Relentless (Book 3)

Chapter 14: Benjamin - The Fourth Day

The ice cold floor of my cell felt wonderful against my bruised and battered body. But sleeping on the solid concrete wasn't doing me any favors. I woke up stiff and sore, in a fair amount of pain from the fight yesterday.

Bethany was still sleeping, her eyes moving rapidly beneath her lids, a grimace on her face, quiet cries escaping her lips. Even during sleep, she couldn't find peace, she couldn't fully rest. But at least she had some food in her stomach, since I'd won her some yesterday. But they didn't give her much, just a few spoonful's. I was hopeful that she would be given a bit more tonight once I'd won again. She needed it, desperately. Being given only a couple bites of food to eat in three days was nowhere near enough to keep her body going, especially under the circumstances we were being held under. I was glad she was getting some sleep at least, even if she was consumed by nightmares the second she closed her eyes.

I knew I was in for another fight today, but I had no idea what new form of torture Bethany was going to be made to endure today. But I knew the longer she would be able to sleep, the better she would be able to handle it.

As I watched Bethany sleep, I started stretching. Stretching my sore muscles out brought on more pain, but from experience, I knew if I didn't stretch, my muscles would stiffen and then I would really be in trouble.

I looked down at my arms and saw they were black and blue from top to bottom. It reminded me of the time Acer took his baseball bat to my legs the day I was late for check in, when I opted to spend the day with Bethany rather than make it home on time. My wrist was horrifically swollen, the swelling extending all the way up into my fingers, making my hand stiff and nearly impossible to move.

I slowly, and painfully lifted my shirt up so I could take a look at my side. I saw that the skin where the guard had hit me with his baton was a deep purple. I let my shirt drop back down, glad that Bethany was asleep and hadn't seen how bruised my ribs were.

I looked back at her and realized I was wrong. Shit. She has seen it. Her eyes opened wide and her mouth was set in a thin line. "It's not as bad as it looks." I found myself saying, making up lies and excuses like I used to. A habit that I apparently still hadn't broken.

"Bullshit." she replied, calling me out. She nodded toward my arm. "And you're hiding your wrist too, so I know that's bad."

I hadn't even realized that I had put my hand behind my back when I saw she was awake. I guess hiding injuries had just been so ingrained in me, or rather, beaten into me, that half of the time, I did so subconsciously. But I didn't want to be that person anymore, the person who hid things from and lied to the only person who had ever loved and cared for me. I let my arm fall back down to my side.

"You should keep it elevated if you want the swelling to go down. Ice would be good too." She said, stepping back into her old role as well. "Do you think they'd give you some if you convinced them it would make for a more entertaining fight?" she asked, her voice venomous when she spoke of the entertainment factor of the fights they were forcing me into.

"I can ask." I responded.

"Can I see your wrist?" she asked gently. And I was reminded of all of the times she begged to examine the injuries that the "bullies" had given me, before she found out they were my family. She used to be afraid if she pushed me too hard for answers, I would shut down. But that fear didn't stop her from pressing me for those answers when she became angry at what they'd done to me. Her tone of voice right now indicated that she was worried that I was going to shut down in this situation.

"Sure." I said, not wanting her to worry about that on top of everything else we were dealing with. Of course now, she was going to be worried I'd broken something, and she'd be afraid I would do permanent damage to it, when I was forced to use it in a fight.