192 – Stitches (Part 1)
Felicity had long decided to confront Archer about the incident last week, but Giovanni had sent said Executive on a mission the day after their fight.
The paint flecked woman twirled around in the spinning chair in the 'office' of the forgotten wing quickly becoming tired of being confused and rainbow coloured.
As the chair spun back towards the various screens mounted on the wall her gaze flicked to the biggest screen on the right. Archer appeared in the main hall one hand clutching the left side of his face the other pressed tightly against the red stain on his uniform.
Felicity tracked his movements using the TV screens and watched as the wounded Executive made his way to his room unopposed.
Kitten nudged Felicity gently earning a scratch behind the ears and a knowing sigh. With effort she stood and made her way to her 'secret' bedroom and ducked under the bed blindly searching for a small metal box.
Seconds later she pulled out the paint splatted case and quickly shoved it into her pocket thanking Arceus she had decided to stash these small medical kits in safe places around the mansion.
Stepping quickly, Felicity reached for the long unused panel behind her wardrobe and carefully pushed at the false wood which dislodged it from the rest of the wall. She ducked inside the opening and slowly placed the panel back before turning to face the unaware Archer
He was standing in front of his mirror, without a shirt on, examining the gash on his head.
Silently, Felicity walked up behind him taking care not to let him catch even the slightest glimpse of her and held her breath before reaching out to him.
He grunted in pain which caused Felicity to freeze up for a second before she realized he had not noticed her. Still holding her breath she switched her target to an already bloody towel that lay across the edge of the sink.
Archer's hand snapped out and Felicity couldn't react fast enough.
He grabbed the towel and her hand grabbed his.
Archer whipped around startled while Felicity bent to catch the bloodied fabric, before reaching up and gingerly placing it on his wounded shoulder.
He hissed in pain but allowed her to tend to him, grimacing every time she pressed against a tender spot.
Slowly the wound on his head became cleaner and the torrents of blood slowed under her hands. She slipped the painted box out of her pocket and balanced it on the sink edge retrieving small sticking plasters which she used to hold the wound together so it could heal, rather than fighting with stitches.
Once she knew it would stay, she moved on to his shoulder which Archer was using the towel to press on.
"I have to wonder what happened to you Archer." Felicity whispered quietly.
"It's best that you don't know." Archer snapped as she brushed a particularly sensitive wound. As the area around his shoulder become cleaner Felicity noticed it was more than one slice in his skin.
"Someone didn't like you, Archer they practically tried to carve out your heart." Felicity whispered tiredly and wasn't surprised when Archer didn't answer.
She threaded a needle after carefully cleaning one gash and turned back to Archer.
"I don't have anything to stop the pain." Felicity said apologetically.
"What would you normally use?"
"Mage, she puts the patient to sleep and when they wake the worst of it is over." Felicity said before spotting a clean towel on the towel rack. Before Archer could ask what she was doing, she had already twisted it and dipped in it a little water.
"Bite this." She whispered and Archer complied. Not seconds later the needle pierced his skin. Archer yelled out, the sound muffled by the wet towel in his mouth but Felicity still winced at the sound.
"Sorry."
This process continued until each cut was held closed by seven or so neat stitches. After the first time Archer didn't call out again but his fist coiled with every prick of the needle and his eyes bored into Felicity. She never met his eyes but she knew he was watching her.
Once she finished she quickly began cleaning up, collecting her kit together washing out the bloody towel and cleaning Archer's blood from her hands.
Archer opened his mouth to say something but Felicity cut him off.
"Go to bed Archer, sleep will help you heal. I'll be back in a couple of hours to see how you're doing."
"Felicity you're not wearing any paint." Archer said quickly as she walked out the door.
"I'm tired of being a rainbow." Felicity said cryptically before leaving.
Felicity looked at the collection of Pokéballs on her dresser, each a different type depending on the Pokémon inside, but her gaze settled on the white and blue ball known as a Dive Ball.
"Alright Snow let's surf shall we?" The walk to the pier didn't take long and soon both Snow and Felicity were enjoying the salty spray of the ocean. Snow was jumping in and out of waves playfully glad to be out of her Pokéball, while Felicity reminded herself of all the small tricks she used to do on the little waves. She had asked Snow to freeze some water to make the perfect board, for her at least.
