=Chapter Twenty-Four=
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Ow
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Friday, 20th of September

Ow.

It was really frustrating forcing myself not to heal my wound with water.

I had to pretend to be normal, and that was killing me.

For once.

Ow ow ow ow ow.

I'm fine though! May however, well.. she's fine too. We're both fine.

Jason practically dragged us to the hospital, which was rude because I'm totally fine. Or, I would be fine if Jason could stop wanting to take a look at my wound every five minutes!

If I had felt secure enough to go heal it without repercussions, everything would've been fine! But noooooo...

Jason had to be a mother hen.

Which totally didn't seem like the Jason I knew.

My Jason was the typical quiet book nerd who for some reason could look menacing when he wanted to.

This Jason was an abomination.

Fretting over May and I and insisting on not letting me pick a single thing up to stretch my wound.

Yes, I got stitches. For the first time in my life. I wanted to fly the scene faster then you could say blue cookies™️

And then there was Bella. Bella coddled May like she was a child, often glaring at me and insisting I was the cause of every ache and pain May might've felt, because I "pushed" her into the bookshelves and then "pretended" to try and protect her.

Of course this is all what she insinuated. She never said it to mine or Mays face.

I could just tell she was accusing me of the situation in her mind.

She made May sit and drink tea, (although May preferred coffee) and watch as she and I cleaned up the shop.

Of course she'd only do that when Jason wasn't around, because Jason was the only one of the three of us who could do something that Bella wouldn't challenge.

And speaking of, Jason's windows had came in speedy fast and were installed within 24 hours. Before that we had set up wooden boards to cover the gaping holes from thieves and anyone else who might fancy a free book.

Jason had been a huge help in getting the shop back up, even though he didn't have to.

He admitted he didn't know much about woodworking and construction, which was fine, since we weren't renovating or anything. Just trying to put things back and count our losses.

Apparently the blast was due to the Joker, a crazy clown villain that seemed to be the bane of Batman's existence.

One thing led to another, and the clown was playing with bombs, and a building exploded, causing a massive shockwave that damaged hundreds of buildings close by, and took out windows stretching miles away from the scene.

Our shop seemed to be only barely damaged. It was a freak accident, technically. The glass breaking should've been all that happened, but due to how old the building was, it couldn't stand the force put on it, causing a few decorative beams to fall from the ceiling, and the (should have been bolted) shelves falling over like dominos.

We had original art hanging that had fallen and torn itself, which was heartbreaking enough, even if it wasn't made by anyone special.

There was dirt and leaves everywhere, glass and even random things from other shops nearby.

"Perea, stop looking through books, start collecting trash or something." Bella's voice broke through my train of thought, ordering me about like she was my superior.

I didn't usually get annoyed very easily, in fact I try not to. But Bella was increasingly getting more and more confident in her position here and wasn't afraid to speak up.

"Bella.." I started with a patient yet exhausted tone, as if I were addressing a toddler. "I'm picking up books and trash alike, I'm sorting through this pile.."

Bella sighed. "Okay, but it looked like you were looking at every book. You're wasting time.."

"I'm sorting the books from damaged to sellable.."

"You can do that later, for now get it cleaned up."

I sighed. "Okay I'll do it your way..."

I was in too much pain to argue with her. I knew since it was about 6:30 she'd go home in an hour and I could go upstairs and sleep.

It had been hours since Jason left too.

I stopped sorting the books and solely picked up the trash, throwing it in the short bin beside me.

Bella sighed loudly again, (she'd been doing that a lot) and turned, walking away without bothering to inform me of my shortcomings.

Ow ow ow ow

I almost hadn't realized my owing was becoming a mantra in my brain as I leaned over while picking up the bits of glass, paper and other unintelligible pieces of garbage.

"Percy?"

I looked up, May was standing slightly behind me. "Yeah?"

"Dear, you shouldn't be on the ground stretching your wound like that.. you've done enough for today.." May said softly in a worried tone.

"Oh, no I'm okay, May. Don't worry. I don't even feel it." I smiled, looking up at her.

"You're such a wonderful help, Percy, but you need to take care of yourself too. Please love, go upstairs and get something to eat." She said sternly.

