Chapter fifteen

As Puck flew through the air, he tried to control the need to punch something. How dare Henry treat Sabrina like that? After all, she had just saved basically the entire world. Puck frowned at his shoulder. That would probably need stitches, but it wasn't bleeding anymore. The place where moth had sliced him was no longer even painful- it was such a light wound, honestly. Stupid poison. He supposed he could go back and give her body to the Court to bury- she had many a sympathizer there. Admittedly, he'd eventually have to go back and do the whole king thing, but maybe Sabrina could come with him. She always said she much preferred New York to Ferryport Landing. They could get an apartment near Central Park, so she wouldn't have to spend all her time with Everafters. A small voice in the back of his head echoed she's mortal… but he pushed it down where it couldn't be heard.

He was flying to close to the top of the barrier, he knew it, but the higher you flew, the faster you flew- it was a known fact. There was something odd, though… the shimmery feeling felt weird. Something in him told him to check it out, but something more important captured his attention.

Sabrina's head moved, and he looked down at her.

"Well good afternoon, stinkpot."

She groaned.

"Wha- oh. Flying. Where's everybody else?"

"Oh. Well, after your dad shook your brains around, I threatened to kill him and flew away dramatically."

Sabrina smiled weakly.

"So the usual."

"Precisely."

She sighed.

"God, I feel tired. Now that I'm not killing anybody or being killed, I'd really like to take a bubble bath."

Puck grinned evilly.

"Can I-" a trademark Grimm glare immediately silenced him, but he didn't let it wipe the smile off his face.

…..

When they reached the mansion, Sabrina's parents, her grandmother, and Daphne had already reached the top of the stairs. Puck set her down, looping an arm around her waist, but she frowned.

"You know, would you mind?"

She glanced at him sideways, and he rolled his eyes.

"Well jeez, what did your last butler die of?"

He scoffed at her, but picked her up anyways, lean muscle tensing against her weight. Reaching the top of the stairs, they found Granny Relda waiting for them, and she smiled warmly at Sabrina.

"Are you okay, leibling? You gave us all quite a scare back there."

Sabrina smiled.

"Well I'm like 400% sure that Mirror may have complexly fractured my entire leg, but other than that, I'm totally fine. Puck has a bit of a scratch, though."

Relda raised her eyebrows at Puck's blood-soaked shirt.

"I noticed. Do you mind if I walk with you? Daphne told us most of the story, but you know how she is. I want to just confirm. You met Mirror?"

Both of the teenagers nodded.

"And killed him."

Nods again.

"You're going to have to explain this to me in detail later, but right now, I want you to get cleaned up, and then it's off to the infirmary for the both of you."

Puck changed his grip on Sabrina, and she clenched a fist against the fire that shot up through her hip. Glancing down, Relda pursed her lips.

"Actually, infirmary first."

…

As Puck walked down the hallway, Sabrina leaned into his chest, not caring that blood was getting in her hair and on her face. His breathing was steady, and she could feel his heart beating through his shirt. She closed her eyes, but Puck jostled her gently.

"The old lady says you shouldn't go to sleep until you've been seen by Sprout."

Sabrina sighed, but agreed.

"I can't believe that all of that just happened. Mirror's dead, Puck. He won't ever ruin anything ever again."

Puck nodded.

"I think if after this, I never see another fight, I won't mind one bit."

Sabrina raised an eyebrow.

"Not one fight? "

"Not one."

"Not even a really good goblin attack?"

"Not even that."

"How about a bar-room brawl."

Puck faltered, and she laughed.

"I didn't think so."

Carrying Sabrina had put strain on him and opened the cut on his chest again, so he was glad when they reached the rooms set aside for Sprout. The stout nurse opened the door on the first knock, a towel in her hands. He could see she was in the midst of sterilizing her equipment.

Sabrina could recognize a few of the instruments, but what was that long curly one for? Or the crystal prism? Why would you need a rainbow in an operating room? She gave up when she saw a tube labeled "Wing cleaner"

Sprout looked frankly at Puck, then at Sabrina.

"What in god's earth have you two done this time? Not another frantic dying injury, I hope?"

Puck grinned winningly at the older woman.

"Oh, we went for a stroll and suddenly I said, you know, I don't much like the Master. How about we kill him?"

Sabrina grinned at his cheek, and piped in.

"Yes, and I thought that it would be a marvelous way to spend such a beautiful autumn afternoon, I simply had to agree. So my lovely sister brought a picnic, isn't she a doll, and I happened to fall down a cliff after Puck fell on a knife."

Sprout looked blankly at the two of them.

"Bollocks"

Sabrina and Puck glanced at each other and laughed. Then sprout rolled her eyes and glared at Puck.

"Well at least you're in better spirits than you were when you were in here last. If you want to just put Miss Grimm on that bed there, And if you would like to sit down on this table here…"

Puck nodded, avoiding Sabrina's questioning gaze, and settled on the table. Sabrina looked over at him from her half-sitting half-lying down position on the bed. Sprout went over to a small cupboard, talking all the while.

