Amor Enim Bellum

13

"Everything."

Nova blew a harsh breath out and raised her hand to run through her hair.

It was gonna be a long story and she wasn't sure if she could handle telling it all in one day. For some reason she felt like she could trust the two of them as well.

"I can see the wheels turning in your head, tell us what's going on inside that beautiful head of yours."

Elias watched as her face lit up like a christmas tree which made him feel so fucking good. He felt like he was on the top of the world.

"I-it's just a lot and I don't t-think I would be able to sit through and tell it all now."

"That is perfectly fine kärlek. We can take it one step at a time. Whatever you feel comfortable talking about and telling us, we will take. We are going to go at your pace. Remember that."

(kärlek translates to love.)

Benjamin sat back and just observed the two of them interact. In his head, he was already hearing wedding bells and seeing the cake.

Even to a blind man, you could tell how both of them felt for each other. They just didn't know it yet.
It was like it was written in the stars for them to be in his mind.

"So Nova, tell us what you want ok?"

"Ok, I'll tell you about the exact reason why Vinnie wanted to sell me off to someone. I'm sure he told you it was because of the infidelity."

Nodding they motioned for her to continue the story.

"Well that's not entirely true. He did want to get rid of me to hide the infidelity but I don't even look like him that much. The real reason is he tried to come onto me several times when I turned 18 because I reminded him of my mum. I always fought back and he would leave. I guess he finally got tired of seeing my face. Nothing to do with his wife."

Elias blinked several times in shock. This was getting out of hand extremely quick, he never suspected this kind of thing would be happening.

On top of that, the two of them were super surprised that Vinnie Kröw did not force himself onto her and actually walked away, leaving her alone.
They were both incredibly grateful though, as they were sure that she experienced a lot of horrible things that would have left trauma already.

"I see, well I can speak for both of us when I say that we are glad that he never ended up doing anything of that manner to you."

She gave them both a genuine smile and thanked them.

"Could you perhaps tell us about your mum? If that's ok?"

"My mum died while she was giving birth to me. The doctors said it had something to do with internal bleeding."

Elias and Benjamin both expressed their condolences towards her. Both of them never knew the feeling of loosing a parent, as both of their's were alive and well.

They continued to just talk about small stuff to let her get accustomed to them and make her feel comfortable. Asking her simple questions about what was her favourite colour (yellow), food (Marinated Salmon with Dill Potatoes), movie (Jumanji) and animal (pandas), stuff like that.

You could visibly see her start to relax on her hospital bed and that warmed their hearts to know she was getting used to them.

Then Doctor Luke walked into the room with his clipboard. This made Nova jump slightly and start to pull her blankets up to her chin.

"I'm sorry for scaring you Miss Ström. I'm Doctor Luke or if you'd like, can call me Fang, because of my unusually sharp canines. Stupid, I know. I just wanted to check and see how you were fairing with these two idiots."

That statement was followed by two "HEYS!!" from the other two men in the room.

She let out a small giggle at the little show her doctor put on. Releasing her blankets, she slowly sat up and replied, "Its okay. They are absolutely wonderful Doctor Fang."

Smiling at her, "That's good, I was hoping, if its ok with you to check your back injuries and see if I need to have a nurse change the dressings."

Giving him the go ahead, Luke asked Elias to help turn her and if he could basically hug her, in order to give her comfort.

Following the orders, he hugged Nova and a smile graced his face. She felt perfect in his arms and she was hugging him back, which made him feel like everything was going to be alright.

She smelled like japanese cherry blossoms, which was his favourite kind of flower. To Nova, Elias smelt like Dark Sandalwood and it was the best smell ever to her.

Turning back to Doctor Luke, he informed her that he was going to lift up the back of her hospital gown and she told him that was fine.

Lifting it up, he could tell a little bit of blood was still seeping through the bandages.

"There's still a little bit of blood, so I am going to call one of the nurses to come change it so that they're is no opening for an infection."

"Okay, is there any particular way I should lay so I don't aggravate the wounds?"

"It would be best to lay on your sides as to not put pressure, but if needed to lay on your back I'll get a pillow so you can lay without much contact to the wounds ok?"

She expressed her other concerns and he reassured her with everything within him. Nova reminded Luke a lot his little sister, she was extremely fragile as she suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease.
He felt the need to be the kindest he could be and also make her feel as safe as possible.

The three of them watched him leave and waited for him to return, not really saying a word because they wanted her to be fully situated before anymore questions were asked.

Doctor Luke came back into the room, followed by a tiny female nurse, who introduced herself as Nurse Macy. She was carrying a metal tray that had a roll of bandage, some medical tape, scissors and a pair of latex gloves.

She was Josh's older cousin and if you didn't know that little bit of information, you would think they would be twins.

"Okay honey, I'm gonna need you to stay as still as possible. Just so I don't accidentally rip the edges off or bounce your wounds. If you want to you can hug King Elias."

Nova opted to hug him, her legs were swung over the bed and sitting on his lap. She felt immediately at eased.

Lifting her gown up, Nurse Macy slipped on the gloves and started to peel the edges of the bandages where the tape was off.
Removing it all, everyone in the room winced. The amount of scars adorning her back was insane, but the sheer number of ones that were still healing were a whole other level.

Elias leaned over her should and caught sight of it all. He breath hitched and his body was filled with an immense rage and the want for revenge.

"Kärlek, you need to tell me who the fuck did this to you now."