Chapter 30 – Rotted Wounds


    The water was soothing to his skin, and Glen proved to be every bit the caring Healer that her sons professed her to be. She stood in the bathroom with him in a shower that was just a little unconventional. The shower was half the size of the bathroom.


    Tile covered the walls and floor, and a pole built into the roof allowed an off-white shower curtain to slide around the area. Blocking Brandon and Glen in as a two-headed nozzle shot water down, standing beside him. A slightly tilted floor allowed most of the water to rush down a significant drain in the middle of the floor. Glen soaped up his legs and back since he didn’t have the strength or the mobility to reach them. She allowed him to take care of everything else for modesty''s sake, softly instructing him not to get soap or water on his bandaged side while he washed.


    Then she poured water down his back and chest to remove the suds.


    She was so gentle and professional about it all. And Brandon was so tired from the small exercise that he found it hard to feel too embarrassed by it all. She rinsed him twice, and finally, when she reached out and turned the nob on the shower off, he couldn’t take it anymore. He had to know.


    “Why.” He said to her, his voice bouncing all around the porcelain shower as the droplets from the shower head and his body slapped into the floor below. “Why haven’t you asked me about this?” he asked her. Using his hands, he motioned to his entire body. “From the moment you undressed me....you just ignored it.”


    Glen surprised him by letting out a small laugh. “Sweetheart, if I asked you any questions, would you actually even answer them?” she said to him.


    Brandon didn’t even have to think about it. “No,” he told her truthfully, which was ironic, he knew.


    Glen smiled at him sadly and silently wrapped a fresh towel around his hips, covering his nakedness. Slowly, she took his arm and bicep and guided him out of the bathroom. And even though he tried to hold his own weight up, he was pathetically weak compared to her. Her petite body had more strength than he could have believed possible. Enough to support him all the way to the bed in the room beyond without breaking a single sweat or stumbling. As she sat him on the bed, she shrugged.


    “I won’t pry. I’m not a busybody or a worry wart Guardian like my husband or sons.” Glen told him as she walked away from him and pulled open a door Brandon hadn’t noticed was in the room. As she pulled it open, Brandon got a glimpse of fresh white lines and towels crammed along the three shelves inside of the pantry she had uncovered.


    “What’s a Guardian?” Brandon felt himself compelled to ask. He wanted to compile as much information as he could. He understood so little about everything. All he had was the information that he had gleaned from books....he had a chance here to learn more about these Shifters.


    Glen nodded. “Guardians are like the law in this Territory. They protect the village, lend their strength to gathering materials, and settle disputes among the Clans'' men. Mostly, they patrol our borders and keep the Clan running smoothly in any way that they can. It is an ancient custom in our Clan and in some other Shifter Clans. My Husband sends them out, and they spend a lot of time trying to fix problems and prevent crimes in the area, so they are all overzealous about...everything.”


    “So that’s why your husband hates me? Is me being here a problem that needs fixing?” Brandon asked her even though he already sort of knew the answer.


    “Yes and no. Glen told him softly, returning from the closet with a fresh pair of clothes for him. “Either way, it’s not my job to go around solving problems all day. ”


    “Oh,” Brandon said as he watched her sit the garments beside him on the bed. A fresh white shirt that stretched down past his elbows, thick grey sweat pants, and no underwear.


    Well, what did I expect? It’s not like I would want to borrow any of her son’s stuff. Hell, I don’t want to borrow their clothes.


    Brandon thought to himself.


    But Brandon also didn’t want to run around naked, so he didn’t make a fuss as she started putting a shirt over his damp head.


    I hate being touched!


    Brandon growled to himself.


    But he had to admit that this was a necessary evil. He had to have her help, or he would only make his injuries worse. And beyond even that. Glen was so gentle with her hands and words that he didn’t notice it too much. She also refrained from touching him for too long, almost as though she could sense how much he disliked the contact, even though he tried not to show it.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    She worked slowly and methodically in order to not disturb his wound, and soon, the clothing was cascading over his body, hiding it from her and everyone else that he didn’t want to see it.


    As she let him recover from the exhaustion creeping up, she continued talking.


    “But my son will be back to speak with you.” She said suddenly as she took up the sweats and bent down on her knees. She slipped in one of Brandon''s legs at a time. Then she looked up at him. And once again, he realized how small but beautiful she was. “And I have a feeling that he won’t be as respectful of your privacy as I am. He can’t help it. He is curious about you. And curiosity always was his Achilles hill.”


    Brandon grunted in pain as she pulled him to his feet and pulled the towel from around his hips.


