𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 ⎈ 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘯

Chapter 14: Uncharted Territory

The days that followed were torture, every single muscle in my body ached and I had to almost relearn how to do everything. One month of being an entirely different species does horrible things to your body and psyche, as it turns out.

The first two days, I could barely move out of pain, my skin was tender and my muscles felt like they were on fire. I woke up in Pan's bed. We neither one of us mentioned it, we didn't talk about it. We DID, however, make eye contact when I first woke up - it was full of things that didn't need saying. A sense of gratitude, some sort of vulnerability, a little of something fierce, and something hidden behind a veil.

He gave me food, made low conversation and the usual bickering, gave me a few books with some jabs at my intelligence, then left me to rest for hours on end. At the end of the second day, he came around midday with a frustrated look in his eye. He paced around for a second before plopping in a chair that he brought into the room.

"Give me your hand."

He told me. He rarely spoke before grabbing me, he usually just did it. It was spoken as though I had a choice and it was hinted that with a question. It made me curious. I gave him my hand slowly, the movement straining my sensitive body.

He grabbed my hand and brought it to his chest. His other hand went to the back of my nape, cupping it softly. He closed his eyes and as he did, I started glowing, and slowly so did he. As light bounced off our skins, I felt my body start to heal - rapid healing was a bizarre feeling. It was warm and somewhat uncomfortable. It wasn't entirely complete, simply mostly healed. After the glowing stopped, he pulled away with a grunt and a pained expression on his face.

He took some of my pain. I watched in awe and horror. He wouldn't let me say anything about this either, for he left quickly after that. When I tried to approach the subject once he returned, he shut down the subject very fast. But as he left I managed to slip in a thank you, gently squeezing his hand. It caused him to hesitate for a moment, looking at our hands and giving a single nod.

I was able to be back on my feet about two days after that. I wasn't entirely better - I could only stand for a short amount of time, and my staff became my favorite tool.

I was grateful that I again had hands to grasp it with, so I could get back to maneuvering around by my own free will and not have Peter have to guide me everywhere. As well, I was grateful for the return of my ability to communicate.

Pan took advantage of that last one.

"Come on, darling, I don't believe that."

I glared, "You don't believe that there is nobody I know who would delight in cursing me?"

Peter rolled his eyes, "When you phrase it like that, you make me sound awful."

I crossed my arms childishly, leaning back in my now designated chair in his library, pouting. "Well if the shoe fits.."

He sighed and stood, walking forward, grabbing the arms of the chair to lean closely over me, staring with intensity.

"Sweetheart, I am trying to help you. I'm not implying that there are lots of people who want to hurt you, I'm trying to imply that your memory is great and I find it hard to believe that you can't recall one person who disliked you."

I look up at him, matching his gaze, my heart rapidly racing in my chest which I attribute to my frustration. "That's not any better, Pan."

He pushed off the chair, groaning a little as I continued to speak.

"And, again, no I can't think of anyone who hated me that much! Sure there were kids I didn't get along with when I was a child, but none who hate me enough to curse me now."