All The Pretty Ghosts (The Never Series Book 1) Jamie Campbell (best life changing books .TXT) 📖

“I need to see your shoulder to know which way I need to pull it. Do you want me to help you do it?”

“No. I can do it myself.” I started on the buttons of my blouse, still not entirely convinced it was actually necessary. Surely there had to be only one way to put a shoulder back into place?

I finished on the last button, hating what I had to do next. Not only did I not want to sit here in merely a bra, but I didn’t want to move my arm either. But to take off my blouse, it had to be done.

The pain was instant. I tried to slide the sleeve down but it wouldn’t obey. My arm was hanging limply at my side, thwarting my attempts to move it.

“Here, let me,” Jet said as he took another step closer. He gently grabbed at the fabric as I stiffened in fear. “It’s okay, I’ll try not to hurt you. Despite what you think, I don’t take pleasure in seeing you in pain.”

He started sliding the sleeve along my skin, barely touching the sorest part. He left it halfway down before moving to my other shoulder. I stiffened again. “If you don’t take it all off, I’m going to have to bend your arm. Do you really want that?”

I really didn’t.

“Fine,” I conceded.

Jet started again, slowly and carefully removing my blouse. His fingers skimmed across the skin on my back, sending an unexpected shiver down my spine.

He either didn’t notice or chose not to mention it.

Finally, he moved around to the front. Crouching in front of me, he pulled down the remainder of the fabric to free my arms from the sleeves.

It was cold in the room with no top on. The exposure made me feel even more vulnerable and I didn’t think that was possible before.

Jet folded my blouse and placed it on the table before moving around to my left arm again. He knelt down onto his knees, examining it carefully.

“Perry did a good job on you.”

“Maybe you should buy her a drink sometime.”

“Maybe I will,” he laughed. He grew serious again as he placed his hands on me – one on my shoulder and the other on my arm. Just the tiniest movement sent out waves of pain. “I’m not going to lie, this is going to hurt like hell. But once it’s in, the pain will die away. Are you ready?”

No.

“Just do it,” I ordered.

“Feel free to scream. It will probably make everyone outside pretty happy to hear it.”

Before I could reply, his grip tightened and he gave a forceful jerk to my shoulder.

I had never felt agony like that before.

I screamed out before I could stop myself as the tsunami of jolting pain shot through every nerve in my body. It rushed over me as my vision blackened around the edges. Bile rose into my mouth, threatening of the vomit that would come soon enough.

As much as I instinctively fought against the movement, Jet held on equally tight. He pushed at the bones in my shoulder joint, kneading them into place against their will. They argued against every movement.

With an audible pop, it was over. All the straining of my muscles and ligaments relaxed, back where they should rightfully be. I could even move my arm a little.

The relief was instant, washing over me to drown out the nausea. I rubbed at my arm, welcoming back the full flow of blood again. Twitching my fingers had never felt so good.

“Am I great, or am I great?” Jet said happily, taking the seat across from me. His thumbs absentmindedly rubbed over the fabric of my blouse on the table.

“Thank you,” I murmured. I never thought I would be thanking Jet for something.

“You are welcome.” He leaned back in the seat, a lot more comfortable here than I was. “So now for the string attached to that little act of miraculous healing. I want to know something.”

“Know what?”

“Tell me how you escaped from my evil lair.”

I would rather have told him anything else. I picked up my blouse and carefully threaded my arms through the sleeves. I managed to get it on with one hand and started on the buttons. I moved slowly and deliberately, partly to delay answering.

A lie was in order.

There was no way I was going to tell Jet about Oliver. I didn’t want him being connected to me in any way or they would only find a way of hurting him, too.

“I managed to get out of my bindings and then made a run for it,” I replied.

“I don’t believe you.” His eyes drilled into me. I thought for sure he could see right into my thoughts to see the truth play out for him like a movie.

“Well, that’s the truth. It’s not up to me to convince you of it.”

He shook his head. “I saw your bindings. There was no way you could have got them undone. I checked them myself.”

“What can I say? Your lackeys were careless. Maybe you should train them better. And get your eyesight checked while you’re at it.”

I finished with the buttons, feeling a lot less exposed with my shirt back on. A black bra rimmed in lace was not exactly appropriate attire these days, but it was all I could find when I went searching for clothes on the hill.

Jet nibbled on his bottom lip as he studied me. He tended to do that a lot, I noticed. Perhaps it was his delay tactic, purposely leaving silence lingering so I would fill it.

I’d played that game. I wasn’t going to do it again.

He leaned forward once more, his arms crossing over on the table. “I think you’re lying. But, you