Blood and Snow

Chapter Fourteen

Belle sat in silence, drinking her coffee as she waited for Happy to come back. It's not like she can just leave and go find her, right?

Right.

'Might as well get comfortable,' She thought with a sigh. 'It's already been twenty minutes.'

Belle heard a door open, then someone walked up behind her. "What are you doing here by yourself?" Asked the very familiar, grumpy voice of Baron. Belle turned around in her seat and looked up at him. "I'm waiting for Happy to come back, she left me here a little bit ago."

Baron nodded and stood a few feet away from her, "You're acting... calmer than usual? What's wrong with you?"

Belle took another drink of her coffee and smiled at Baron, "Trust me, I'm screaming on the inside."

The big man raised an eyebrow (and maybe smiled a little, not enough for it to be noticed though), "Was that a joke, or are you serious?"

Belle shrugged and drank her coffee again. Baron huffed and grabbed Belle's shoulder, forcing her to stand up and walk with him. "Don't drop your coffee." He warned. Belle nodded as she was speed-walking beside him. "Where are we going?" She asked, panicking a bit.

"Tyreke wanted to do a 'check-up' on you. My guess is that he's thinking about your knees."

"Oh." Belle calmed down a bit.

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"Thanks, Baron!" Tyreke said enthusiastically. Baron rolled his eyes at the man's child-like tone and walked out of the room. Tyreke turned to Belle and gestured for her to sit down on one of the crates by the wall. She nodded and walked over to the crate, setting her coffee cup on the floor before taking a seat. Tyreke smiled at her, "Hey, Belle, how are you feeling today?"

Belle smiled back, "I'm alright, thank you. How are you, Tyreke?"

The green-eyed man's smile widened, "I'm doing mighty fine today, thank you! Now let's take a look at those knees of yours, if that's alright with you?"

"Of course." Belle replied, extending one leg at a time for him to take off the bandages. Tyreke unwrapped her knees slowly, being careful in case if there was any dried blood sticking them to Belle's legs. When he saw that her knees were healing well, he smiled at her again. "Good news," he said, "I believe we managed to avoid a knee infection! Kudos to us!"

Belle gave him a nervous smile in return, "How bad would it have been if my knees did get infected?"

Tyreke paused and scratched the back of his neck, "Well, it definitely wouldn't be pretty. The bacteria would have also attacked your joints, so that's a big 'no-zone'."

"Oh no."

"'Oh no' indeed."

They both giggled like children. Someone cleared his or her throat, gaining their attention. Belle froze when she recognized the Puppet Master's figure in the doorway. He walked into the room, looking her in the eyes as he strolled up to Belle and Tyreke. "Good morning, you two."

Belle looked down and mumbled a "morning" while Tyreke nodded his head and shouted an enthusiastic "good morning". Mason directed his attention to Tyreke, "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing's wrong with Belle," Tyreke responded, "I'm just making sure that her knees didn't get infected."

The tall man nodded once, then turned to Belle, "May I talk to you? Alone?"

Belle nodded and got off the crate to follow him. They walked out the door and down the hallway. Belle kept her eyes on the floor, fidgeting with her hands. 'What does he want now?'