Everyone But You- Book One

Nine

"Shit, your arm.." He suddenly remembered where the Shell had clawed at him. "Show me."

He lifted his arm reluctantly, wincing slightly as he took in the sight of the injury. It was red and inflamed, and the edges looked a bit swollen. The cuts from the sharp talons were deep, and even the slightest movement caused a sharp pain to shoot up his arm. "I guess I didn't notice with all the other pain.. but damn, this hurts like hell.."

Luiceel sighed, biting his lip as he stared at the gash. "We're gonna have to amputate your arm."

Cassidy's eyes widened at Luiceel's words, his heart skipping a beat.

"A-Amputate my arm?! Are you joking? There's no way-" He protested, his voice rising in panic.

Luiceel raised his hands, a small smirk tugging the corner of his lip. "It's a joke. I'm joking."

Cassidy scowled, the panic giving way to annoyance.

"You're a real dick, you know that? That's not even remotely funny..." He muttered, glowering at the soldier. He knew Luiceel was just screwing with him, but it still pissed him off nonetheless. The soldier snickered, ripping off the sleeve of his hoodie. He drenched it in the water, carefully applying pressure on the gash.

"I'll just wrap it in something for now, hope it doesn't get infected."

He grumbled under his breath, watching as Luiceel wrapped the torn hoodie sleeve around his arm, wincing slightly as the pressure increased. "Great, so now I have a bum arm on top of everything else. Just what I need.." He muttered sarcastically.

"No one's ever died of a scratch, Cass." He murmured, wrapping the ripped sleeve around his arm, tying off the edges at the top of the gash.

He rolled his eyes, the sting of Luiceel's statement causing a pang of annoyance in his chest.

"Easy for you to say.. You've probably got scratches and bruises like this all the time. It's nothing new. But this is the first time something like this has happened to me.." He grumbled, watching the soldier tie off the sleeve.

Luiceel glanced up to his face, sympathy gracing his complexion for a fraction of a second before it was replaced with his usual, emptiness void of emotion. He huffed, sitting back. He reached for the previous wetted fabric and pressed it against the gash In his own head, trying to take out any glass parts. He bit his lip harshly, his hand trembling as he tried cleaning the wound himself.

Cassidy watched as the soldier tried to clean his own wound, his hands trembling slightly as he reached up to his head. "Hey, let me do that.." He said, taking the handkerchief and gently batting Luiceel's hand away. He gingerly pressed the cloth against the gash, gently wiping away the dripping blood.

Luiceel inhaled sharply, flinching back.

"Don't whine. You need to clean it properly, or it's just gonna get infected.." Cassidy grumbled as he continued cleaning the gash. The soldier's flinch didn't escape his notice, and a tinge of irritation spiked through him. Did Luiceel really have to wince dramatically at everything he did? "I'm being gentle. You're being overdramatic." He muttered, rolling his eyes.

The soldier reached up to grab the fabric from him. Cassidy pulled the handkerchief out of reach, giving Luiceel a stern look. "No, I'm doing it. You'll screw it up somehow if you do it yourself. You're not as good at taking care of yourself as you think you are.."

His tone was a mix of annoyance and concern. He didn't want the stubborn soldier to make the wound worse by being his usual difficult self.

Luiceel furrowed his brows. "Hey, I've been doing this shit a lot longer than you so don't think-"