Hardened

Chapter 6

Miku
"Hey, Len?" I mumbled. He didn't even look at me; he was busy looking around his room. The only sign of acknowledgement he gave was a small "Hm?"

"How did you get out of the hospital? And didn't you have a bruised rib?" He looked at me this time, his blue eye studying me intently.

"I snuck out. It was surprisingly easy," He said, nonchalantly. "As for the bruised rib, well...I'm fine." He shrugged. I pursed my lips, not buying a word he said. After a silent debate with myself, I finally decided to let him win. For now.

"Fine." I muttered. 

"Do you even have any idea how to patch up a wound? Properly, I mean?"  I sniffed.

"Yes! My parents are doctors. Stay here. I'll get the medical kit." I instructed as I turned and walked down the hallway. I found my way to the bathroom and opened up one of the cabinets, and pulling out the medical kit. I opened it and checked to see if everything needed to clean the wounds; they weren't bleeding gallons, so I figured that it wasn't fatal or anything, but still needed attention before it gets infected. I checked for gauze and antibiotics, which they had. I took a cup and small rag, then filled the cup with warm water. Taking the stuff that I needed, I walked back to Len's room, my arms full with the supplies. When I came back, Len was still sitting in the same spot, gazing out the window, a small frown settled onto his face, his expression thoughtful, as if he were thinking deeply about something. I got the impression that he didn't notice my presence, so I cleared my throat. He turned his head slightly towards me as I shuffled into the room and plopped down on the bed next to him.

"So...." He drawled, "what now?" I pursed my lips, then glanced at his shoulder, then left arm. That's where he was injured. Both injuries were near the shoulder. It seemed that, in order to clean it, he had to...

My cheeks flushed as I uttered the next words. You know those types of girls in cheesy romantic novels where they blush at everything a guy says or does? I'm one of those girls, only I blush at anything and everything. "Take off your shirt." They were barely audible, for I was too embarrassed to say them any louder. There was a pause, then he grasped the ends of his shirt and slipped it over his head. There was a thick, awkward, uncomfortable air between us as I looked away, my face most likely as red as a tomato. I grabbed the rag and dipped it into the warm water, then wrung some of the unnecessary water before turning back to him. I nearly froze when I looked at him.

It wasn't because of his toned and muscular chest and stomach. It was because of the scars that littered his chest and stomach. Most were slashes, as if someone had taken a knife and sliced it across his skin. One scar near his right side looked suspiciously similar to that of being impaled with something like a metal rod. Right under his left collarbone was a burn mark. It took the shape of a dragon with horns and what looked like a mane, only showing from the neck up, in a circle, its' claws in a position that looked like it was ready to fight. Flames made up the circle, and even made up the dragon's mane. I put my hand over my mouth.

"Oh...my God," I whispered. I looked up at him. "What...happened? Who did this to you?" He stared down at me, his gaze calculating and hardened. For a minute, a stunned, thick silence hung between us.

"I wasn't cooperative. I was stubborn- disobedient," He finally said, "the people who inflicted these scars- souvenirs, they called them- were nothing but cowardly, filthy, ill-tempered weaklings acting all high and mighty- trying to play God, most would say," He scoffed. He frowned. "But that's not important." I pursed my lips. What could that have meant? Trying to play God? I reached forth, my fingers gently brushing over the burn mark just under his collar burn. He flinched away, at first, but apparently came to put up with it.

"And this?" I asked quietly. "What does this symbol represent?" His expression, which had gradually turned relaxed, quickly became guarded. 

"It's not important." He said, gruffly. He gestured to the injury on his shoulder. It didn't look deep, but even now, it was still dripping a little bit of blood. As for the other wound on his other arm, it was just a gash, luckily nothing too serious, but still deep enough for the need of a gauze. "So, it's not life threatening, correct?" I nodded.

"No. I mean yes. Wait what?" I shook my head; I hated it when this happened. It always confused me and made me look like a fool. "It's not life threatening," I confirmed. "But I still have to clean the wound and stuff. It may not be enough to land you in an emergency room, but it is enough to get a serious infection. Turn your arm a little towards me- yes, like that. Keep it there, please." I instructed as I dipped the cloth in the bowl, wringing out all of the unnecessary water.

"This might hurt," I warned. He nodded slightly as I pressed the rag to the gash. He didn't do so much as flinch. For a moment, it stayed like that, me cleaning his wound as gently as possible, a deafening silence around us until I decided to break it.

"So what're you gonna do now?" I asked as I applied the antibiotics to his gash. "Now that you're back, I mean." He gave a small shrug.

"Probably attend Crypton high again," He said, "it'll most likely be...strange, to say the least, with my change in appearance, and since my people skills are more than a little rusty."

"Really?" I said, as I got a fair amount of gauze from the kit. "You seem to be talking to me just fine." He raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe so," He said. "But I've forgotten how to actually interact with people of my age. At least, without looking strange." He muttered as I moved onto his shoulder.

"Really? Why?" I asked, genuinely curious. Rin had said that he seemed pretty social. Yeah, that was two years ago, I silently reminded myself, Things change.He was quiet for a minute before speaking.

"So, you're finished, right?" He mumbled. I nodded, my lips pursed. He dodged the question, but, considering that he was gone for so long and had who knows what done to him, I decided to let it slide. I'll pester him some other time.

"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled. I tossed him his black T-shirt. "Keep the wounds dry and clean. If the gauze gets dirty or something, replace it. You know how to do it, right? Good. Keep it in place within the first 24 hours. Take the gauze off when bathing, and wash it with soap and water. Try to get any crust or dried blood out of the wound with a cotton swab or something. Also, do not go swimming or take a bath or submerge yourself in the water at all until the wound's completely healed-"

"But what if someone throws me into the water?" He asked bluntly. He must have seen my puzzlement at this, because he quickly followed up with "Or if I fall in?"

"Try to get out as quickly as possible, I guess. Dry it off, then contact me." I said. He nodded.

"Alright," I continued, "if it starts smelling weird, or if it starts emitting this gross ooze or something like that, contact me or medical help. If it also gets red, swollen, and hot, that could be a sign of infection." He nodded again.

"That all?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah."

"Thank you." He said. I chewed the inside of my cheek and looked away, finding his piercing gaze a bit intense.

"Yeah, no problem." There was a cry of joy from downstairs, and I raised my eyebrows. That didn't sound much like Rin- the voice was deeper, silkier- a little mature, even, whereas Rin's voice was higher and a bit squeakier.

"Len! Miku!" I heard Rin call. Len squinted slightly.

"...Yeah?" He finally called back, a little hesitant, probably at Rin's cheerful voice.

"Come down!" She yelled. "I want you guys to meet someone!"