Page 108 of Bones
Three of Madame’s men with guns drawn forced Mac to release me. Sax grabbed my arm and dragged me out the door. I met Mac’s frantic gaze and tried to mouth“I’ll be ok”before Sax yanked me down the hall.
I went with Sax willingly, my heart pounding in my chest. I'd endured a hundred different tortures, but I'd never been whipped. A crowd had already formed as Sax dragged me toward the whipping post. My eyes searched the faces, hoping I wouldn’t see any of the kids or Mac's crew, but I couldn't focus for long. Sax snapped at me to take my jacket off, and I obeyed, shivering in the cold wind. One of the men secured my shaking hands to the chains at the top of the post. I stood there, trying to keep the panic down and trying to brace myself.
Then Sax grabbed the back of my shirt andrippedit open.
I gasped, trying to hold the scraps of fabric against my chest, more concerned about the brand than my bare body, but then the first bite of the whip hit my back with an echoing crack. The blinding pain shocked me, but somehow I managed to keep my teeth clenched together. Then the second lash came. My body arched in pain and a scream ripped out of me. Again and again, pain blinded me until it was all I knew. I sagged against the pole, sobbing. I could feel my blood trickling down my back and could see it splattered on the ground and against the post. Ten lashes had seemed like a small number, but it felt like an eternity. When it finally stopped, I dangled from my hands, which felt like agony, but my legs couldn't support my weight. Through my blurred vision, I saw Madame's smiling face. She grasped my chin and her eyes flicked down to the brand on my chest.
“I see Juck left his mark on you,” she murmured. “Consider this mine.”
Madame released my chin. I heard her saying something to the crowd, her voice loud and commanding, but I couldn’t make out the words. My vision went black around the edges and?—
* * *
“Bones, c’mon, wake up. Please, Bones,” someone whispered, their voice ragged.
I cracked my eyes open and at the same time, red-hot pain sliced through me. I gasped and involuntary tears of pain started rolling down my face.
“Mac!” Trey yelled.
“Bones, you gotta heal yourself again.” Mac’s flinty eyes filled my vision.
The words he spoke rolled around in my head like marbles as awareness came back to me. I lay on my stomach on the exam table and my back was on fire.
“Bones!” Trey’s angry voice cut through the pain, and I met his eyes.
I’d never seen him so angry. He grasped my hand, and the slight movement made me groan, my teeth clenched together.
“Heal yourself. Like you did before.”
Heal myself?I tried to focus. Images and sounds were flickering through my mind. Sam’s grey face. The sound of the whip. Madame’s smile.
“Bones.” Trey’s voice softened.
I felt his thumb brush the back of my hand.
“It’s ok. I’ll be ok.”
Sam. I focused on my memory of Sam’s sunken face.Fuck no.No. I would not fucking do that again.
“Bones, if you don’t heal yourself, we’re gonna have to give you a narc,” Trey pleaded.
I tensed and then attempted to bite back a scream. The slightest muscle movement felt like someone was pouring acid into an open wound on my back.
“I want to do it,” Trey tried again, his voice rough. “Bones, let me do it.”
“No,” I hissed through my teeth.
“What if I do it?” Mac asked, an undercurrent of desperation running through his voice. “Bones, will you heal yourself through me?”
I didn’t answer, trying to breathe through the pain, but I kept choking in short gasps of air. Mac leaned down close enough that his grey eyes were all I could see.
“Bones, let me heal you. You took my lashes, so let me do this,” he whispered, something like fear flashing through his eyes. “Please.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “No,” I choked out.
A commotion broke out over my head, but the pain pulled my focus away again. My back spasmed and a cry of pain ripped out of me.
“Godsdamnit,” someone swore.
