Rose and the monster, p.19
Rose and the Monster, page 19
“Out.” She pointed toward the door.
I stood and walked over to Andrew. There was no part of him that was not bloody, but I tried not to let it bother me, or at least not let it show yet. I put my arm around him as I braced myself under his shoulder and lifted with all of my strength. He groaned, but when he saw that I was lifting him, he attempted to stand.
“Come on.” I whispered to him. Amy may have just been meaning me, but I didn’t turn back. She didn’t say anything, so I kept working us toward the door. He was slow, but as soon as we were at the top of the stairs, I breathed a little easier.
He fell as we were getting down the steps and nearly took me with him. Thankfully, he was strong enough to catch himself. I stopped and let him breathe for a second, but he seemed as determined as I was to get away from his room.
I readjusted myself back under his arm. “Can you get to my room?”
He didn’t say a word. Little sleep and now this beating were past taking their toll. It somewhat felt like I was dragging a bloody corpse more than helping Andrew walk. We finally made it down the stairs, but I didn’t know if he could go any further. The thought that Amy would change her mind kept me pushing him to move. He shook as his body drifted into shock, and I knew if I loosened my grip on him, he would fall.
When we got to my room, I took him into the bathroom and had him hold on to the sink. “Wait here.” He didn’t object, and I ran as fast as I could down to the kitchen. My ankle shot with pain at running, but I didn’t care. This was not about me.
When I got there, I looked down the hall where Mrs. Jenkens said they slept. I didn’t know which door was hers, but it didn’t matter. I knocked on the first one. Nothing happened for a minute, then Lilly opened it.
“I need help. Andrew’s hurt bad.” I gasped.
“I’ll get them.” She said as she rushed from her room. I started running back toward the kitchen when I heard her again. “Where is he?”
“My room.” I didn’t stop and made it back to my bathroom in time to see him falling to the floor from exhaustion.
I was out of breath, but it all seemed insignificant compared to how badly he was hurt. I rushed to his side and let him lean on me instead of falling to a heap on the floor. “I’ve got you,” was all I could whisper. I was still holding my emotions, but if I let go right now, it would be a mess. He needed me to be strong, and I did not want him to see me cry, not after everything we had been through.
An eternity later, I heard the door open, and Mrs. Jenkens’ wheels come into my room. “We’re in here.” I didn’t mean to yell at her, but he needed help.
As soon as they crossed the bathroom door, I heard Mrs. Jenkens cry out.
Grace came in next and was immediately in control of the room. “Get him in the tub.”
I stood carefully and tried to pull Andrew up, but he was not moving. I knelt back beside of him, and his eyes were closed. “Grace?” I saw he was still breathing, but he was not opening his eyes.
She came closer, and I saw her gently lift his swollen eyelids. “He’s passed out.” She whispered to me.
“Should I try and move him?” I asked.
“I’m not sure you can, especially without hurting him.”
“How do we wake him up?” I had no idea what him being out meant except that he was still bleeding.
“I need to find out where he’s hurt the worst.” The trowel moved closer to him and began inspecting his various cuts.
“His stomach.” The room became silent as Mrs. Jenkens and Grace looked at me. “She threw a piece of glass at him, and it went into his stomach area. The rest were scratches with the glass.”
Mrs. Jenkens rolled forward. “How do you know that?”
“She made me watch.” I still felt nothing, which probably looked strange to them, but I couldn’t let go. Not yet.
“Help me lay him on his back.” Grace was unfazed by what I had said, but I wasn’t sure about Mrs. Jenkens. As we moved Andrew to his back so she could examine him, I positioned myself under his head. Holding him made my emotions start to burn inside me. I had never had this much trouble with them before, and seconds later, I had tears in my eyes.
Grace examined his wounds and quickly started working on patching the one in his stomach. “She always manages to miss anything that would cause a deadly injury.” She mused.
As she took out a needle and thread, I had to look away. I couldn’t watch her sew his skin back. That was too much. I looked down and stroked his bloody face.
