Chapter Two-Hundred and Eight
Clarissa helped John into the ice water in the clawfoot tub they had making sure he didn't shock himself as it hit his burns. "How's it feel?" She asked, checking the plastic around his cast to make sure it didn't get wet.
"Cold." John grunted, lowering himself into the tub with a hiss as the water washed over his raw burns. "Fuck…"
She nodded, pumping some hand sanitizer onto her palm to make sure she didn't risk giving him an infection as she scrubbed the scabs away from his body. "I know, Pumpkin." She sighed, picking up a washcloth and pouring some antibacterial soap onto it. "I hate doing this…" She pushed her tears back as John groaned in pain. "I'm sorry…"
He nodded, squeezing his eyes shut to force his tears back, only to cry out when she scrubbed a scab off and made him start to bleed. "Stop!"
Clarissa paused, leaning her forearms on the side of the tub to let him recover. "Baby…" She sighed, able to see the water start to turn pink with his blood.
He gripped her wrist in his hand, craving her comforting touch in the waves of pain that were drowning him. "Please…" He whimpered, his dark eyes meeting hers. "I want Ryan to drug me up."
She shook her head, her heart breaking with just the idea of John being forced into a medical coma until he healed. "No…" She whispered, touching his cheek as tears slid down his cheeks. "Pumpkin… I can't let that happen…"
"It hurts… please… knock me out… make it stop." He begged, gripping at her t-shirt in desperation. "I'm begging you… make it stop."
Clarissa kissed his head, knowing that the pain felt as if it would kill him. "No."
"Please!" He sobbed, the tears stinging his raw flesh.
"Johnathan." Clarissa barked, shocking him into silence and forcing him to pay attention to her words. "Listen. To. Me. I am not letting Ryan put you in a coma. You are going to recover fully awake." She met his eyes, lifting his chin as he tried to shrink away. "I know it hurts. But I promise you, it will stop hurting and it will heal." She pushed his soaking hair behind his ears, smiling at him. "I promise, it will get better." She brushed a tear from his cheek, waiting for just a moment before she began the process of scrubbing his burns clean.
Chance laid her head on John's lap, her ears twitching with each sound as he slept. She raised her head, baring her teeth as someone pushed his bedroom door open.
"Shh… it's just me Chancie." Dominic whispered, placing some tea on John's bedside table as he leaned over his cousin to check that he was completely asleep. "How's he doing?" He asked, reaching his hand out to brush John's hair back from his face. He jumped back as Chance's jaw closed around his hand. "Chance!" He pried her jaws off of his hand, cradling it to his body as it bled. "What the fuck?"
John rolled over, his eyes going wide as he saw the blood. "Dom!" He stumbled from his bed, tripping as his cast kept his leg from bending. He fell into his cousin, pushing Chance away as she came to his rescue. "What happened?" He took Dom's hand in his, looking down at the blood that leaked from the bite wounds.
"Chancie's a little overprotective right now." He wrapped his hand in a bandanna, trying to help John to his feet without risking an infection in the burns. "It's not a big deal. She's just doing her job."
John winced as Dominic's grip pulled at stitches and scabs, choking on a cry. "She's never bitten anyone before…"
Dominic nodded, tucking the covers around his cousin. "You've never been hurt this bad before." He sat on John's bed, pulling his cousin closer. "She's scared."
John gripped at Dominic's jacket, dreading the moment that he would have to start going home to Jade. "Me too…" He whispered, letting Dominic rock him back and forth as he started to sing.