141 I Am Ugly Now
Once Annalynne calmed down, she finally agreed to return to bed. Her tears kept falling while the doctor cut the bandages around her head.
Strips of bandages came off and revealed Annalynneâs swollen face.
The left side of her cheek was torn cruelly by an opposing werewolf, leaving three long cuts that extended from her ear to her chin.
Although the cuts have healed, scars in form of three lines remained.
Annalynne sat there while the people around her stared at the scars, unsure what to say.
For the first time in days, Anna spoke up.
âI want a mirror.â
A nurse pulled her lips into a tight smile and handed Annalynne a hand mirror.
The woman stared at her reflection. Her fingers traced the glass, touching the scars through the mirror. And then she touched the scars on her face gingerly.
.....
The three lines were so ugly.
She was so ugly.
Annalynneâs face crumpled and tears started forming again.
âBig Brother, Dad, Mom, I am so ugly now,â she lamented.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âNo, you are not,â Alice said softly. âYou are still my most beautiful girl.â
Gordon pulled his sobbing daughter into a hug. âDonât be sad, Anna. We can do something about the scars. Stop crying, alright?â
At loss, Lucien rubbed at Annalynneâs shoulder. He did not know what to say. He was a man, after all. He did not care much about scars. But Annalynne was not the same. Although Lucien wanted to, he would never be able to understand Annalynneâs anguish.
When visitation hour was over, Kendra, Acatha, and Desmond were kicked out of the ward.
Alice and Gordon too were asked to leave for the day.
Only Annalynne and Lucien were left in the ward. Lucien lay on the bed, cuddling his sister in his arms while she sniffled softly.
Anna kept rubbing against the scars on her cheek, as if trying to erase them.
âAnna, donât,â Lucien grabbed Annaâs hand and put it aside. âThe wound is not entirely healed yet. You should stop touching it. The doctor already said that we need to rub some ointment on the scars.â
Lucien climbed off the bed to grab the tiny ointment jar from a table.
Annalynne grumbled.
âItâs not like they will disappear.â
Lucien patiently scooped some of the ointment and smeared it on Annalynneâs cheek. âAt least it wouldnât get worse,â he tried to comfort her.
Annalynne pursed her lips and looked at her brother.
âLulu, I... We are now no longer twin beauties. We are the beauty and the beast.â
Lucien shook his head.
âDonât say that.â
Annalynne was too fixated on her scars. Lucien needed her to stop thinking about her scars, and even better, stop wanting to touch her scars.
âAnna, is there something that you want to do? We can watch some television. Do you want to look at trending videos? Or...â
âI would rather eat something good.â
Lucien rubbed at Annalynneâs hair lovingly. âWhat do you want to eat?â
âWhat about some Honey BBQ Squid from the Food Market?â
âAlright, then I will go there to get you some.â
âGet three portions. We will share,â Annalynne demands.
âAlright, three portions it is.â
After Lucien left, a nurse came in and asked whether Annalynne wanted to have her ward cleaned. They were unable to clean in the afternoon due to the many visitors.
Annalynne agreed. She thus left her bed and went for a walk in the hospital garden. Thankfully only one leg of hers was broken. She could still move around with crutches.
At 6.30 PM, there were still a lot of patients that were walking around in the garden. When Annalynne saw that many people around, she suddenly felt self-conscious about the scars on her cheek. She would love to hide the scars behind her hand, but Lucien would not be happy if she smeared the ointment.
Annalynne thus made a U-turn to go back into the hospital building. She could just wander around the corridors until her room was done.
As luck had it, she just had to come across the one person she did not want to see at all.
âAnnalynne?â
The voice behind her caused Annalynne to freeze on spot.
Because she didnât turn around, Kinnon Youngshaper made a point to walk up to her and look at her face.
Her scarred face.
Annalynne looked up and gave him a burning glare.
So what?
Why did she have to hide?
Anyway, the wound was caused by someone from Kinnonâs group.
The Alpha from the opposing side was stunned to see the three long lines that marred Annalynneâs face. He reached out to grab Annalynneâs chin, but the latter dodged his hand.
âDonât touch me,â she hissed.
Kinnon sighed.
âLeave us,â he said, addressing the male nurse who was tagging along behind him.
After the nurse left, Kinnon grabbed Annalynneâs shoulders to take a better look at the scars. The woman could not free herself because she had to hold on to the crutches under her armpits.
âI know a very good plastic surgeon,â Kinnon muttered as he moved Annalynneâs chin left and right to get a better look at the scars. âHe can make the scars disappear for good.â
âI donât need you to do that,â Annalynne replied. âYou donât have to concern yourself with me.â
âI am not trying to be nosy,â Kinnon explained. âI am just offering to help.â
âI donât need your help,â Annalynne frowned at Kinnon. âIf you wanted to help, you could have stopped the war.â
âI couldnât,â Kinnon said.
Of course he could not. He barely managed to free the Clearwater siblings from suspicion when the rogue werewolves attacked him and Anna. He could not do that the second time around when the city was full of werewolves who spent the night after the Moon Banquet.
âIt is not that simple, Anna.â
Kinnon did not mean anything when he said the words, but Annalynne was quickly enraged. Those were the exact same words that Kinnon used when he rejected Annalynneâs advances. It was like adding salt to injury.
âFine!!! I am a stupid simpleton who doesnât know anything! Are you happy now, Kinnon???â