Page 58 of Powerless
Again, no answer. His eyes slid away from me with a wordless grunt which I took to indicate consent.
I pulled a chair over to sit in front of him, while I laid my tools out on the couch next to him. His eyes widened and he hitched in a breath at the sight of my scalpels.
"I'm going to cut away your shirt," I explained, picking up my scissors. "I need you to not move so as to not agitate the wound, okay?"
Another non-reply followed by a swig of the bottle. I really wished he wouldn't. Alcohol thinned the blood and made bleeding worse, but I wasn't here to lecture him about his coping methods. I picked up the scissors and began cutting up the side of his shirt.
He or Jandro already applied pressure to the wound and soaked up a lot of the blood. The graze cut a long gash between his ribs and his hip. Thankfully, it wasn't very deep. The bleeding had slowed and begun to congeal.
I folded back the two sides of his now-cut shirt to access the wound easily. Rummaging through my stuff, my heart sank when I realized I ran out of rubbing alcohol. Fortunately, being a medic in a war zone taught me there were other methods of sterilizing.
"Can I borrow that?" I pointed to Shadow's liquor bottle, which he seemed very reluctant to part with. "I'm out of rubbing alcohol and I need to sterilize your wound."
He scowled at me but passed the bottle over. I hesitated as I held it over his wound. "This is going to hurt like a motherfucker." He looked off toward the pool, elbow propped on the arm of the couch and his chin in his hand, just waiting for this ordeal to be over with.
You and me both, buddy.
His expression didn't change when I poured the alcohol over his skin. Even the most stoic man would have hissed or grit his teeth or something, but Shadow gave no reaction. He only accepted his bottle back when I held it out to him.
"Stitching you up now," I said, preparing the sutures. "This might hurt, too. I'm sorry, I ran out of local anesthesia."
I got my usual response and got down to work. While the wound was shallow, it extended nearly eight inches long, wrapping around his waist from nearly his stomach to his back. It had to hurt like a bitch but he acted like he didn't even notice it. Frankly, he looked bored.
My hands were on autopilot pulling the surgical thread in and out of his skin, which allowed my eyes to wander slightly across his massive body. He had Jandro's beefcake muscles on a frame taller than Gunner. More pale, faded scars like the ones I saw on his arms crisscrossed up the exposed side of his body, disappearing under the remains of his shirt folded over his chest.
There was no way all of this could be self-harm, though they were clearly shallow cuts made by a sharp implement. Which likely explained why he looked nervous at the sight of my scalpel.
His broad chest rose and fell with deep, even breaths as I worked. The movement was calming, if even hypnotic. If he wasn't so damn intimidating, he'd probably make a great cuddler.
"Almost done here," I said with a handful of stitches left to go. "Then I'll be out of your hair."
Another grunt, another swig of liquor.
"And...done." I snipped the end of my thread. "Just let me put some ointment on this." I unscrewed a tube of Neosporin and dabbed it over the closed wound with a finger. "Come see me if this still looks really red in a couple of days, if you have any fever or weakness, or it's oozing stuff. It's been exposed for a while so your chances of infection are slightly higher than the other guys."
I'd bet my entire medical career he wouldn't willfully come see me, but I still found it important to perform my due diligence.
"I'll give Jandro some of this ointment for both of you to use. Just apply it a couple times a day until it's fully closed." I peeled off my gloves and began cleaning up. "Any questions?"
None, naturally, but it didn't hurt to ask.
"Okay." I stood from the chair and gathered up my supplies. "Let me know if you need anything else."
The absolute last thing I expect was his arm to shoot out and wrap around my waist.
“Whoa, Shadow! What?"
He pulled me across his lap, taking away my balance so I had no choice but to splay across his chest. I braced my hands on his shoulders, utterly bewildered as I stared at him.
"Shadow, what are you—”
My answer came as I heard his pants unbutton and unzip just behind my back. Before I could react, he yanked my scrub pants down, peeling them off my feet, and pulled my bare leg over to straddle him. Naked from the waist down, my bare skin touched his.
It happened so fast and out of nowhere, I could only gape at him. He didn't speak a word or look me directly in the eyes, not even as he reached behind my ass to stroke himself to full hardness.What the fuck is happening?
A million questions poured rapidly through my mind as Shadow touched himself almost like I wasn't even there. His hand left my waist, just limp at his side. He seemed so detached, even transactional about this.
I only snapped out of my stupor when I felt his hard cock flex against my ass. His hand returned to my waist only to lift me up so he could—
