Page 108 of Shadow's Surrender
She ran one of the washcloths over his shoulders and chest.
“What the fuck?” he said.
“I’m giving you a quick sponge bath before putting on a fresh dressing.”
“I don’t need you to do that. I’m not a fuckin’ wimp.”
“I didn’t say you were,” she replied, washing his private parts and legs. “I want to do this. Please let me.”
“Whatever.” His jaw clenched and his lips formed a hard thin line as he burned a hole into the wall in front of them.
After she dried him off, Scarlett bit the inside of her cheek as she slowly took off the bandages and cleaned the wounds. They looked awful but she couldn’t let him know how affected she was by all of it.
“How long did the doctor tell you it’d take to heal?”
“Two weeks. It’s not that big of a deal.” Shadow still avoided her gaze.
“It is if you get an infection.”
For the next several minutes, she chatted brightly about this and that while he remained stoic.
“That’s it,” she said, standing up. Scarlett took the supplies and walked toward the bathroom. “Do you happen to have an extra toothbrush?” she asked, pausing for a moment.
“Bottom drawer of the dresser.”
“Great. I’m guessing you have to change the bandages twice a day.”
“Yeah,” he grunted.
“I’m going to wash up.”
An hour later, Shadow sat at a table with Helm, Cruiser, and another guy Scarlett didn’t know, chomping on a turkey and swiss sandwich she’d made for him in the club’s kitchen. Earlier, when she’d been slathering mayo on two slices of wheat bread, a few of the club girls came into the kitchen and tried to stare her down, but Scarlett had just hummed softly and finished making her man’s lunch. A few tortilla chips, a scoop of potato salad, two pickle spears, and a peeled orange had completed the plate. Then Scarlett brushed past by a bleached blonde woman with green tipped talons who’d tried to block her way out of the kitchen.
“Bitch,” the woman gritted.
Scarlett threw the witch one of the smiles she’d learned in etiquette school back when she was in third grade, and then walked out. She wasn’t sure what it was about the smile—soft, not too wide, and refined—that pissed people off, but it always came through for her whenever anyone gave her shit and she didn’t want to deal with them.
On a chair next to Shadow, Scarlett stole one of the orange slices off his plate and took a bite. The sweet juices ran down her chin and she grabbed a napkin and wiped them away. Shadow glanced at her sideways for a second then went back to lamenting with his friends over what had happened to his motorcycle. There was never a mention about what had happened tohim, just his bike.Shadow’s right—this is a different world.
A tall good-looking man with black hair pulled back in a ponytail and deep blue eyes came over to the table and placed a hand on Shadow’s shoulder.
“How’re you doing, bro?”
“Sore as fuck, but okay.”
“Good.”
“Did you get a chance to check out my bike?” Trepidation laced his voice.
“Yeah, and I can save it. It’s messed up pretty good, but the engine’s sound. Any idea who the fuck did this to you?”
Shadow’s shoulders slumped down as he visibly relaxed. “Awesome news about my bike. When’s it gonna be ready?”
“A week, ten days max.”
“Cool. I’m not sure who the fuckers were. There’re cameras up and down that street ’cause it’s in the rich part of town.”
“Smokey told me. I’ll see what I can do.”
