Author's Note: Sorry for the length. It's a bit long, but hope you like. Thanks to my wonderful beta, BluCrayons. As always. You're the best. Also thanks to Farfisa for the gift she's given me. :D
Chapter 37: Sacrifice
Peter's heart nearly stopped when he saw Micky thrown so haphazardly to the ground. He barely heard what was going on around him, but he seemed to pick up on the intent Shirley had for Micky, which made him sick to his stomach. For a moment, he froze in fright, completely unsure of what he should do. But as soon as Shirley and Cole left, Davy yanked the sheet off the nearest bed and rushed over to Micky and quickly covered him. Rose knelt beside Micky as he gasped in pain.
"Careful, Davy," Rose said. "He's very sensitive. The lightest touch will hurt."
"I just wanted to cover him," Davy said apologetically.
"I know," Rose said. "Just do it carefully. We need to clean him off a little and get him into the bed. Davy, just pour the water over his back. Touching the fabric will hurt him too much. Peter, start pouring the antiseptic over the wounds once Davy washes them off."
"Right," Peter said dropping to his knees next to Micky with the antiseptic. Peter could really get a good look at Micky's face now. His eyes were rolling into the back of his head and his entire body was quivering. He was moving his mouth as though he were trying to talk, but no real sound was coming out. Just terrifying gurgling noises.
"Micky," Rose said clutching his face in her hands and forcing him to try and look at her. "Micky, come on. Stay with me. Don't pass out."
"Maybe that would be better," Davy said. "He's in so much pain."
"Passing out means he's going into shock and that's bad," Rose said.
"What does that mean?" Peter asked.
"It means his body is going to start to shut down," Rose answered. "If he doesn't start breathing right, his brain could sustain injury." Peter heard Sarah let out a choked sob from where she was still sitting on the ground next to Mike's bed. He wanted to comfort her, but he also didn't want to leave Micky. Micky needed him, too. But Mike moved around a little and slid off the bed so he could sit next to Sarah. It looked like it hurt him a little, but he still scooted next to Sarah pulling her into his arms and allowing her to cry against him.
"It's gonna be ok," Mike whispered to her. Peter turned back to Micky and watched Davy clean off Micky's back. It looked like the skin had almost exploded open in long deep lacerations. There looked to be more than ten present. There were even some on his legs and buttocks.
"I thought she only whipped him ten times," Davy said voicing Peter's concern.
"She must have used her double whip," Rose said. "God, I'm gonna fucking kill her. Micky, come on, sweetie. Stay with us." But Micky wasn't responding. His eyes were slowly closing and his body has started to stop shaking. He was passing out. After a few moments, he finally did. His eyes rolled up completely in the back of his head before closing and his body fell limply.
"That's bad?" Davy asked.
"Son of a bitch!" Rose exclaimed. "Yes. We need to keep an eye on his pulse. His body is trying to shut down."
"At least he's breathing normally now," Peter said noting that the short gasping breaths had stopped.
"Yes, but his breathing is too shallow now," Rose answered. "Which isn't much better. Just finish this up and help me get him to the bed. There's not much we can do about it now." Peter nodded and focused on putting the antiseptic over Micky's wounds. Once they were finished, Peter and Davy lifted Micky carefully as Rose guided them over to Micky's bed. They tucked him in carefully. The worst of the injuries were across the back and so they left that exposed so they could cover him in bandages. Rose said she would do it since it had to be done carefully and lightly. And she wanted to inspect each of the wounds to make sure none of them needed to be sutured.
"So does this mean she's gonna leave us alone now?" Davy asked as Rose began carefully inspecting each wound before bandaging it. You could hear the anger dripping from his voice. Peter ran to grab more bandages out of the bathroom for her, knowing she'd need a lot more. Mike was still sitting with Sarah, who was sobbing against him. He was rubbing her back trying to keep her calm, but Peter wasn't sure how well it was working.
"Claire is usually true to her word," Rose answered. "But he didn't exactly discuss a timeframe. That's where she'll find a loophole and use it. We probably have another few weeks reprieve."
"At least there's that," Davy muttered. "Is he gonna be ok?"
"There might be some scarring," Rose said. "Davy, go get me some needle and thread from the first aid kit. A few of these need to be sewn shut."
