CHAPTER 3

Dylan POV “Mom? I’m home!” I yelled the minute I finally got home. Almost instantly she came bounding down the stairs of our little house, she quickly engulfed me in her arms with tears in her eyes.

“Dylan, I’m… I’m so sorry about yesterday, I sat with you for hours, but you didn’t move, I had to get home to Freddie.” She cried on my shoulder while I just rolled my eyes. I’m not much of a hugger, I always just look awkward. She’s also very melodramatic sometimes.

“Mom, I’m fine.” My mom eventually stopped sobbing as she slowly let go of my form drying her eyes.

“Your dad would be so proud of the strong young lady you’ve become.” I smiled before turning to head up the stairs. “Dylan… I… I made your favorite.” I could already smell the beef broth she was making. The aroma wafting through the house. It was very rare we’d get the food to make beef broth, but I smiled and nodded my head at her knowing she must have done something to get the ingredients.

“Thanks mom.” Me and my mom have a complicated relationship, we don’t really talk all that much, but the love is very much there. She smiled before walking back to the kitchen to finish up dinner.

We just have nothing in common, she doesn’t understand my fight back attitude, and I don’t understand her submissive one. We never really bonded like most parents do, she wanted a proper little girl, but she got me, the biggest Tom boy in existence. Of course she’s not much of a fighter, but it doesn’t mean that she won’t help me or my brother in anyway she can, or she at least tries to anyway. She relies on me an awful lot, probably too much sometimes, Sometimes I think she sees me as the stereotypical ‘man of the house’.

“Dilly.” I Turned around suddenly and barely had time to catch Freddie as he launched himself off of the sixth stair.

“Oof.” I felt slightly winded as he wrapped his legs around waist. My back stung from the pressure he placed on it. “Freddie, be careful, I’m still hurting a lot.” I groaned as he laughed.

“Sorry.” I leaned over to blow a raspberry on his cheek causing him to laugh hysterically, I then placed him back on the ground. He took my hand in his little one, as he ran to the dining table dragging me along with him.

“Dylan… your back is…” my mom stopped in the doorway holding two bowls of broth staring at my back as I sat down at the table. Slowly I allowed my hand to feel the shirt that was covering the bandages that were covering my back, it felt wet, I had no doubt that it was bleeding again.

“Shit, I’ll have to go see the nurse again after dinner.” I looked at my hand and instantly saw a little bit of red red coat my finger proving my suspicions correct. It must have been bleeding quite badly if it was seeping through my layers. I knew some of them were deep.

“Why don’t you let me help? I can patch you up after we eat?!” She placed the bowls down on the table in front of me and Freddy, I shook my head at her and smiled.

“It’s fine, you’ll be too gentle and it needs wrapping tightly. Thank you though.” She sighed before going back into the kitchen to get her own bowl, then walking back in and sitting down with me and my brother to eat.

“I think I’m capable of cleaning and re-bandaging your wounds Dylan, I’ve probably patched up much worse when you were little.” I rolled my eyes at her but agreed to her help. I suppose it did save me walking all the way to Sheila’s house just to walk back again.

Once dinner was finished, I just wanted to sleep. I’d had a very long tiring day, I quickly sat down on a small stool my mother kept in the storage closet and removed my shirt while Freddy sat at the table to do his simple homework. It wasn’t long before my mother came in with a large bowl of warm salt water and some cotton, this was going to sting I just knew it.

She slowly began to unwrap the bandage from around my torso and slowed down drastically when it came to the final layer, I felt it peel off every wound and my fists clenched in pain.

“Jesus!” I heard my mom exclaim once the dressing was completely removed. The air on my back was nice though and I sighed as my arm covered my once again exposed breasts. “This is more than 15!” I began to hear sniffles coming from her and sighed turning round to look at her face, only to notice tears streaming down it.

“Mom I’m fine, it’s alright.” She shook her head.

“It’s not alright, I’m your mother I shouldn’t let these things happen. I’m so sorry. Your father would have…” here she goes again. Every single time something happened she’d always bring up dad, it really annoyed me because no matter how much we all wish he was here, he just isn’t.

“Stop being stupid!” Was I harsh? Definitely! Did she need to hear it again, absolutely. “Dad is dead, we don’t know what he’d do because he never knew this life. He never knew this world.” I know what he’d have done, most likely attacked the guy who held the whip and got himself killed in the process. “The best thing you can do for me, is stop crying and help me, next time don’t insist on helping if you can’t handle it.”

She began to wash my open wounds with the warm salt water causing loud winces to leave me, I knew it was necessary to prevent infection, but my god it hurt like a bitch.

“Some of these are really deep Dylan!” She sniffed again and my eyes rolled in my head.

“I told you, I’m fine, just wrap me back up so I can get to bed.” My mom was obviously more impacted by my injuries than I was, I suppose that always the case though. When it’s happening to you, you’ve just got to get through it but when it’s happening to someone you love, you just want to take their pain away.

She quickly placed a fresh bandage around my waist and chest and wrapped it tightly for compression. The bowl of water that was used was now red in color, I guess from the blood my back was dripping with.

“Can you keep your head down please? At least just this week. You can’t take any more lashings.” I simply nodded before standing up away from the stool, I walked over to Freddie and ruffled his hair in affection.

“Good night squirt.” He giggled and fixed his hair slightly.

“Night Dilly.” I smiled walking upstairs to my little bedroom, as soon as I was inside i shut the door and flopped down on to my bed on my stomach and I took a minute to cry to myself at the pain in my back, what my mom did was important but it fucking hurt, not that I’d ever tell her. My hand covered my mouth quickly to muffle any noise I might be making.

I couldn’t tell anyone, I had to be strong because more and more people were crumpling these days, and my mom would break if she knew how much I was suffering. Sleep followed me shortly after, she was right though about me needing to keep my head down for the time being, I could not take another lashing!