Off The Ice

Chapter 16

"Hey Harry, can you follow me real quick?" I ask after we've all finished with dinner while Addie and Chelsea work on cleaning the kitchen. 

"Uh sure?" He says, confused. I let him follow me into the small half-bathroom right off the kitchen. "What are we doing in here?" He asks, stopping just inside the doorway. 

"Come here." I coax, tugging him inside before I sit him on the toilet. I grab a wash cloth from the linen cabinet and wet it under the sink. "Give me your hand." I say, holding mine out for him to place his in it. 

"Sutton..." He sighs. "I'm not a baby, you don't need to take care of me."

"Harry..." I mock. "You insist on protecting and taking care of me, now let me try and return the favor." I say, grabbing his hand and running the damp cloth over it. The knuckles leak a little more blood and I try to catch it before it hits the floor. "What happened? Was this that guy? Did you hit him?" I ask quietly while tending to his bleeding skin. 

"No that's why this happened. I was trying not to hit him. The last time I did I..."

"You what?"

"Nothing. I just hit him and it didn't end well." He says, covering up what he was about to tell me. 

"So if you didn't hit him this time then what made this happen?" I ask, rinsing the cloth off before going to the other hand. 

"The wall. And some glass. I may have slammed a shot glass down on the counter and it kind of-" I turn his right hand over and see several large gashes along his palm. "My knuckles came from the wall though. And the glass didn't hurt that bad. I didn't even notice until I saw blood dripping on the floor." He explains. 

"We're starting a movie, meet us in the living room when you're done!!!" Cory yells in our direction.

"Kayyy!!!!!!!!!" I scream back. Harry laughs at my response and I slap his shoulder. "Shut up." I smile. "We need some peroxide for these cuts, that glass really did some damage." I open the medicine cabinet and take out the small brown bottle of peroxide before soaking a corner of the cloth in it. "It might sting a little." I warn.

"You seem to forget how I got these cuts." He laughs. I shrug and press the rag to his bleeding flesh. He doesn't even flinch.

I finish cleaning both of his hands and then decide that he needs something to stop the bleeding so I grab two little gauze wraps and wind them around each of his hands, despite his constant protesting. 

I'm securing the bandages as we hear guns and explosions coming from the other room. Harry immediatey jumps up from his place on the toilet and looks around like a lost puppy. "What was that?!" He asks in a panicy tone. 

"Harry, relax. It was just the movie." I say, putting my hands on his shoulders in an attempt to sit him back down. "Harry. Harry, calm down." I place my hands on either side of his face and bend my knees to look him in the eyes. "Harry, why are you freaking out?" He does everything he can to dodge my stare. "Harry look at me." I command with a firm voice. His eyes dart to mine and they're both glassy. "Harry..." I whisper. I pull his head close to my chest and his arms hesitate at his sides before they lift themselves up and wrap around my waist. I caress his hair with my right hand and rub his back with my left. "What scared you so much?" I whisper.

All he does is shudder and I can feel goosebumps rising on his back through his shirt. "They're gone." He whispers.

"Harry who's gone?" I ask pulling back a little to look down at him. He just keeps his head on my chest.

"Please don't move. Your heartbeat... It helps." His voice nearly cracks as he says these words. 

I hold him there for what feels like hours. Another series of gun shots is heard from the living room and he flinches with each one. "Shhh... It's just a movie." I don't know why he's breaking down like this. He acts like he's never seen an action movie with guns before.