"I'm not letting Micky do this ever again," Peter said unexpectedly. It even surprised him. His heart was breaking looking at his best friend in such pain.
"I know it hurts, Peter, but you can't control Micky," Rose said. Davy came back with the needle and thread and handed them to Rose.
"No, but I can control what I do," Peter mumbled. "And I can stand in his way and try to stop him."
"You know that'll only make things worse," Rose said. "He made a decision to help all of us. It was his decision to make. The only thing we can do right now is try to help him." Peter didn't say anything. He'd seen Rose rush to try and pull Heather off Mike, but he didn't see what happened to her when she was pulled from his view. But he heard her scream as Cole grabbed her and he heard the shuffling along with the squeaking of the bed frame. He thought he knew Cole was pinning her to the bed and didn't want to turn to look and see if that's all Cole was doing. But as she spoke, he thought he heard it in her words. The way she said "us". But he didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He didn't even know what to say to Mike. He couldn't even begin to imagine what that must have been like for his friend.
"So what can I do now?" Peter asked.
"Mostly just help me," Rose said. "Like you're already doing." Peter nodded and did everything she asked. When she asked for a bandage, he handed it to her. When she needed the thread cut, Davy helped. He didn't know how Micky stayed asleep while having his back stitched up and he didn't think it was a very good sign. When she'd finally finished, including bandaging the wounds on his legs and buttocks, she carefully pulled the sheets the rest of the way over Micky and checked his pulse.
"How is he?" Mike asked.
"Steady pulse so far," Rose answered. "Breathing still a little weak. He'll probably be out for a while."
"But he's gonna be ok?" Sarah asked wiping tears from her face.
"I'm gonna do everything I can," Rose said. "But I'm not gonna sugar coat it for you, Sarah. You know me. It looks like the first few weren't that bad, but the last few were deeper. A lot deeper. She was trying to make him let go. I don't know how much blood he lost and I don't know what this shock is going to do to him. We just have to wait. But you know I'd do everything I could to save Micky. Come over here and keep an eye on his pulse for me, ok?"
"Thank you," Sarah said letting go of Mike and rushing over to crawl into bed next to Micky.
"Rose, I wanna say something," Davy said.
"What?" Rose asked.
"I'm sorry," Davy said.
"For what?" Rose asked.
"Before...when I...well, I didn't say it, but when I didn't know if I could trust you," Davy said.
"It's fine," Rose smiled.
"I just...after what happened with Heather…" Davy continued. "I was scared. And I didn't want my friends to get hurt again. I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize, Davy," Rose said with a smile. "Like I said, I understand. It's fine." Davy walked up and gave her a hug anyway. He must have felt really bad for not trusting her before. Peter understood it, but knew he could trust both Sarah and Rose from the beginning.
"We can't let them do anything to break us apart," Peter said. "We have to stick together. Stay united."
"If we don't, they'll kill us all," Rose agreed.
Over the next few days, Micky stayed unconscious. Sarah constantly checked his pulse and only left his side if she had to run to the bathroom. The only thing that improved was his breathing. It became less shallow and more regular after just the first day, but he was still out cold. Mike was worried about him, but Rose said that since his breathing had regulated itself and there had been no change in his pulse, they shouldn't worry too much. His body was just taking the time to heal itself. And it was better this way; he wasn't feeling any pain.
Rose, Peter and Davy continued to work on turning the bed springs into weapons. The progress was indeed very slow like Rose had said since shaping the metal was hard. Mike offered to help, but Rose told him to just focus on healing; he didn't need another injury on top of the others if he accidentally cut himself.
When they weren't working on making the weapons, Rose was either helping Mike walk or checking on Micky. Mike was able to bear more weight on his knee, but when the fabric of his underwear and pants brushed against the scratch marks, he hissed in pain a little. He tried to brush it off as the pain in his knee, but wasn't sure he was being entirely convincing. At night when Rose crawled into bed with him, even the soft, delicate motion of the sheets shifting hurt him. He again tried to wave it off as knee pain.
"Hey, Pete," Mike started a few days after Micky's attack once they'd eaten breakfast, "can you help me to the bathroom?"
"I'll do it," Rose said quickly. Peter, Davy and Rose were all working on twisting the springs again.