"Right. Well, fairy, I need to see that cut on your chest. So if you could kindly remove your shirt. And Sabrina, decide this instant if you honestly like those pants because you're about to either cut them off or take them off. And let me tell you I will not be taking them off for you."

She continued with whatever she was doing, and when she turned around, holding two vials of something clear, both of them were blushing furiously and had not moved. She scoffed loudly.

"Honestly, you two! It's a hospital, for god's sake. Teenagers."

Puck shrugged, apparently over the entire thing, but Sabrina didn't stop blushing as she slowly and agonizingly removed her pants. When she saw her leg, she gave a shiver. It had bruised black and green and blue since Mirror had shocked her, and there was a- in her mind at least- ironic, bright red handprint where he had gripped her shin. She thanked the underwear gods that she'd had the sense to not put on the teddy-bears-of-the-week undies.

Puck's chest was streaked with dried blood, as well as new blood from where he had opened the cut. The slice below his ribs had a splattering of dried black blood around it, but once sprout had cleaned it off, it wasn't even worth putting a plaster on. As sprout worked on cleaning the cuts, she talked.

"That cut on your face will scar, you know. Fairy healing is, on average, six times as fast as your average human, so if you come back in a week, I can take those stitches out- very good work, girl, if you ever want work you should come to me- but this cut on your chest- who gave it to you?"

Puck thought for a second.

"Goblin. Ran it upwards and then rammed it into my shoulder."

Sprout shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Well I have absolutely no idea where that blade's been- goblins aren't smart enough to forge weapons, they simply rely on their own claws. I'll have to clean the inside of that cut." She cut off when Puck yelled out. "Oh, and by the way, it will be quite painful. Might of mentioned that earlier but you know what, no. So, being as we're not in the middle of the absolute wilderness, I have local anesthetic!"

Sprout pulled out the two vials she had been preparing earlier. One was exceptionally bigger than the other, and she set it aside. Pulling out a syringe, she prepared a needle for Puck, who immediately paled.

"Whoa, lady, hold on a second. I'm not some baby, I can take a few stitches. There is no need for that thing right there. Here, give me something to bite down on, and I'll be completely fine."

Sprout frowned as she flicked the side of the syringe, peering intently into its depths.

"Scared of a needle, are you boy?"

He nodded, but quickly masked it by rubbing his neck.

"Oh, um, no, but you know it's pointy and sharp and painful and right there and how about not."

Sprout put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, don't worry yourself, boy. When I do a needle, it's completely painless."

Puck visibly relaxed.

"Really?"

Sprout placed the needle above the skin near his shoulder, and then efficiently slapped him hard across the face while simultaneously pressing in the needle.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

The nurse scoffed.

"Language boy. Now, did that hurt?"

"YES!"

"Ah, but you didn't even feel the needle. While that works…"

She turned to Sabrina, and raised an eyebrow. Sabrina smiled sweetly.

"I can take a jab."

Once the medicine started to work, she felt almost better. She hadn't even realised how much pain she was really in until it was gone.

Sprout quickly sutured Puck's chest with the practice of someone who had been doing it their entire lives. When that was done, she applied the black gel that sealed the stitches, and turned to Sabrina.

"Now. What have you done, dear?"

Sabrina smiled wryly.

"A maniac decided it would be fun to break my leg in the most painful way possible."

Sprout nodded, then looked at it intently.

"Right. Well I have something for that… Let me see."

She walked over to the cupboard and searched around, discarding various bottles. She finally came upon the bottle she wanted- a brown bottle with the simple label "Bond"

She mixed two teaspoons into a glass of water, which turned a disgusting shade of green, and held it in front of Sabrina's face.

"Drink it, two teaspoons a day for a week. Send the bottle back with Puck, when he gets those stitches out."

Sabrina tried to sip the drink, gagged, and decided it would be much better to just gulp the concoction down as fast as she could without throwing up. She slammed the glass down on the bedside table and gasped.

"Jeez, that's revolting."

Sprout smiled.

"Well, there you go. That's about equal to two week of normal healing, so you can walk out of here with Puck. If you two aren't kidding, I'll send down to the hospital for some crutches."

She walked off to finish her cleaning, and Puck hopped off the table, offering his hand to Sabrina, which she took gratefully. She hopped painfully off the table, and Puck moved his hand around her waist. They hobbled off to the room Sabrina had slept in after the first battle, where she quickly shooed Puck away, in favour of the glistening porcelain bathtub. Hopping around the small bathroom, she managed to find some fancy-looking bubble bath, pour it in the tub and start the water before there was a knock at the door. Groaning, she opened it.

Puck stood outside, and he ran his eyes down her body, taking her dirty shirt and hair, still in a ponytail, caked with blood. His own hair was dripping water into his eyes, a towel slung over his shoulder. His jeans were slung low on his hips, and he wasn't wearing a shirt- emphasizing the lines of his hipbones and stomach. Slowly, he raised his eyebrows.

"It's been twenty minutes, woman. How long does a bath take?"

She glared at him, taking no small pleasure in watching him cower.

"Longer than twenty minutes."

And she slammed the door in his face.