Diamond Kisses (The Jewelry Box #4)

I didn’t want to admit it, but…I was nowhere near full strength.

Healing had robbed me of every shred of energy, and after a month of not moving past my chain’s small leash, my muscles had started to atrophy. “Don’t broken bones take six weeks or so to knit?”

She nodded and rearranged my arm as I placed the drenched cast onto the table. “Yes, usually. And in your case, with the conditions you were kept in and lack of sustenance, you’d probably need eight weeks minimum. But…”

“You’ve been tasked with making me presentable for Victor.”

She swallowed hard, shot a look at the two guards by the door, and nodded. “Stay still. This won’t take long.” Grabbing a small electric saw, she turned it on, and the high-pitched buzz replaced our awkward silence as she cut my arm free.

As fresh air reached past the itchy confines of the cast, I ached with the urge to scratch. My forearm was damp from my shower, and traces of dirt I hadn’t managed to rinse away ran in rivulets amongst my arm hair.

With a sniff, she turned off the saw, grabbed the two ends of the cast, and cracked the rest wide open. Slipping it off my withered forearm, she eyed up the bump that hadn’t been there before. Tossing the cast into a hazardous waste bag by her feet, she reached for her supplies on the table and used a few alcohol wipes to clean up the rest of my skin.

Her fingers were soft and gentle as she probed the still-healing break. “Your bone will have started knitting together, but putting too much pressure on it will re-fracture it. So…be careful.”

I laughed under my breath. “I don’t think it’s me you have to worry about being gentle, doc.”

She pursed her lips and didn’t reply.

I hadn’t been conscious when she’d casted me. I had scant memories of her murmuring why I had to lie still and why she poked me with painful things, but…she’d done the best she could, and I was grateful.

“Thank you, Melanie,” I whispered. “For trying to fix me.”

Her gaze shot to mine. Her lips twisted as if she wanted to say something. Shaking her head, she grabbed her saw again and dropped to her knees. Neither of us spoke as she sliced away the cast around my ankle.

The sensation of sticky grime and healing came again as she cracked it off and tossed it with the other. Shards of plaster scattered on the black carpet beneath my chair. White dust covered her fingers as she reached for another alcoholic wipe and cleaned off my leg.

Bending a little, I inspected the state of my ankle. No visible bump like my forearm, but it seemed thinner. My lower leg was as fragile as the rest of me.

Fuck, I hated this.

Hated being so hungry and weak.

Hated being collared and completely helpless to save Ily and the jewels.

Fury burned through me.

Rage and fear and despair.

Yanking my foot away from her inquisitive hands, I snapped, “I’m fine. You can go now.”

The two guards looked up. One stepped forward. “If you’re done, Dr Belford, I have orders for you to check the other two.”

“I’ll tell you when I’m done,” the doctor barked. Climbing to her feet, she rummaged in her bag and turned her back on the guards.

They looked as if they’d argue but then the leader shrugged and fell back into conversation with the other blond guy, their eyes on each other, their attention not on us.

Pulling out a syringe full of something, she tapped it and yanked my arm closer. Swiping another alcoholic swab across my veins in my inner elbow, she whispered almost too low to hear. “This will give you energy and pain relief for a few days. It’ll replenish you a little and numb what it can, but the effects will wane. I’ll try to give you some more before it’s gone completely.”

Before I could ask what it was or why she was helping me, she stabbed me with the needle, dumped the contents inside me, tossed her equipment into her bag, and shot out the door.

* * * * *

“Time to go,” the guard barked, snapping his fingers as he opened the door.

Unlike down in the dungeons where we couldn’t tell how much time had passed, I’d counted the ticking clock and its minutes since Dr Belford had gone. Each one scratched at my heart, keeping me far from Ily.

Forty-seven awful minutes.