Once all the blood had been cleared away Sidney stepped back a pace.
It was clear Leonard had been beaten; by many men it seemed and for what looked to be an agonizingly long time. Imprints of fists, lines of shoes, clawing nails- everywhere Sidney looked there was a new horror to behold marring skin. Cigarette burns dotted across abused skin, a puncture mark was covered in dirt and imbedded with pebbles, a vicious black eye and uncountable cuts, scrapes, and blows that spanned from minor to serious covering Leonard's meek frame. The bruises didn't stop at his torso, head or arms; Sidney saw blows disappearing past the waistline of Leonard's pants out of daylight but just as real.
Leonard shifted under Sidney's gaze and brought a hand up to cradle his ribs. All of him hurt. Every inch of his skin. Every bit of his pride. He didn't want to admit the amount of effort it took to simply hold himself upright.
"What hurts the most?"
"My head." Leonard licked his lips and let his eyes scrunch in recognition of his pounding temple and the dizziness that plagued him, "And the burns."
Sidney quickly fetched a new cloth and pot now filled with cold water. As Leonard held the cool relief against his burns Sidney began work patching up the worst of the cuts. There was nothing to be done for the bruises or Leonard's concussion, nothing but time and rest.
"Odd hill." Sidney felt Leonard stiffen beneath his fingers but kept working as if nothing had changed, "Not often you find a cliff that uses cigarettes."
"Well," Staring off at the far wall and holding a dripping cloth to a burn, an odd smile made its way onto Leonard's face. It was so out of place Sidney found himself pausing to look at it, to puzzle at Leonard's expression.
Leonard flicked his eyes down to Sidney before looking back up at the wall once more. "On occasion volcanoes are known to smoke."
"Unbelievable." Snorting and shaking his head Sidney returned to his work.
Leonard glanced down once again to Sidney, smile dying on his lips.
The two became reabsorbed in their own minds and thoughts. Slowly progress was made but there were many cuts to be sterilized and sewn. A small pile of pebbles grew on Sidney's side table, removed from Leonard's body with grimaces and pain.
When Ms Maguire walked in it jolted the both of them; Leonard would have fallen off his seat if Sidney's hands hadn't pressed protectively against him and the chair.
She stood motionless at the door- mouth popped open wordlessly, a bunch of lilac clasped in one hand. Leonard was purple, yellow, brown and red, an Edvard Munch palette spread over a canvas of pale white skin.
Her free hand jolted upward to clasp over her mouth. Leonard looked back at her with haunted eyes a moment before fixing his stare decisively at his shoes. His feet jumped around nervously in the silence.
As if released from a spell Mrs. Maguire broke out of her frozen state and rushed forward toward the pair.
"Mrs. Maguire-" Sidney started but she shushed him, tutting wordlessly, fussing back and forth before grabbing the pot of muddy water and leaving the room in a rush.
Sidney and Leonard exchanged a look.
"I'm sure she'll come back with it." For lack of anything else substantial to say Sidney awkwardly resumed work, glancing every so often back at where Mrs. Maguire had disappeared. Leonard stared down at his hands and heaved a gentle sigh.
When she came back she came back with a vengeance. The small woman was carrying the now clean and full pot of water, a kettle, three cups, a tray of sweets, and a new towel. Before Sidney had chance to leap up and help her Mrs. Maguire had already settled it all down on Sidney's side table and had begun pouring the tea.
Once the cups were evenly distributed, Mrs. Maguire turned her full and undivided attention on Leonard.
"What in God's name happened?"
"I'm fine Mrs. Maguire, really it was nothing." Tentatively lifting his cup up Leonard took a nervous and testing sip to check its temperature.
"You've been beaten."
Leonard stared down at his hands and swirled the tea around.
"We can help you Leonard." Leaning back on his heels, keeping a hand on Leonard's knee for support, Sidney spoke softly. "If you tell me who did it, Geordie and I can bring them to justice."
Leonard reacted explosively.
"No! No." catching with his hand the tea that he spilt, Leonard fixed wide and panicked eyes on Sidney. "No police. Don't tell them."
"What? Why?" Alarmed Sidney reached for the cloth and absently used it to clear away the tea from Leonard's lap and hand, "Why not tell the police?"
"Please just, promise me you won't." Heart pounding in his chest Leonard reached out and held Sidney's arm. "Please Sidney."
"But Leonard-"
"You can't talk to them, you must promise me not to talk to them. Not the station and not Mr. Keating."
Sidney struggled for words, shaking his head in disbelief. He couldn't wrap his head around what he was hearing. "What on earth happened?"
Slowly Leonard released his hold on Sidney's bicep. Sidney didn't waver at the action, only kept his questioning gaze level and piercing.
"You'll only make it worse by trying to help Sidney." Voice meek, Leonard held a hand up to his pounding head. "I'd like to lay down now I think."
"Of course." Mrs. Maguire leapt into action before Sidney had time to interject, offering an arm for Leonard to take. "I'll bring you to your room."
The two left the room awkwardly and slowly. Sidney watched after them frozen where he stood. The tea cooled quietly, forgotten. Turning in silence, Sidney cleaned up the rags.
He found Mrs. Maguire in the study polishing the brass.
"He tried to keep me from seeing you know." Closing the door behind him, Sidney stood against the wall looking down at her. Mrs. Maguire was sat, furiously scrubbing the candlesticks. She faced away from him. Her movements slowed after he spoke.
"I wasn't supposed to be home. Neither of us were meant to be in the house. That's the only reason we saw."
"He couldn't have hidden it."
"He would have tried." Sidney walked forward until he was beside her. Her hands had stopped now. "He would have tried to hide the fact he had been beaten from us. How sad is that? He didn't even feel safe at home. With us."
Mrs. Maguire couldn't manage more than a hoarse whisper. "Maybe it was random."
"He would have told us if it was." Pacing the floor Sidney stopped where had had started. He stared out the window. "But why not tell the police? He obviously knows who it was. He doesn't need to say why."
"People will ask." Mrs. Maguire said.
"In four days, when you throw him out people will ask why he's covered in wounds."
Mrs. Maguire flinched back but Sidney came closer, leaning against the table trying to make eye contact.
"He won't be able to move tomorrow. By Thursday he'll be purple, yellow and green. Still sore. Where will he go?"
"People must already know Sidney, for this to have happened-"
"Damn them!" slamming a hand on the table Sidney felt his heart thud, "I joined the church to help people, not throw them to the wolves. What if they come back? What if we're not there to patch him up?" Pushing off the table he ran a hand through his hair. "I have to tell Geordie."
"He doesn't want you to."
"They held him down and used cigarettes to burn holes through his shirt." Swallowing down a surge of bile at the thought Sidney swore he could almost see it happening, "They're out there right now, and they will get away with it if we do nothing. They could do it again. No, I'm going. I can't let this go by in good conscious."
When Sidney stormed out of the room the brass was long forgotten by Mrs. Maguire. Slowly, sitting at her desk she lowered her head into her hands. If her shoulders shook, there was no one there to see it.
A/N: What was that a couple chapters ago about Sidney not being able to keep to his own business?
Of course, I'm grateful for it as it moves the plot along. :)
Review, stay tuned, and thank you for reading!