“Talk to him.” I glanced up at Grace who was still working. “Talk to him so he knows it’s you. If he jumps we’re both in trouble.”
I knew what she said was true, but I couldn’t hide my tears once I started talking. “Grace is going to fix you up so you can sleep. And I’m going to be right here.” I glanced up at the needle being operated with invisible hands. “If you wake up, we’ll get you a nice bath.” I couldn’t keep it in any longer, and a sob emanated from my throat.
The needle paused as Grace glance at me, but then continued her work.
“You are so strong. I don’t know how you did it.” I kept petting him, but now tears were streaming down my cheeks. I couldn’t speak. I was tired, which was part of it, but I had never had to hold in my emotions like that before. Its affects were now showing up as salty streams on my face.
“You’re stronger than I thought you would be,” I heard him whisper. His eyes were barely open, but he was awake.
“Oh, God.” I wiped my tears and swallowed hard. I didn’t want him thinking I was weak after all of that.
“You should have seen her, Mrs. Jenkens, she was great.”
“It’s probably why you’re so torn up. That thing was trying to get a rise out of her.” She was obviously upset at me.
He could barely shake his head. “It would have been worse if she had let on.”
“I’m not sure if that’s possible, sir.” Grace joined in while putting her sewing equipment away. “We need to get you in the tub so we can clean the blood off.”
“I’m not sure if I can move.” He started to lift his head but let it rest back in my lap.
I started lifting his head to where I could get my legs under his back. I took his shoulders and started pushing them up as I used my legs to help push and support him. “Let me know if I’m hurting you.”
“Everything hurts, Rose, but it’s not you.” His voice sounded as weak as he looked.
When we got to a sitting position, I was sitting directly behind him and felt him leaning on me to keep him up. As I moved again, his head suddenly flopped back toward me, but I was able to catch it with the hand I had on his shoulders before it fell too far.
Mrs. Jenkens and Grace were in front of him, and Grace began inspecting him. “He’s out again. Give him a minute.”
I left my hand behind his head to support it and gently rubbed the arm I was holding. The last thing I wanted right now is for him to wake up and think I was Amy. We sat in silence, but it seemed like Mrs. Jenkens was upset at me for letting Andrew get this hurt. At this point, I didn’t care. I was now covered in blood too, and as soon as I was alone, I would not stop crying for a long time. Andrew finally groaned as he gained control of his head. He stabilized himself, and I stood up and offered him my hands. He took them but was too exhausted to do anything else.
“I’m sorry. I’m not sure if I can stand right now,” He said.
I turned back to Grace. “Do we need to do this?”
“He needs to rest, and this is the fastest way. I can try…” But I had stopped listening to her. I bent over in front of Andrew, and put both of my arms under his. I placed my head on his neck and lay it on his shoulder for a second. If he didn’t need a hug I did, so it was probably more selfish than helpful at the time. I had to move away quickly because I felt another sob welling up inside me that I needed not to come out yet.
“On three I’m going to lift, and I need you to help.” I whispered. He didn’t respond, but his heart rate increased. On three, I lifted with everything I had, and, while he groaned deeply, he got his legs under himself. I moved under his arm where I helped balance him.
“Grace, if we get him in the tub, I don’t know if I can get him out.” I was having a hard time of it standing beside him. In a tub, this would be impossible.
“Shower then. Go.” Grace seemed concerned about him standing now. I had forgotten that they hadn’t seen him up yet. Maybe it was the extent of the cuts, or maybe it was him shaking. Whatever it was, she was worried more now than before.
We struggled to the shower, but upon getting to the door, I knew he could not do this alone. Mrs. Jenkens had the water running, and without hesitation, I stepped in with him. I was still fully clothed, but the warmth of the water felt good. I watched as the blood ran down us and into the drain. He kept leaning on me, and we just stood under the stream.
The thought of my dress now being ruined occurred to me, but it was a fleeting thought. The sight of Andrew being scored with the glass made it trivial. He looked down at me, but didn’t say a word. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but right now it didn’t matter. He was hurt, and that was all that I needed to think about.
