The Program [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"You're in rough shape," Zariah frowned, looking Aiden over with a swift glance. "I take it that talking to Theo didn't go so well."

"Something like that," he grimaced. The pain in his jaw had finally grown evident, and his whole mouth felt like it was throbbing. Theo hadn't held back, that much was certain. He was sitting in one of the metal chairs in Zariah's bunk, his chin tilted towards her while she took care of his wounds.

"Theo will be okay," Zariah assured him in a gentle tone. "He just needs time. For now, let's focus on moving forwards."

"Right," Aiden nodded in agreement. He stood still as Zariah applied a soft gauze to his tender jaw. He wrinkled his nose at the scent of the all-too familiar medical smell radiating from the bandaging, but he reluctantly allowed himself to succumb to the treatment. The antiseptic stung the second it touched his skin, giving him the gnawing urge to scratch his face. Zariah's hands worked skillfully and carefully. He'd decided not to visit the Medical Bay, in case they might start asking questions about how he got the injury. The last thing Aiden wanted was for Theo to be suspended for misconduct because of him. He didn't blame Theo at all for his actions. Aiden might have acted the same way if it had been him in Theo's place. Zariah had been the one to pop into his mind first, although Aiden didn't exactly know why. Fortunately for his instincts, it turned out that Zariah had been previously educated in minor medical procedures. Aiden had underwent similar training, but it hadn't been nearly as thorough as Zariah's.

"I won't lie, this is going to hurt like a bitch," Zariah admitted bluntly. "I cleaned up your face, now I have to stitch it back together. I haven't got any anesthetics, so you're going to have to bear with me."

"Thanks for putting it lightly," Aiden muttered. Even the movement of talking was an effort for his sore jaw. "I'm ready. Go for it."

Zariah sorted through the medical kit, withdrawing a gently curved needle, small spool of dark nylon thread and a lighter. She quickly flicked the lighter to life, and it spurted a small orange flame. She cautiously ran the needle along the flame before tucking the lighter back into the kit and threading the needle with the nylon string. Aiden exhaled slowly. He'd never really been afraid of stitches, especially after having to get them so often in the past, but they'd always been performed by medical experts. He dropped the thoughts as soon as Zariah began guiding her fingers along the length of his jawbone, eyeing the injury and studying it before positioning the needle along his face.

Aiden bit the inside of his cheek to keep his pain in check. He had a very high pain tolerance, but his chin was still fairly sore. Zariah operated as quickly as she could with surgical precision, drawing the sutures tightly, yet loosely enough for Aiden to move his jaw.

"You're lucky that you have a habit of clenching your teeth together," Zariah remarked as she worked. "If you'd had your jaw hanging open, he would've knocked out a few teeth and probably broken your mandible."

I have a habit of doing that? Aiden wondered to himself. His facial expression must have betrayed his thoughts, because Zariah took one look at him and began her explanation.

"Yes, you do. I noticed it since day one. Whenever we're in a fight, you do it naturally. We're all trained to, of course, in case someone punches you, but I see it as more of a habit in your case," she elaborated.

Aiden had no idea that Zariah had paid attention to him so much. She seemed to pick up on every little detail, and made it a priority to remember them all. They sat there in silence for a few more minutes, until Aiden felt Zariah begin looping the thread into a secure knot against his skin, and snipped the excess string from the needle. She began disinfecting it before placing it back into the medical kit. She patted a thin bandage onto the surface of the cut after cleaning up the rest of Aiden's face, and sealed the medical kit shut.