Mutual Hatred (ONC Entry) | Max x Reader

Chapter 8: OWWW!!!

Instinctively, I scrunched in a ball, face buried in my knees. I gritted my teeth in a feeble attempt not to draw attention; since we waited 'till nightfall to escape, we were technically out past curfew. Vaguely, I was aware of a presence hovering by my shoulder, but pain blocked out everything else. Was that a voice?

"Y/n? You okay?"

One thought made it through my muddled brain, 'Don't show weakness.' Damn, Pikeman was getting to me. Nevertheless, I forced myself to ignore the pain, slowly regaining control. I still stayed curled up, though. I wasn't that good.

"Just give me a moment," I hissed. I tried to sit up. My skull pulsed with the beginning of a headache, and combined with full-blown exhaustion, sent me back to my original position with a gasp. Pulling my leg closer just put pressure on the bite, which resulted in the limb sticking out awkwardly.

Stripping off his hoodie and wringing it out, Max's brows furrowed in a combination of annoyance and worry, "Stop being stubborn." He noticed the leg and poked it experimentally. It earned him a swipe from my sharp nails,  a small screech unintentionally escaping my lips.

I muttered a satisfied "hah" at the few beads of blood that formed on Max's arm where I scratched him. He didn't even notice, too preoccupied with his discovery.

Our little jaunt through the lake meant the wet fabric stuck to my calf, and made it twice as hard, and painful, to peel off. Despite this, Max seemed determined to find the root of my problem. I barely had enough energy to breathe, let alone slap him away like I wanted to.

He rolled the pant leg up to my knee... and immediately puked his stomach contents worth of popcorn out onto the sand. I lifted my head just enough to see the wound and regretted it. I had just checked less than a day ago, but it was still shocking.

The teeth marks had partially scabbed over, with pus oozing out of the gaps. The entire area was swollen, and red streaks branching out from the wound, even more irritated by the filthy lake water. Shiny, stretched skin surrounded it; even my brief look made me feel queasy. I didn't blame Max for his reaction at all.

Zoning out for a moment, I tried to control my own urge to barf, a sour taste building in the back of my mouth. I snapped back into reality at the sound of pounding feet. I looked up in time to see Max running towards me, David and Gwen in tow. When did he leave?

*****

"I don't understand how something could get this infected... and from Muack, no less!" David gazed at my leg in horror, face pale. Currently, we were in the medic cabin; the counselors focused on patching me up, despite my protests that I was fine.

Gwen glanced up from where she was gathering some first aid supplies, "It was only a matter of time, David. The little monster sinks its teeth in a camper at least once a week."

"Still, this is odd. Y/n," he gave me a stern look, "Did you properly clean the bite?"

"Uh... does taking showers count?"

"Well, there's your answer." Gwen dropped a handful of things onto the counter beside me.

"Y/n, you should've come to us! Or at least used some band-aids," the redhead scolded me. I nodded mutely.

Gwen snapped on some latex gloves, "Okay, obviously, this is gonna hurt, so suck it up. I need to clean the wound."

I rolled my eyes, "Like I'm not in pain alread-" I cut myself off with a creative round of curses, black spots in my vision. Damn, that was excruciating. Even Max looked shocked at my choice words, from where he stood in the corner.