The water was shut off, and I figured that was the signal that we were done. Grace and Mrs. Jenkens had towels waiting, but I wasn’t sure what to do next. Standing was extremely difficult for him because he was still shaking, and I was a little afraid he would slip on the floor with his lack of balance. I leaned him against the shower door and took a towel from them. I wasn’t sure how to dry him off, but with that much fur, we would string water from here to kingdom come if we didn’t start here.
He had immediately started shivering, so I wrapped the first towel around his shoulders and began drying his arms with the second one. The hardest part was not hurting him. Since Amy had gotten him pretty much everywhere, it seemed impossible.
I didn’t want to stop drying him, but I had started dripping water too. I wrung out the bottom of my dress and used the towel from my morning bath to wrap around me. I was freezing in my wet dress, but I wasn’t sure how long Andrew could keep standing as he waited for me. Drying his torso took me forever, but Mrs. Jenkens and Grace had not moved in to help.
“Is this ok?” I was sure they would have spoken up if it wasn’t, but it was awkward with them watching and not doing anything.
Mrs. Jenkens started to say something, but Grace cut her off. “It’s exactly what we would have done.”
I nodded and began drying his back. “Do you have other clothes for him?”
“Don’t go upstairs.” He warned. It sounded awful, but I kept drying.
Mrs. Jenkens rolled out of the room, but I hoped she would return with something dry for him.
Grace picked up the tub of medicine and brought it closer. “You’re going to have to take off your pants soon, sir.”
I hesitated drying long enough that I saw Andrew smile. It was a weak grin, but enough that I had to smile back. He was hurt this badly, but he was coherent enough to still be embarrassed at the thought of stripping. Mrs. Jenkens came back with a large robe that I assumed was his.
“That’s perfect.” Grace said as she came up behind him and began rubbing her salve on his back. “His robe will be a big bandage, and we don’t want him to have to take it off to do this later.” She carefully applied the goop to his back then his arms. “We can do your legs and chest once you sit down.”
I helped him slide the robe over his arms as he continued holding onto the shower door. Once it was on, I wasn’t sure what to do next. “If I hold you up, can you do your pants?” I asked. I had no idea how to help him, but I knew he couldn’t stand up by himself.
Without a word, he put an arm around my shoulders to steady himself. I turned my head the other direction to attempt to give him privacy but standing next to someone undressing is difficult.
“I can’t unbutton them.” He sounded so helpless, and I didn’t think twice before turning toward him and unbuttoning his pants.
I looked up at him and blushed. “I… I um… should have asked.”
I resumed my position under his robed arm and looked away again. I suppose I should have let one of the other ladies do it, especially because they didn’t actually have hands, but I was thinking more about getting him off of his feet, not that I was unbuttoning his pants. I didn’t have to look at him to feel that he had managed to remove the pants as he began pulling the robe around himself.
“I need to sit… soon.” He started breathing hard again, and I began directing him out of the bathroom.
“Where are you going?” Mrs. Jenkens was questioning me, but I didn’t stop.
“We need to get him to bed.” Grace said as she hopped out the bathroom door in front of us.
I saw that Grace had opened my bedroom door, but I directed Andrew to my bed. The way he was wobbling, there was no way he could make it back up to his room, especially if Amy was still there. I honestly wasn’t sure if he could make it the last few steps to mine. I didn’t ask for the ladies’ permission, nor did I say anything. They quickly saw my direction and began getting the bed ready for him.
“Can you sit for a minute?” Grace said as I sat him down on the bed. He nodded, and I saw that she was handing me the tub of salve. “I’ll let you do the honors, Rose.” She intended that I finish putting the goop on Andrew’s cuts.
