Page 82 of Deceit

He nods in approval, before giving me a dismissive hand wave. I practically scramble to my feet and Asher is right beside me, gently cupping my arm as we briskly make our exit. We don’t say a word as we leave the manor. Asher opens my door quietly before closing it and slipping inside his own. He fires up the car and we are gone in the next second.

We drive for a few miles in silence, him wiping at his eyes every few seconds. It’s clear he can’t see with the way the bloodis pouring into his eyes, and not only is it sad, it’s dangerous. A drugstore is up on our right, and I point to it as I speak.

“Pull over.”

“You can get your boyfriend to get you tampons later,” he grouches lowly.

I roll my eyes, surprised he even has any fight left in him tonight.

“Pull over so I can get some stuff to clean up your face, idiot. You can’t see and I’d like to make it home in one piece.”

To my surprise, he doesn’t argue. He hits his blinker and whips into the parking lot without a single complaint. I slip out of the car, fully aware of the possibility that he may just leave me here. I don’t have much to work with, since I don’t really know the extent of his injuries, but I do grab some tweezers, rubbing alcohol, bandages and gauze.

Once I’ve checked out, I’m back at the car, more than a little relieved that he didn’t take off on me. Instead of going to my side, I open his door, crouching down beside him.

“Face me,” I say.

He sneers at me. “Why?”

I roll my eyes. “Because, that way I know what is glass and what is your arrogant fucking mouth,” I snap.

Begrudgingly, he faces me, and I instantly notice one piece of glass embedded just below his eyebrow. Pulling out the tweezers, I sterilize them with a little bit of alcohol before I pause.

“This might not feel very good.”

“Whatever,” he says numbly.

I nod as I grip the glass shard, carefully pulling it out and repulsed to see the size of it. He doesn’t grimace or flinch as I pull piece by piece out of his face, until there is nothing left that I can see. Taking some of the gauze, I soak it in alcohol before applying it to his open cuts. His left eye twitches just slightly, butthat’s the only indication he gives that he isn’t a robot and does feel some pain. As I work on cleaning him up as best as I can, his eyes track me, slowly following my every move.

Once his wounds are clean, I’m actually impressed that the damage isn’t near as bad as I expected. The cuts don’t seem too deep, so I don’t think he will need any stitches. I unpeel a band aid and go to put it on the deepest cut on his cheek, when his hand catches my wrist midair.

“What are you doing?” he practically growls.

I wave the band aid dramatically, causing him to roll his eyes and shake his head.

“I’m fine.”

Whatever. I point towards his nose that is slightly bent to the side now.

“What about that? It looks like it might be broken.”

He looks into the rear view mirror and assesses his nose before he pinches it between both hands and jerks. I gasp at the horrific cracking noise it makes, as he scrunches his nose up and down a few times and inhales deeply.

“Good as new.”

I stare at him in shock for several seconds, before I begin gathering up all the supplies, putting them back into the bag and making my way around the car. As soon as I slip inside, Asher fires up the car and we are pulling back onto the road.

We’re almost back to campus when he speaks, his eyes remaining on the road as he does.

“Thanks.”

It’s so low, almost a grumble. Honestly, it was so quiet that I think for a moment that I imagined it, until he looks at me from the corner of his eyes.

“You didn’t have to.”

“I know,” I say.

“Then why did you?” he fires back, as he turns into the parking lot.

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