"Alright Snow, I've had enough on the kiddie stuff, let's hit some heavy waves."
"Dew!" The seal Pokémon agreed and Felicity paddled out further before waiting for *the* wave. It started not five minutes later with the receding waterline. It pulled gently on Felicity's legs and she took that as the queue to start getting speed. The wave picked Felicity up and she dropped in quickly carving the face before trying simple tricks.
A call from the shore pulled her attention for a second and out of the corner of her eye she saw more surfers on the beach. She cast a glance behind her where they were pointing and smirked.
The race was on.
She hit the top of the wave at high speed earning big air to which she did a full forward flip before slashing back down the face of the wave and was cocooned in the tube.
Felicity crouched low to the board one hand behind her the other trailing in the face of the water as she marveled in the beauty of the blues of the wave that surrounded her.
With ease she pulled away from the tube and hit the top again but decided it wasn't enough air to pull off her trick. She rode the wave in quickly laughing all the way.
"Dude that was awesome! Where'd you learn to shred like that?" Felicity looked to the owner of the voice to find a typical surfer, dreadlocks and boardshorts included.
"Taught myself dude. Now if you don't mind I plan on catching a few more heavy waves. Later dude." Felicity said before paddling out again.
A couple hours later Felicity was waiting for the final wave that would take her back in for the night. The amount of pull on Felicity's legs alarmed her and her immediate thought was she got herself caught in a riptide, but when the waterline dropped, Felicity's mind hit the 'oh shit' button.
Quick as she possibly could she began paddling towards shore as fast as possible trying to gain enough speed to outrun the massive wave that had started to drag her in.
Felicity was halfway up the face of the wave when she stood up, more like crouched, and began carving the face to gain more speed. Just as suddenly as the wave came it began crashing around her the roar of the waves terrifying her.
The beauty of the colossal wave was lost as the awesome raw power became apparent as the wave began closing dangerously close behind her.
She sunk even lower to the board her body resting on her outstretched right leg her left was curled under her to keep her speed at a maximum. She pulled away from the end of the tube and away from immediate danger.
The roar of the wave in her ears kept her attentive but as she pulled further and further from the danger zone her heart beat stuttered less and less.
She rocketed out of the tube still almost lying on her board and hit the top at breakneck speed, launching herself into the air. Just as Felicity hit the peak of her height her board slipped and she flailed as gravity stepped in.
Felicity washed up on the beach five minutes later and spit sea water out of her mouth.
"Dew?" Snow asked nudging her right shoulder lightly and received a pat from a half drowned Felicity.
"Best wipeout I've ever had, eh Snow? Maybe we should go home now eh." Felicity cringed as she got up and returned Snow to her Pokeball and started walking home. Half way up the beach Felicity noticed the teal haired Executive arguing with the surf bums.
"Archer what the hell are you doing?!" Felicity snapped when she got to the group.
"You know this beach leach?" One of the surfers asked.
"One he's not a beach leach, two I do know him and three," Felicity said before turning to Archer.
"What are you doing here? You plan on pulling your stitches out?"
"You're not supposed to leave Felicity."
"That is absolutely none of your damned business, besides he knows where I am right now."
"You're hurt."
"I wiped out of course I'm hurt." At the mention of her wipeout the surfers gathered around her asking questions and admiring the cut on her left shoulder, pushing Archer away completely. After almost twenty minutes of listening to them rambling on Felicity was on her last nerve. She pulled a Pokeball from her belt and threw it up.
"Come on out Monster."
Ten minutes later both Archer and Felicity were back in Archer's room in headquarters.
"Do you want the towel?" Archer asked and Felicity shook her head 'no'.
"Just get on with it please. The wait is killing me."
The same sharp needle pierced her skin as easily as it had done his and her stifled cry of pain made him wince as well.
"Well, now we both have our stitches." Felicity said pulling on a baggy T-shirt.
"I guess we do." Archer said hesitating before turning to the spot where Felicity was standing.
"Damn it."