Page 66 of Captured By the Scaled Outlaw
With one exchange of a look, Lowell and Ginny have an entire silent conversation. Their eyebrows dance in an array of expressions, argumentative and judging.
“May is more than aware of what happens to those who draw my ire. It’s in her best interest to be my ally, not my enemy.” Lowell cocks his head in my direction. “Isn’t that right?”
I smile as innocently as I can, but it comes off as more of a pained grin. “Y-yeah.”
With a huff, Ginny closes her eyes. “May, for your sake, you’d better be telling the truth.”
For once, I am. There is no benefit to betraying them.
“You have my word,” I say, pressing my palms together pleadingly.
Ginny shakes her head in disagreement with Lowell’s decision, but she resigns. “Well, then it’s settled. Let’s get you both to the infirmary.”
I offer an apologetic smile towards Guy, a searing glare from Lowell piercing through the side of my head in response.
“I assure you that I’m okay. Lowell took good care of me. I can leave as soon as Lowell is ready to release me,” I say to Ginny.
I see a crooked grin pull at Lowell’s mouth when I say hetook good care of me.
Looking between myself, Lowell, and Guy, Ginny sighs while leaning on one hip.
“If you say so, but I insist you come inside so we can at least send you off with some fresh clothes, food, and water. You never know if the weather will turn for the worse.”
“Just make sure she leaves before dusk. With the Giant freed, we don’t know what the night will bring,” Lowell orders, reluctantly bracing Ginny’s shoulder as he almost trips on his bad leg.
“You got it, boss,” she says, motioning for Guy to assist me as well.
As Guy wraps his arm around my waist to support me, Lowell shoves Ginny towards us, snapping his fingers at Guy.
“No. You—” he points at Guy. “With me,” he finishes while turning his hand to point down at his feet.
I don’t miss the knowing look exchanged between Ginny and Guy as their eyes flick between Lowell and me. This must be out-of-character for him — to be so possessive. To me, it seems to be aligned with his temperamental personality.
With a fearful look, Guy takes his arm.
“Follow me,” Ginny says.
Chapter 22
Although the infirmary is not far from the main entrance, our pace is significantly slowed by Lowell’s worsening limp. Each time his bad leg touches the ground, he winces and sucks his teeth.
“Stop rushing me,” Lowell snaps at Guy, who flinches in reaction.
“Apologies,” Guy replies timidly.
I see Ginny frown at their exchange from the corner of my eye. She leaves my side to grab Lowell’s other arm to support him better — or to buffer his agitation towards Guy. I can’t tell which, but both are needed.
From behind, I notice just how injured Lowell is. The dried, crusted blood that clings to his pants spans down his back to his calves, other areas of his shoulders and neck indicating bruises and cuts.
The fall from the sandcycle must have been much worse than he let on. No wonder Ginny was furious, I think, chewing my lip.
When we enter the infirmary, Ginny barks orders at the lead nurses, using medical terms I’m hardly familiar with. By her tone and confidence, I can tell she has medical experience. It makes me wonder who she was in a past life, or how any of these people ended up here.
The nurses crowd Lowell, and Ginny only releases her grip after Guy backs away. The sterile room fills with Gaia 4 nurses bustling around to prepare equipment, their eyes widening every time they glance at a sweating, heaving, Lowell.
Multiple nurses struggle to hoist Lowell onto a bed, his brows tightening during all the movement. Nurses rush to clean and remove his bandages, placing a large needle into his arm with a bag of clear liquid attached.
I stand and watch, completely helpless and unsure of where to stand and what to do. I settle on turning away from the chaos to keep myself out of the way. No one has asked me to leave yet, but I doubt they even see me through the cluster of nurses.
