was doing. “Okay Draco here’s the skinny. You’ve got gouges from head to toe and there’s something embedded in the wounds. I’ve got to get them out because you are bleeding something awful. I think they’ve been spelled or poisoned to keep you bleeding and to be honest I’m not sure being immortal is going to do anything if you run out of blood. I’m going to mix up a ointment to place on the wounds and before you go all Puff the Magic Dragon on me yes it’s magical. I may be non practicing in the spell and power wielding areas but I am a good healer. Once I get the wounds cleaned and the ointment on I’ll dress the wounds and you can start to heal.” I think he may have twitched a little at my Puff comment but I could have imagined it. 

I poured the ointment into one of the bowls. In the other I add all the herbs I needed to begin closing the wounds as well as oils to smooth the angry skin. These were not regular gashes. These were magical. It radiates off of them, dark and menacing. Drawing on my powers I said a blessing and spell of healing as I ground everything together much like the Graces had done with Cass. Once everything was mixed I set that bowl aside, grabbed another one and the tweezers. Deep breath this was going to get me up close and personal with a whole lot of blood. 

“Okay Babe, I know you’re exhausted and in an unbelievable amount of pain but it’s gonna worse.” I take Draco’s hand in mine again. “I have to get out these barbs Thorne things out. There’s a lot and it’s going to hurt like a son of a b***h. When it hurts I want you to squeeze my hand okay? I mean it. As hard as you need to. Just hang in there for me okay?” He slightly squeezes my hand even though his eyes remain closed. Taking a deep breath I start at his head and pull the first barb. He squeezes my hand. Good he’s still with me, bad I’m hurting him. I keep breathing and continue. Slowly and meticulously I remove the barbs I can see from each of Dracos wounds making my way from his head and throat to his shoulders down his torso. Each area has wounds of varying depth all embedded with the f*****g barbs. Judging from the depth and shape I determine he’s been whipped with a whip laced with barbs. Enchanted or spelled with dark magic to keep him from healing. Son of a b***h.

 As I make my way to his legs I am horrified to see the gashes wrap around his upper things and across the top of his p***s. As I am removing the barbs there he groans and winces while squeezing my hand super hard. I stop and bring myself to his side. “ Draco.” I say smoothing back his hair. I speak softly and he peeks open his eyes. I smile just a little knowing he’s still with me. “I’m so sorry I’m hurting you. I’m being as gentle as I can but I’ve got to get these barbs out or your not going to heal.” I keep smoothing his hair. “I’m gonna keep going okay? I need to finish your front side and then I need to turn you over and remove everything from the back. You ready?” I ask. He squeezes my hand and closes his eyes again. 

God this is awful. I return to his groin and remove more barbs then I care to think about while Draco moans and squeezes my hand. After that I remove what I can see from his legs. The wounds are so deep I’m sure I’ve missed barbs. Moving back to his side I tell Draco “Okay Babe I need to turn you over onto your stomach. You let me do all the work okay?” I run my hand his cheek. He opens and closes his eyes. Okay here we go. As easily as I can I put my hands under his back trying my best to not to touch any wounds. Then with all the force I have I roll him to his side. I climb up onto the bed keeping him on his side as I move to use my weight to push him over and lower him onto his stomach. Making sure he isn’t face down I gather my bowl and tweezers, take his hand and go to work on his backside. I’m not sure which was worse. The gashes are deeper, angrier, and most frequent along his back and ass. I swear I can any deeper and I’d be able to see bone on the leg he was dragging up the stairs. Gently I work my way from his shoulders down his back. He squeezes my hand frequently but not hard enough for me to stop until I reach his ass. Going back up near his head I run my hand on his cheek again. “Hey Babe. You’re doing amazing. I’m almost done. Then I can put the ointment on and it’ll feel loads better.” I keep stroking his cheek. He blinks at me and I go back to work.

After what seems like an eternity I finish and begin applying the ointment and bandages. I turn him again as gently as possible and repeat the process on the front. Looking at the bed I’m horrified at the amount of blood. Nothing to be done about that now. The fact remains he’s lost too much blood and I know there’s only one thing to be done. “Draco? Babe I need you to look at me. I need to tell you something. Im gonna sit you up.” Gently I lift his head and shoulders causing him to groan. I maneuver myself so that I’m slightly behind him having him propped against my chest. I also grab the tweezers. “So the worst is over” I tell him. “But you’ve lost too much blood. So you’re going to need to feed.” His whole body stiffens and he tries to move in protest. “Draco listen to me. Stop moving or your going hurt yourself all over again.” I’m forceful with my word but in the gentlest tone I can manage. “I’m going to to cut my wrist and your going to feed. This is not up for debate.” Again struggle but by that point I had taken the sharp point of the tweezers and ran it up my right wrist drawing blood. I can feel is body react and hear him inhaling deeply through his nose. Bringing my wrist to his mouth he tries to turn his head away making a groaning noise of discomfort. “Puff! I will not let you die on me. I’m not ready for you not to be a Puffy, grumpy, witch hating pain in the ass. Drink.” He still was fighting when the lightbulb exploded. In a much gentler tone “You won’t hurt me. I trust you.” And for reasons unknown to me I lightly brush your lips to his forehead. A moment later he turned his head and I pressed my bleeding wrist to his mouth. 

If I thought it felt like electricity when we touched this was straight up lightning. Draco groans as he takes long drags from my wrist. His breathing evens out gradually and the tenseness in his body lets up just slightly. The whole experience is…incredible. The sensation coursing through my body made every nerve stand up and pooled wet heat between my thighs. I’d need to revisit this later right now Draco was all that mattered. After a few moments he releases my wrist which I now realize he’s been holding. I eased myself out from behind him and lay him back down. His eyes are closed and after a few moments I determined he's asleep. Slipping from the bed I take all the bowls to the bathroom to clean. I saved one a few barbs hoping to pass them to Celest to identify. When I finished, I went back to the bedroom. Draco was still asleep. I decided to make another batch of ointment and cut more strips of bandage for the next round of wound care. It also occurred to me I was still in a towel. Looking around I locate Draco’s closet. Flipping the switch I’m taken aback by the range of clothes. Apparently Puff wore more than leather. Quickly locating a black t-shirt I swipe it off the hanger and toss it on. Looking through a few drawers also in the closet I find some boxers and decide in lieu of my clothes this was gonna have to do. I toss my hair into a bun and take my towel back to the bathroom. Finally done I drag a sitting chair over to the bed grab my phone out of my purse that I’d had on me when I hoped out of Cass’s car and set an alarm for an hour. I knew that any movement from Draco would wake me but I wanted to make sure.