    “But you aren’t gonna ask me anything?” he said, slightly confused as he helped her get the pants on. He let her slide the sweat pants up his calves, then took over and painfully maneuvered the pants the rest of the way up onto his hips, covering himself once more. Brandon sensed that she was trying to gather her thoughts so that she could answer him.


    “No, I’m not gonna ask you anything, but only because you won’t talk to me,” Glen said to him as he finished and looked back at her.


    “But you think I’ll talk to him?” Brandon sneered at her. He was panting slightly, and she noticed.


    Glen didn’t say anything to that. She sat him back on the bed slowly, and then she took a fresh towel off of the nightstand and stood in front of him, her knees brushing his.


    “I think.....“She said, coming to him and putting the towel over his head. And rubbing his scalp softly with the material so that it blocked her from his eyes. “I think that if someone tried to save your life. The least you can do is have a civilized conversation with them. If you’re worried about your body? Don’t be, honey. I haven’t discussed the things I’ve seen.”


    “You’re....odd.” Brandon scoffed beneath the towel, the heavy towel blocking out the world around him so that all he could feel were the fresh stitches in his side, the pain and exhaustion throbbing in his bones....and her tiny hands rubbing his crown.


    “Why do you say that?” Glen responded a moment later. “I promise you I am quite normal.”


    “No.” Brandon denied her, not caring if he was being rude. “You’re not normal...Normal people look at me, and they are frightened or disgusted. I’m disgusting to look at, and you’re just acting like you don’t see it.” Brandon shrugged beneath the towel. “It’s odd that you’re being so nice.”


    “Kindness isn’t odd,” Glen said over his head, his voice sharpening slightly. “Who on earth treated you so grotesquely!”


    Realizing that this wasn’t a road that he wanted anyone sniffing down, Brandon tried to backpedal suddenly. “It’s not a big deal. Lots of people have sort of acted like asses towards me....”


    Glen persisted with a hiss. “What pig’s people can be! I swear those types of people should be....!”


    “Hey Its ok lady. Those people....” He said, cutting her off. Her heightened emotions upset him, so he tried to get her to calm down. “They don’t matter anymore.....” He mumbled and squeezed his fists covertly into the sheets as images and smells of the people he didn’t want to remember assaulted him. “They are just people....who are behind me.”


    “But where did you get that idea from?” Glen started to pry. Suddenly, her continued presence was starting to wear on him. He wanted to shout at her, tell her to go away. This was why he hated them....everyone wanted to know. To see. To understand him. Touch...talk....people.


    What a waste of her time...These Shifters should just leave me alone.


    Brandon thought to himself.


    What terrible bloody mess he could make of it all. In seconds, he could destroy everything these Shifters held dear to them. Kill them.....


    Brandon wanted to laugh as he thought of this...but the sound died in his throat before it could reach his cold lips.


    “Where are these people that are behind you? In a mortal city somewhere?” Glen asked him softly.


    Dead......One day....I’ll kill all of them.


    Brandon thought to himself darkly.


    And then....they won’t exist anywhere on this earth...


    But he knew that he couldn’t say that out loud....it would raise too many flags.


    Brandon remained silent to all her questions after that. He couldn’t speak past the ball of emotion trying to choke him to death. Hate. So dark it slithered around his senses. He hated being touched, he hated other people. He hated Shifters, too. He hated....this moment. But he also detested that tiny part of him...that didn’t hate her or her blue-eyed son.


    And suddenly, the towel was pulled up, and he was staring into Glen’s big green eyes.


    “Well, whoever it was...forget about them for now.” She told him softly. “You’re not disgusting. You’re my patient. What you look like couldn’t matter less to me than your species or gender.”


    Brandon swallowed the hatred down because he knew better than to show it to anyone and directed a glare down at the carpet between his feet. “Are we gonna stop talking about this soon? Besides, your son will be asking me about this, too?”


    “Well, as I said earlier.....” Glen began her green eyes peering at his hair instead of him. She used her nimble fingers to pat his scalp, and when it came away from his scalp drenched in water, she shook her head and started hefting the towel back over his head softly.


    “I haven’t violated your privacy in any way. Trust this truth. So no one else in this house knows what I know, nor have they seen you unclothed. What you choose to talk about with Ezekiel is entirely up to you, but if you would like to discuss who and what did that to you, I’ll be a good listener now.” Glen tilted the cloth back over his head, blocking her from his eyes.


    Brandon bit his cheek as the idea of any further contact with anyone at that moment made him cringe. “No. I don’t like talking about this.”


    “OK.” She said softly as she continued to massage away the water in his hair.


    And Brandon stayed silent. Fighting the growing urge to push her hands away from him. he felt like he was suffocating by the end.