Penny laid on the bed facing her back towards the ceiling of the bed with a pillow that rested below her stomach and head. With her face that was placed such that she looked at the desk as her cheek rested on the pillow, she stared at nothingness whilst waiting for Damien as he was doing something with the box he had carried out from the bathroom. Undoubtedly it was a first aid box and she could clearly hear the ruffle and movement on the bed but she couldn’t see what he was doing as she had turned her face away from him.
It was already embarrassing enough for her to have her back exposed. Not that he hadn’t been around her when she was n.a.k.e.d as Master Damien had entered the bathroom when she was stark n.a.k.e.d taking bath in the tub. But this time it was different because of the dynamics that had come to change between her and him. Or it was just her who had started to notice for who Damien was. Depending on him unknowingly in the days that came by now that there was some sort of attachment that didn’t come because of the mark on her neck which was given by him.
The bed sprang back from the dip where Damien had seated himself next to her. Putting up the logs of fire to warm the room as he noticed the goosebumps that formed on Penelope’s skin. Wanting to keep her warm without her falling sick which would be troublesome, she went back to pick up the holder with the cotton ball.
His hands lowered, one placed next to her unbroken skin so that she wouldn’t move once he would start working on the wound while the other held the cotton ball at the end. The blood had dried and the bleeding from her wound had stopped. It wasn’t too deep but it wasn’t a low-level cut that he could ignore.
After Damien had got her to stand in the room of the village he had found her in, he had noticed the pitchfork which was behind her lying awkwardly as if someone had moved it from its initial position. The three marks on her back were enough confirmation and God only knew how dirty the pitchfork was. Dabbing the cotton with an antiseptic lotion which he had borrowed from Murkh, the cotton ball touched Penny’s back for her to hiss in pain.
“Just a few more minutes. We wouldn’t want any infection taking place such that we show you to the doctor. If you didn’t know, bringing the doctor and having you checked will only raise the suspicion of you being a white witch.”
“Yes,” the girl responded meekly. She was in too much pain to fight back his words.
He was surprised by the quickness of the switcher and the witches who had managed to fool and separate him from Penny. Damien had been wrapped in her safety that he had failed to see through the second impersonator which was hard with the switcher falling asleep and cost him the lives of his servants.
Damien had also been worried the time he had returned back to the village, worried that there were more witches who were going to use and hurt her that he hadn’t realized the wound that had been caused on her back.
With the dead bodies stench in the air which wasn’t far from where Penny was tied and the people he had killed which floated in the wind, he had assumed the blood to be part of it until she had flinched with pain and he had felt the wetness on his fingers. It wasn’t warmblood but the blood had almost stopped flowing out. The back of her dress had stained red which he didn’t mind. Being the one who had got the dress for her, he had bought it such that it could be easily discarded when the time came. Who knew that he would have to undress her upper half because she would be hurt and injured.
It appeared that she attracted metals with sharpness, hurting herself unknowingly. The last two times he had heard, she had stepped right on the nails. He continued to clean the wound on her back. Moving his hand carefully without applying to much pressure while also making sure the strands of the cotton didn’t stick to her wound. It would be painful to take it out if the cotton got stuck there.
Leaning slightly behind he caught sight of her where she had shut her eyes tightly. Her hands clutched the sheet beneath her tightly, her breathing shallow.
“Does it hurt?” he asked her where she finally opened her eyes hearing him speak.
“Not as much as before,” she replied to him.
He moved his hand which he had placed on the unwounded surface to place it on the other side to hear the hitch in her throat.
“Thinking something naughty?” he asked for her to quickly reply,
“I am not!” Penny blushed further. She did not move her head even though she would like to place her face flat on the pillow so that she could hide right now.
“Liar,” Damien’s voice chimed playfully making it even worse. As if that weren’t enough, he asked, “What are you imagining about, mouse? I wouldn’t think badly of you if you share it with me. Instead, I would fulfill every single fantasy that is running in your mind right now,” by now he had cleaned the wound and picked up a tube. Pressing it, the gel came to sit on top of his finger. Bringing it to her wound, he applied it on her skin for her to jerk slightly forward.
“It should take a week before it heals completely. It would be better not to wear anything in the meantime,” he said making her turn her head to look at him and Master Damien smiled beamingly like he had said nothing wrong.
