MAD

chvpter 34

Reid favours his leg, his mood crackling like electricity between wires, "What happened to your arm?" He asks around a draft of smoke that trawls into the unruly wash of trees and reeds.

"Dislocated it," We trudge over the rise of the beach, the silver water reflecting against his silhouette.

"Who set it back?" Reid rasps, though his tone hints at his assumption that Scorpius helped me.

"I did." I murmur, surprising him, though he doesn't react with anything other than a stiff exhalation of pain from a twinge in his broken ribs.

We descend into silence, sighting the small patch of beach leading to an expanse of water. He dumps the pack against a fallen tree, hissing as he lowers himself to a seated position. Reid leaves his leg stiff and unbent as though it might alleviate the pain.

My heart flips in my chest, nervous to be in his presence with such an emotional haze fogging my mind. This far from the fire, their conversation fades aside from Elias and Scorpius's occasional laughter.

"You want me to get Thai?" She'll be good at comforting him.

Reid shakes his head as I crouch to the pack beneath him, unzipping it with my good hand. My phone buzzes in my pocket, so I collect it, turning around as I sight Scorpius's name, "I'm goin' for a swim." I say in answer to his phone call, though my voice is quieter than usual. From my crouched position, I rest the phone between my ear and shoulder, collecting a twig from the sand and rolling it between my fingers.

Elias laughs in the background, "Oh alright, are you near us?" Scor replies.

"Yeah, yeah, I can see the fire from here." I murmur, "Why, you that worried about KillTagz?"

Scor grumbles a noise, "Nah, it's... Don' worry."

I chew my lip, "Okay," I finally murmur, not knowing if I should chase his answer. I drop the stick and unzip the pack, "Figures the cold will do good on my shoulder. An' Reid's gon' need him leg looked at so if you can bring the drug bag in a bit that would be fire."

I feel Reid's bubbling attention, his glare like a vat of hot lava. I dismiss the nerves that bubble in my stomach and distract myself by pulling a hygiene kit out of the pack, moving on to unbutton my army coat.

"Yeah. Cold will help the inflammation. Sleep too so don' go-." He grumbles the rest of the sentence, cutting himself off like he suspects Reid can hear, "jus'. See you in a bit."

I wrinkle my nose, wanting to laugh, "Yeah. Kisses, dickhead," I tease, shrugging the phone and catching it before I peel half the army coat off to reveal my blood-speckled tank top. I rise to my feet, wincing as I tug the remaining sleeve free of my arm.

"He's bringing you antibiotics." I murmur my skin prickling with the chill of goosebumps.

Reid reluctantly casts his gaze at the work pants he put on just before they arrested him. From his seated position, I tower over him.

When I glimpse the horrific burns welded into his thigh and the fabric seared into his skin, the blood drains from my face. But then he unbuttons the waistband, bouncing his good leg as he looks at the starlit sky like he's uttering a millisecond prayer to fast forward the next two minutes of his life.

"You can't rip through it," I murmur, but then I realise he's seriously going to do it, "You'll rip your fuckin' skin off. Surely let me cut it so you can try get it off in the water." I rush.

Reid pushes himself to his feet, unzipping his fly before running his thumbs under his waistband like he's psyching himself up, "No, quick with one big scar is better than slow with a lot."