Chapter 15: Pain Comes In More Than One Form
Her eyes fluttered open and she lifted her head off his hand. She sat up and looked at Kurt, smiling. She coughed slightly, causing blood to drip from her collarbone.
"You okay Kurt?" she asked.
Kurt nodded solemnly. Alara looked over to Logan.
"Mr. Logan? Are you okay?"
Logan tilted his head.
"Yeah, sure kiddo. How about you?"
Alara nodded.
"I'll be okay."
She pushed herself painfully to her feet and helped Kurt up. Pain was etched all over her face, but she smiled through it and walked proudly out of the Danger Room, her head held high. Of course, she walked back in so that she could help Logan carry Kurt to the First Aid room, but she was proud of how she had fought.
Hank offered to help her dress Kurt's wounds as they entered the infirmary and Logan just watched, but Alara insisted that she do them. They watched as Alara prepared the bandages and took special care to make sure that each of them were perfect.
"What are you doing to them?" Hank asked as Alara pulled the bandages of a tub full of a strange mixture she had concocted. Alara smirked.
"Old family recipe. Can't tell you what's in it exactly or I'd have to kill you, but it helped whenever I got hurt. This should be extra nice since I added a special ingredient that makes it smell nice."
Kurt sat leaning against a pillow that sat on a bed that looked like it should belong in a hospital. Alara walked over to him, wheeling a cart in front of her. On the cart was the bucket with the bandages in them and a small vial of clear liquid.
"Okay. Now, Kurt, take off your shirt."
Logan winced, trying to prevent himself from pouncing on Kurt and wringing his neck, and Kurt looked over at Logan, petrified. Alara tapped her foot impatiently.
"OH MY GOSH! YOU MEN! IT'S NOT LIKE I'M ASKING YOU TO GET NAKED! JUST TAKE OF YOUR STUPID SHIRT!" she hollered.
Logan and Kurt both looked at her surprised, but Kurt took off his shirt and handed it to her. She threw it onto the bottom shelf of the cart.
"Okay. Now Kurt, I want you to sit up straight and hold your hands out like this," she instructed, holding her hands straight out to the sides.
Kurt did as he was instructed and held out his arms. Alara smiled and picked up one of the bandages. She wrung the liquid out into the bucket so that it was just barely moist and placed the end of it on the center of his back. Logan struggled with not growling as Alara wrapped the bandages around his chest for Kurt couldn't keep his face straight whenever she wrapped her arms around him.
"This medicine you put on the bandages feels very nice," he commented to her, causing Logan to growl.
Alara looked from Logan to Kurt and back.
"You two are so disgusting," she muttered.
As soon as she had finished bandaging Kurt, she handed Kurt the vial and said softly, "This is for tonight. It will sting for a few hours. This should kill the pain."
"Vhere is your vial? I only see von."
Alara smiled at him solemnly.
"Oh. Don't worry about me, Fuzzy," she replied, jokingly. "I'll be fine."
Kurt nodded and Logan smirked.
Alara sighed.
"Well, I have to bandage myself up, so if you fellows don't mind, I'm going to go into the bathroom to do it."
She pushed the cart over into a small bathroom adjoining the infirmary and took off her shirt so she could begin bandaging herself. Logan looked over at Kurt.
"That's one brave young lady," Logan said casually to Kurt.
Kurt nodded silently.
"I mean, facing me so that you didn't get the full blame for what happened and then never complaining once about the pain."
Kurt looked over to Logan.
"Vhat are you getting at?"
Logan shrugged.
"I dunno. Just that I'd hang on to her."
Kurt smiled softly.
"I vill. Don't vorry about it."
Logan smiled. They sat in silence for a minute. In the bathroom, Alara had wrapped the whole top half of her chest and was starting on the stomach, when the pain finally registered. She collapsed onto her knees and dug her fingernails into her fists and teeth into her lips. She kept biting down until the pain was overpowered by the bloody claw marks on her palms and the holes on her lips. She stood back up and finished wrapping up her stomach and put her shirt back on before she collapsed onto the floor again with a loud clang. Logan's ears perked up and he listened intently for a minute. He suddenly heard a quiet sniffle and a sob. Kurt's ears perked up and he tried to sit up, but pain shot through him.
"I-it's Alara," he groaned.
Logan nodded and walked to the bathroom. He tapped lightly on the door before stepping in.
"Alara?"
Suddenly Logan smashed the door into the wall in a panic. Kurt heard the cart being knocked over and a groan as Logan picked Alara up off of the ground and carried her over to a bed next to Kurt's. Alara's eyes were clamped shut and Kurt saw her palms and lips were bleeding heavily.
"Alara? What's wrong?" Logan asked frantically.
"It just hurts a little. That's all…" Alara groaned.
Logan and Kurt both looked worried and confused, but Alara just kept repeating, "It's nothing. It's just a little more pain than I'm used to."
"You don't seem to be seriously injured," Logan replied, looking her up and down.
"No… Some of it's much deeper than these mere wounds…" Alara groaned, motioning to the ones on her chest and stomach.
"Vhat are you talking about?" Kurt asked.
"Here. It always hurts here," she said, placing a hand on her heart.