Chapter Twenty-Two
Willow sat among the trees, her armor off and her chemise hanging loose on her arm as Christian gently probed her shoulder. Pain radiated through her body with every bit of movement, and she gritted her teeth.
The air was damp and cool, and the trees rustled in a breeze, brushing her strands about her shoulder.
Christian carefully swept her hair aside. “It’s swollen,” he observed, staring at her shoulder. He ran his fingers over the top of it and around the back. “There’s a large bump here.” He indicated a lump on the end of her shoulder. “I don’t think it’s broken.”
That was good. “What’s wrong with it? I can barely move it.”
“I’m not a physician, but I’ve seen this injury before. I saw a knight jousting, and he was struck in the shoulder. When he fell from the horse, his shoulder was jarred. I think you landed here…” He ran a hand along the rear of her shoulder. “And it shoved your shoulder forward, like the knight’s.”
“Was the knight ever able to use his arm again?”
Christian met her stare but remained silent.
Willow couldn’t read his expression, and that frightened her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re not going to like it,” he warned. “I don’t.”
She tilted her head as tingles of foreboding crept down her spine.
“I might be able to mend it,” Christian said, inspecting her shoulder.
She nodded, encouraged.
“But it’s going to hurt. A lot.”
Willow winced. “How will you fix it?”
“I have to push your shoulder backward.”
She squirmed and cringed. Just the thought of him touching her shoulder caused her agony. A warm coil of revulsion slid down her side, tightening itself around her ribs, threatening to squeeze the breath from her.
“That should place it into its correct position. That’s what they did to the knight.”
She licked her lips. “Have you done this before?”
He shook his head.
“Canyou do it?”
He shrugged slightly. “It’s either try it or leave it like this.”
She considered his advice, twirling a lock of hair with her uninjured hand. Her good arm. She could never face her family like this. She straightened and flinched when even that movement sent pain flaring from her shoulder. “Let’s try.”
Christian frowned as he stared at her shoulder. “I would do anything not to hurt you, Willow. You know that.”
She gazed at him with tenderness and love. She did know that.
He wrapped one hand around the back of her shoulder and put the other hand against the front. He shifted his gaze to her eyes. “Are you sure?”
She nodded, trusting him completely. She didn’t want to hurt anymore. She wanted to be able to move her arm.
“On three,” Christian warned.
Willow took a deep breath.
“One.”
