The Academy (23 page)

North made a face. “More than I should, that’s for sure,” he muttered. “Jameson, can we get out of here? My back feels like it’s on fire.”

“Go, go!” Hinks shooed us out the back door. “And if you need anything else, let me know. I’ll see that you get it.”

“Thank you, Hinks,” I said, nodding at him gratefully. I had to admit that I might have misjudged the headmaster’s assistant—or maybe I was just seeing a new side of him.

Whatever the case, Hinks was soon the last thing on my mind. North stumbled and nearly fell and it was all I could do to keep him on his feet. “Come on.” I tugged him in the right direction. “Let’s go.” I had to get him back to our dorm before he collapsed. And from the way he looked, that might not be an easy task.

“Come on, just a little farther,” I urged, trying to get North to climb the last flight of stairs.

“Right.” His face was pale and his mouth was a tight, white line. It was clear that each step he took pulled at the torn flesh of his back and caused unbearable pain but he refused to moan or groan. He just set his jaw and kept moving forward.

I was relieved when we finally got back to our dorm room without meeting anyone along the way. Gently, I helped North lie face down on his bed and then ran to the fresher to get some clean water and cloths.

When I returned, he was still lying in the same spot but his blue eyes were suspiciously bright, as though filled with unshed tears. It twisted my heart to see his pain and I wondered again why he had done it. Why had he sacrificed himself for me?

“It’s all right, North,” I said in a choked voice, sitting carefully on the bed beside him. “Everything’s going…going to be all right. We’ll get you healed up in no time.”

“Right.” He nodded stoically as I wrung out one of the cloths and used it to blot his wounded back. Though I was as gentle as I could be, he still winced and flinched from my touch. “God, Jameson! That hurts worse than the damn beating did.”

“Sorry.” I lightened my touch even more until I was barely touching him. The long, flat wounds that crisscrossed his back made my stomach roll but not because I found them disgusting—because of the agony and torment they represented. Agony that North had endured for me.

I got most of the blood cleaned off and then reached for the tube of ointment. I unscrewed the cap and sniffed it—a strong, astringent odor met my nose and I frowned. “I’m not sure, North, but I think this stuff Hinks gave me for your back might sting,” I said. “Do you want me to use it or not?”

He sighed. “It’s either that or wait for weeks for my back to heal on its own. Yeah, go ahead and use it, shrimp.”

“All right.” I squirted a dab of ointment onto my fingertip. “I guess you’d better brace yourself then.”

He took a firmer grip on the pillow, his lips set in a grim line. “Go ahead.”

Hesitantly, I dabbed the yellowish ointment onto his back, spreading it gently down one of his long wounds. North stiffened under my touch and I saw his jaw clench. Immediately, I was concerned.

“Does it hurt?”

“Feels like you’re coating my back in liquid fire.” North’s deep voice was strangled. “Feels like…wait.” He frowned. “Now it feels better—a lot better.” He craned his head around and then groaned and dropped back down on the pillow. “I can’t see. What does it look like?”

I looked at his back and was amazed at what I saw. The wound I had treated with the ointment was closing right before my eyes. I watched the flesh knit together, almost like a zipper being pulled up. Soon there was nothing left but a thin white line—a small but permanent scar from the caning.

“Well?” North asked impatiently and I realized I was spending too much time staring.

“It’s…it’s healed,” I told him, still amazed. “This ointment works like magic—it’s incredible.”

“Yeah, it
feels
incredible too,” he muttered sarcastically. “Hinks must’ve given you the good stuff.” He sighed. “Well, go on—do the rest.”

“I’ll go as fast as I can,” I promised.

North only nodded and pressed his face into the pillow.

“Scream if you want to,” I said, squeezing out another dab of ointment. “It might help to let it out.” Then I went to work on him, smearing the ointment down the long wounds as fast as I possibly could.

I don’t know if North took my advice and screamed but I could certainly hear some muffled cursing coming from the depths of the pillow. I worked like lightning, praying that his pain would be over soon. When I finally finished, his whole body was as tight as a wire and he was sweating and breathing hard.

“All done,” I said, letting him know it was over. “The pain should stop soon.” I hoped anyway.

To my relief, his large body finally relaxed and the tension left his long limbs. “Ahh,” he moaned, sagging bonelessly into the bed.

“Better now?” I asked, just as he had done when he comforted me.

North turned his head to the side so he could see me. “Yes. A hell of a lot better—thanks, Jameson.”

“No problem,” I said quietly. “Now tell me why.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Why what?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” I said. “Why did you lie for me? Why did you take the beating that should have been mine?”

He frowned. “It was the only way to keep you from getting expelled.”

“And why do you care if I get expelled?” I demanded. “You’ve barely spoken to me for ages.”

North raked a hand through his hair. “Look, squirt, I know I’ve been kind of…quiet lately and I’m sorry. I’ve just been sort of…confused.”

“Confused about what?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. The point is, I’m fine now. I know why I feel…uh, why I feel the way I feel about you.”

My heart was suddenly pounding in my chest. “And how
do
you feel about me?”