"But, uh…" Mike said not really sure he wanted Rose to take him into the bathroom.
"It's fine," Rose said. "I'll turn around if you want. I want Peter to check on Micky." Mike was tired and didn't feel much like arguing, so he just relented. Rose seemed very determined to be the one to help him anyway. Sure enough, once they were inside the bathroom, she turned and confronted him as he stood in front of the toilet. "Spill it, Mike."
"Spill what?" Mike asked.
"I know what's going on," Rose answered leaning against the counter. "I know Heather. I know how she is and what she likes to do to people. And I know the look she gets in her eyes when she hurts someone."
"She bit me," Mike said.
"She did more than that," Rose argued. "Your knee is almost completely healed. You're standing on it just fine right now on your own. And yet you're still in the same amount of pain when you walk. Even seems to be worse because I can't even get into bed with you without you being in pain. That pain should be minimal by now. Heather likes to scratch. I know what she did. So you can either let me look at it and take care of it, or let it get infected. And I don't think I have to tell you what an infection will do to that part of your body."
"I...I…" Mike started. He knew she had him, but he wasn't sure he wanted to disrobe in front of her. "Maybe Peter or Davy should look at it."
"Would that make you feel more comfortable?" Rose asked skeptically. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't want them to see him either. He sighed and sat down on the toilet, hissing in pain as the fabric once again scratched him. "Mike, would you stop being so stubborn and just let me look?"
"It wouldn't be weird?" Mike asked.
"Why, because I care about you?" Rose asked. "Because I love you?"
"Exactly...wait, what?" Mike asked. He wasn't sure he'd heard the last part right.
"I love you," Rose repeated. "That makes me want to look even more. I want you to be ok. I don't want you to get infected. Please, Mike. Just let me help you."
"I love you, too," Mike said. It felt liberating to finally say it to her. And somehow, he felt a little better about the whole thing. He still felt a little embarrassed about the whole thing. Rose kneeled down in front of him and leaned forward to kiss him. He'd kissed her before, but this felt deeper. When she finally pulled away, he saw a sparkle in her eyes. She was happy. And it was because of him.
"It'll be ok, Mike," Rose said. "I promise. It won't be weird." Mike nodded and stood up. He took a deep breath, still not sure he was ok with this, and carefully pulled down his pants to allow her to look. He looked away as she inspected him. He hated that the first time she got to see him was like this. It should have been under completely different circumstances. He found his mind wandering over his fears. The biggest being the fear that if they had an intimate future, would she be able to look at him without seeing Heather scratching him? Would she always see him this way?
Rose took her time, and barely touched him. She didn't say much of anything, but after a few minutes got up to get a gauze pad and some of the nearly empty antiseptic. When she came back, she poured the antiseptic onto the gauze pad and looked him carefully in the eye.
"Mike, this might sting a little, but you have to trust me," Rose said.
"I do," Mike answered. "Just do what you have to." Rose nodded and pressed the gauze pad onto him. It did hurt and he jumped a little from the sudden shock while squeezing his fists together. She moved the pad around, getting all the scratches before putting the pad in the trash.
"It's not that bad," Rose said. "But you should air it out as much as you can. We can wrap it up for now, but we should come in here every once in a while to air it out. Don't wear your underwear."
"My pants are pretty tight, too," Mike said as she reached for another clean gauze pad and the tape. "And I still kinda have to use the bathroom."
"I know, and you shouldn't wear them," Rose answered. "There are some sweats in the cupboard over here. They should be big enough that they won't brush against it so much. Go to the bathroom and let me know when you're ready. I'll wrap it up and clean it again." Mike stood and relieved himself as Rose turned her back, giving him some privacy. When he was finished Rose cleaned him again and wrapped the gauze around him carefully and taped it before reaching for the pants she'd mentioned and handing them to him.
"Don't say anything to them?" Mike asked as they moved to walk back outside. "They feel bad enough as it is. Especially Micky when he wakes up."
"Of course," Rose answered. Before they left, Mike grabbed her chin softly and pulled her to him to kiss her again. He felt his body come alive as she returned the kiss. He didn't really want it to end, but knew it had to. When he finally pulled away from her, he whispered softly against her lips.
"Thank you," he said. "I love you."
"I love you, too," she whispered back.