I opened my mouth to protest, but May was faster, "no, Percy. Don't lie. I didn't see you eat a bite of the pizza I ordered earlier today. I had Bella put some in your kitchen, so I want you to eat some tonight, okay?"

My eyes hardened. "You.. sent Bella upstairs?" I winced.

"Oh.. dear I didn't think about it. I should've asked shouldn't I.." May said, suddenly realizing she allowed Bella- practically a stranger go into my apartment alone, without my permission.

"I forgive you, May. But please.. I'd appreciate it if nobody else went up there without my specific permission.." anxiety thrummed through my stomach. Had she touched anything? Taken anything?

I need to keep my door locked while Bella is here. I decided.

"Absolutely, Percy I am so sorry I didn't think about it. But Bella is a sweet girl, I'm sure she can be trusted.. but I understand that's your choice." May added.

"May.. about Be-"

Bella suddenly appeared from the back office area, holding a book in her hand. "Mrs. Monroe! I have this old book here that looks like it's mostly okay, but it's got a scratch on the cover here, do you think we can still sell it?"

I sighed to myself as May turned to take a look at Bella's book, momentarily forgetting me.

I continued to clean up the pile, my legs falling sleep at this point.

I'm gonna be honest.

I don't think I can get up easily without stretching too much.

I wasn't really sure what to do, and now I was stuck on the floor.

"Okay Bella, go home dear. It's been a long day." May shooed Bella off, seemingly sending her home early.

"Okay Mrs. Monroe, have a good night!" Bella grinned and waved, grabbing her stuff and leaving.

May turned back to me. "Percy!" She scolded, finding me still on the floor.

"May..?" I grinned back sheepishly.

"Get off the floor. You stubborn girl, I told you to go to bed."

I shrugged. "I.. don't know how to get up." I admitted.

Mays eyes softened and she sighed. "Percy.. tomorrow I want you to take it easy. Stay upstairs and watch a show. Bella and I will have it covered, okay?"

I hesitated. "But.."

May shook her head firmly. "No, Percy. You are going to relax."

"I'll try." I relented.

May brought over a chair for me to lean on, and I slowly pulled myself onto it awkwardly, before finally standing after I could feel my toes.

"Thanks may. You go home too. I'll see you tomorrow." I promised, giving May a brief hug.

"Alright dear. Lock up behind me, okay? And don't forget to eat." May reminded me.

I nodded. "I promise. Bye!" I waved as she left the store, and I locked the door behind her.

I sighed, taking in the store in its messy state, knowing I couldn't do much to fix it right now.

This would all be so much easier if I could heal myself and get over with it.

But Jason would know, and then I'd have to answer questions I'm not sure I'm allowed to answer.

So for now.. pizza, then inspecting my apartment for any potential displacement of my personal objects..

Then sleep.

I shut off all the lights, and trudged up the stairs and closing my door, locking it for good measure.

I found the pizza on the counter, and I took a slice and ate a bite while I moved around my apartment slowly, checking to see if anything looked like it was moved.

Luckily nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, but that didn't mean Bella hadn't taken herself a little tour around my apartment..

It felt invasive and it made me wonder. What would she do given the opportunity to come up here again?
I'd prefer not to find out.

I slid onto a stool at my bar, wincing slightly as my skin tried to pull apart my stitches.

Ow.

I mean I've been hurt before. But this is just... lasting pain. I've never had to worry about stitches, or moving in a way that wouldn't cause immense pain when I walked.

A day off would be nice. But I don't want to let Bella make decisions on what books to keep or throw away. I couldn't bear to trust her with that job.

Maybe May would let me sit and watch..

Bella would hate that.

I grin, the knowledge of getting under Bella's skin felt victorious to me.

Although we still had to see if May would even let me come down from my jail of healing.

Speaking of healing,

My plants are dying.

Oops.

•*•
Hi All!

Early update because I'll be pretty busy later. (And I find it very hard to keep chapters from you guys lol)
This means there will be
no update this Sunday!!!

Regular Saturday/Sunday updates will resume on the 21/22 of December.
(Next week)

I hope you all enjoyed-ish. I know Bella's return to our chapters is annoying but yk, we gotta have some conflict lol.

Remember she's only been working for 4 days now. The time is moving very slowly lol.

Anyways I hope you all have a
Shnazzy *Phonetastic* day,

Toodles!

💙🍪