North frowned. “You know…protective. And, well…” He cleared his throat. “I like you. Like being around you, spending time with you. I thought that was weird.”

My pulse was racing but I tried to keep my voice normal. “Weird? It’s called
friendship
, North. What’s weird about that?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “It’s just…I feel so
strongly
for you. God…” He ran a hand through his hair. “That sounds wrong. The thing is, I finally figured out why—you remind me of my little brother, Jamie.”

“Is he the one in the picture?” I asked, nodding at the holo-pic on his dresser. The one he’d caught me looking at the first day.

North looked away. “Yeah, that’s him.” He cleared his throat. “He was a great brother.”

Was?
I thought of how the headmaster had said North had gone through a tragedy. “Did he…?” I couldn’t make myself finish the question.

“He died,” North said tightly. “That’s why I missed most of last year.” His deep voice was rough with emotion but he still wouldn’t look at me.

“Oh, North,” I whispered. Daring greatly, I reached up and carded my fingers very lightly through the blond hair at the nape of his neck.

A shiver passed over him and then he took a deep breath and looked up. “Jamie was sick his whole life and he never looked, well,
normal,
I guess. I always had to protect him—keep him safe from bullies and that kind of thing.”

“And that’s why you protected me?” My heart sank a little. It was a sweet and unselfish motive but I couldn’t help wishing just a little that North felt for me the way I felt for him. I stopped stroking his hair and withdrew my hand.

He nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well…thank you,” I said. “Thank you for everything, North. Only…”

“Only what?” He moved experimentally and, apparently feeling no pain, turned on his side to face me. “What’s wrong now?”

“I just…” I could feel my cheeks getting hot but I had to ask the question. “I just don’t understand why you told the headmaster…what you told him. About the two of us being…doing…” I couldn’t go on.

North shifted uncomfortably. “Well, you know—I was just playing a hunch. I figured Hicks would eat it up and he and the headmaster are pretty close—if you know what I mean.”

“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “I know. At least now I do. I didn’t suspect until today.”

“Right.” North nodded shortly. “So now that we’ve got all of your questions out of the way, I’ve got one of my own.”

“All right,” I said carefully, worried that he would want to know more about where I had gone the night before and who I had been talking too. “I’ll
try
to answer.”

North gave me a small smile. “Don’t worry, it’s not hard. I just want to know where you’re spending Winter Break.”

“Winter Break?” His question caught me completely off guard. I had been planning to risk going home, back when Kristopher was still there. But since he was going to be touring with the orchestra, there was really no reason to go. Kristopher and I had told the house staff that I was being sent away to an exclusive finishing school and I didn’t want to have to make up answers to well-meaning but nosy questions about my classes.

“Yeah, Winter Break—you know, two whole weeks off?” North raised an eyebrow at me. “Where are you spending it?”

“Here, I guess,” I said. Provided, of course, that I wasn’t one of those randomly selected to be DNA tested. In which case. I might be spending the break in prison or in a lab somewhere re-growing one of my hands. But I didn’t want to think about that.

North shook his head. “You can’t go home?”

“No.” I sighed. “Not really. And anyway, there isn’t anyone for me to go home to.” The thought of spending the winter without Kristopher left a sudden lump in my throat. Dianna never got very cold but we had always had the best times together. We often shooed the cook out of the kitchen and baked cookies together—some of them almost edible. And of course there was the way that Kristopher would play for me on his violin while we sat by the fire…

“Hey…” North sat up and brushed his knuckles lightly against my cheek. “You’re crying,” he said softly.

“Am I?” I put a hand to my face and my fingertips came away wet. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking.”

“Well, if you’re upset because you don’t have anyone to spend the Break with, don’t be,” North said decisively. “Because you’re going to be spending it with me.”

“With you?” I looked at him uncertainly. “I don’t know North—what will your parents think?”

“They’ll be glad I made a friend. The rest of my form graduated without me last year and since then I haven’t found anyone I care enough about to spend time with.”

My heart started racing again. “And you’re saying…you care about me?”

“You know I do,” he said quietly. He cleared his throat and looked away. “So will you come?”

“On one condition.” I held up a finger. “No more silent treatment. And don’t act like you don’t know what I mean. It’s been driving me
crazy
, the way you just stopped talking.”

He raked a hand through his blond hair. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. Like I said I was…uh, confused.”

“Just don’t do it again,” I said softly. “Whatever it is you’re thinking or feeling or anything, I want to
know.
Don’t just…” I swallowed hard. “Don’t just shut me out. That hurts more than anything Broward could do to me.”

“I don’t know about that,” he said dryly. “Considering some of the things I’ve heard him threaten you with…” Then, seeing the serious look on my face, he nodded. “Okay, I know I was a jerk. I’m sorry.”

I sighed. “I guess I can’t complain too much. You were still there for me when it counted. Today at the headmaster’s office. And the other night when I had that bad dream…” My cheeks got hot just remembering how good it had felt to be held in his arms and to my surprise, North’s cheeks got pink too.

“Um, yeah, I guess so.” He stood up suddenly. “Hey, we have the whole rest of the day free—you know that? Hinks got us excused from all our classes so what do you want to do?”