Devotion to Danger

Battered and Bruised

{Clara’s POV}

“I-I can take care of it myself.” He said, trying to move away.

“Viktor! I said sit still!” I demanded, pinching his nose a bit tighter.

“s**t! That hurts!” He snapped at me, his eyes glared at me, this burning anger searing into me.

I flinched, and moved away, my eyes snapping to the ground. “Sorry..” I whimpered, handing him the rag and walking out of the room.

I needed to get away from here.. why did I expect him to continue to be nice to me when I had already bothered him enough. No one is ever kind to me, no one but my brother, and father. Even my own mother hates me, and only wants to control me. Now I’ve gone and busted up this man’s nose, when he has been nothing but kind to me. When he snapped at me, I caught a glimpse of what I had feared so much, the boss that those men had told me about. Panic began to fill me, raising in my chest like the bile that came earlier this evening when I was attacked by those men. I had never known fear like I found tonight, and now here I was, a sniveling mess again.

I hurt him, and soon I heard his footsteps behind me. His footsteps were heavy, and sounded angry as he began to grow closer. I ran to the back door, throwing it open and running outside. Lighting struck across the sky, as thunder roared. I flinched at the sound of it, but kept running as quickly as I could. I didn’t want to know if he was really angry with me.. I didn’t want to know how badly he could hurt me. “Clara!” He yelled. “Clara, where are you?” He shouted, his voice sounding gruff, and furious. I could barely see as the rain stung my eyes. Suddenly a gate came into view, I flung it open, rushing out of it and taking off into the thick wooded area behind the mansion.

“Clara!” His voice rang out louder, but was soon drowned out by the crescendo of thunder.

I took off in a sprint, slamming into a tree, branches scratching my arms, legs, and face. Why was I running? Why was I so afraid of him? I ran as fast as I could, trying to shake my emotions away, they welled up in my chest making it seize. It hurt to feel this way.. I didn’t understand why was I so terrified? I fell over against a tree, gripping my chest as my heart felt like it was beating heavily there.

“Clara! Come back!” He shouted. I shook my head, pushing myself off the tree and running, trying my best to get away. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, and I felt my foot get trapped on a root, sticking up out of the ground.

I tripped, rolling down the hill, I slammed hard into a tree, and continued falling down the hill. I hit something hard against my back, and the world suddenly began spinning. I tried to stand up, but felt my ankle crack underneath me as I fell back to the ground. “Viktor..” I whimpered, my vision beginning to go black. “V-Viktor..”

{Viktor’s POV}

I tried following her, but the rain was coming down so hard it was hard to see or hear. I stopped, turning and looking through the forest. I saw tracks in the mud, and suddenly lightning struck, and thunder roared overhead. “Where are you Clara?” I shouted, looking all around me.

I had almost given up hope, when suddenly I heard a soft whimper. “Viktor..”

I looked around trying to see where I was coming from, and when I looked down I could see broken branches going down a steep hill. “No..” I said, carefully making my way down the hill. My heart nearly stopped when I saw her. She was covered in scratches and bruises from head to toe. On her head, a large gash was pouring blood. She was unconscious, and her ankle was swollen and bruised. “Da****.. Clara, wake up..” I said, lifting her head towards me, only then did I realize how much she’s bled. My hands were soon covered, and it began to drip down my wrists and arms. “Sh**.. it’s okay Clara.. I’m going to get you back, and get you help..” I said, lifting her carefully into my arms, holding her snugly against my chest.

I packed her back to the house, seeing Adrien, Dimitri, and Daniella standing in the doorway. “What happened?” Adrien shouted, looking at his sister in my arms. “Why is she covered in blood, cuts, and bruises?” He asked, panic beginning to fill him.

“Dimitri, call our hospital, tell them we need our doctors and nurses here now! Daniella, get the hospital suite down the hall ready, put new sheets and pillows on the bed.” I said, both of them turned, running out of the room. “Adrien, your sister lost a lot of blood, we need to stop the bleeding on her head, she will probably need stitches, but we’ll wait until the doctors get here.”

“Okay.. okay..” he said, turning and rushing down the hall. He’s been here so long and so many times that he knows where everything is.

I rushed her to the couch and laid her down carefully. Her nightgown was soaked, and nearly see through. A blush spread across my face as I grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch, and threw it down over her. “Daniella!” I called. “When you get back, bring her some clothes!”

“Okay!” She shouted back, as I heard her rushing down the hall.

Adrien came running back into the room, and handed me a rag. I held it to her head, trying to stop the bleeding. It took a while, but once it finally stopped, Adrien handed me the bandages and I carefully wrapped them around her head. “There, that should do it, at least until they get here.” I said, as Daniella walked back into the room.

“I’ve got her another nightgown, but I’ll need help getting it on her..” she said, looking to Adrien. “I’m going to need either you, or Viktor to help me..”

Adrien shook his head. “I’ll help, she’s my sister, Viktor, go wait in the other room while we get her situated.” He said. I nodded, leaving the room, but soon heard the sounds of Daniella’s gasps, and fists slamming into a wall. “Da****!” Adrien cried.

“What?” I asked, still not leaving my place. Soon I heard movement and saw Daniella walking back into the room holding the old, wet nightgown in her hands.

She shook her head. “It’s bad Viktor.. but for now, we need to focus on getting her taken care of.” She said, looking to the ground.

“What’s bad?” I asked, scanning over her.

“Her ribs.. they’re broken, and one is.. one is sticking out from the skin.” She said, looking to the ground.

I winced.. I knew she must be in severe pain, luckily she was unconscious.. so she wasn’t feeling it now. The doctors have to get here quickly.. if not.. she could have some severe physical issues.