I began to object, but I wasn’t going to argue in front of Andrew. Not now. I stood and stared at him. I was surprised at how uncomfortable I was with my new task. This was more than helping him stand or even unbuttoning his pants. This was touching him. I had touched him before, but this was different for some reason. This wasn’t petting or even holding his hand. I had put a little on his side last night, but this was more. This was closer. This was… I looked up at him and saw that his eyes were closed. I forgot myself and moved beside him. This needed to be done, and I was up to bat. Stop thinking, Rose.
“I think it would be easier if you were laying down.” It was true, but I was also trying to wake him up before touching him.
He opened his eyes slightly, and as he attempted to shift on the bed, I felt awful for making him move. I got up on the bed but had to readjust because of my dress. It was sopping wet and had started leaking through my towel. I moved the towel a little more under my knees so I could kneel next to him without soaking the bed.
I decided not to think and just do. After opening the top of his robe, I started applying the salve to his cuts as Grace had done to his back. I worked my way across his chest, but it was hard not to be embarrassed or to sit there thinking about how he was actually quite muscular under all of this hair. When I got to his belt line, I hesitated. Instead of moving down, I scooted myself to his feet and began working my way up his legs. As I did, I saw him adjust his robe to reveal his legs but keep “himself” covered.
I appreciated it more than I could say. Thankfully, Amy had left certain parts of him alone, so we were able to skip at least some awkward moments. Andrew stayed awake as I worked and would adjust his robe to make me more comfortable. Knowing that every movement hurt him, I began appreciating him more and more. I tried not to tear up as I started thinking about how much of a gentleman he was, even through all of this.
When I had finished, I looked up at the two ladies who were supervising the process.
Grace moved forward, and I felt the tub being lifted from my hands. “I’ll leave this in the bathroom.”
I got off the bed and removed the towel from around me. It was as soaked as my dress, and I began shivering as I let myself feel how cold I was. I found a nightgown that was modest and went into the bathroom to change out of my wet things. Grace was in there picking up the wet and bloody towels from the floor.
“Can I ask why you had me do that?” Asking in here would hopefully keep Andrew from hearing me. I didn’t want to complain, but it was strange that she had me do it after she had done his back. I began peeling off my wet clothes.
“He needed to be loved on, and I think he feels it more from you than me.” She answered.
I pulled my dry nightgown over my head and embraced its warmth. It was frightening to think about. He needed to feel loved on, but I was trying not to feel. I was trying not to love him, so what was I doing? I understood what the trowel meant, but didn’t they love him as much as I did? I was trying to care for Andrew, not love him. I was thinking too much, but my feelings were confusing.
When I came out of the bathroom, Mrs. Jenkens had tucked Andrew under the blankets. “Where are you sleeping?” She did not sound amused, but I think she was still blaming me for his injuries.
My rug was gone, but it was not as comfortable as I had imagined anyway. I saw Andrew looking at me, and he appeared concerned. I knew what I needed to do. “I’m staying in here with him. If he needs anything, I want to be close.”
Graced headed for the door. “If you need me, I’m the third door down the kitchen hall.” She opened it and turned back to Mrs. Jenkens.
The spoon appeared to not want to leave but turned and saw that Grace was waiting. She huffed. “I’m the second one, and I’ll be back to check on him later.” She was concerned about Andrew, and I think she wanted to stay too. I’m not sure she was convinced that I could take care of him. Then again, I had done a pretty poor job of it since being here.
As they closed the door behind them, I debated on what I should do. Sitting in one of the chairs was an option, but sleeping would be virtually impossible. They had positioned Andrew very close to one side of the bed, which made me think I could lay on the other side without being too close to him. Because he couldn’t move much, I wasn’t as concerned with him slicing me. If I lay on top of the covers while he lay underneath, it would maintain the distance at least.
I found the extra blanket in my closet that I had used the night before and proceeded to get into bed, adjusting the blanket over me. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. To my surprise, it was barely two. Amy had let him go really early. It wasn’t perfect, but we had gotten him cleaned up already which meant he might have a little longer to sleep than normal. As I lay down, I saw that he was looking at me, and I stopped adjusting the blanket around me.
