Darwin climbed through the trapdoor as he said, "I'm sure he would have loved to. But mom went crazy seeing him injured like that."
Stella winced as she washed her wounds, "You sure it's okay for you to come here?"
Darwin: "Yeah. Mom took Derek to the doctor. She was worried that his wounds might be infected."
Stella scoffed, "Yeah. Because I am a rabid animal. But that's not what I meant."
"Huh?" Darwin was confused.
Stella rolled her eyes, "How are you the smartest kid in school? I meant is it okay for you to come to your bully, when there's no one in the house. Owww!!!" Stella winced again as she had touched a wound.
Darwin came and sat beside her, "I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Pfft...." Stella burst out laughing, "Why do you care if I'm okay? Shouldn't you be glad I'm injured? I've got no energy today to hit you."
"Yeah. I figured that." Darwin said as he pulled out a packet from the pocket of his sweater, "Here."
Stella raised an eyebrow as she dropped the bottle of water and opened the packet. As she was staring at it's contents, Stella suddenly winced and slapped away Darwin, who was trying to clean a wound on her arm.
Darwin looked helpless, "You need to clean them properly. Only washing them is not enough."
"Why? Why do you help me?" Stella's voice cracked as she asked.
"Why? Because you are my sister." Darwin replied simply.
Stella was taken aback at his response. How could he? How could he say that so simply? After all she had done to him? How could he take care of a person who left no opportunity to bully him?
Seeing Stella frozen, Darwin looked at her, "Don't just stare into space. Eat."
Stella snapped back and began eating. By the time she had finished, Darwin was done with all the wounds on her exposed skin, her arms and legs.
Stella said as she rolled up the packet and threw it somewhere, "That was great! Did you make today's dinner?"
Darwin scratched his head, "No. The last time I tried cooking I almost burned down the house. We ordered delivery."
"Oh." was Stella's only response as she began to examine her wounds. She was surprised to see that they were all bandaged and did not hurt anymore.
"Hey, it doesn't hurt anymore!!" She exclaimed.
Darwin frowned, "That's impossible. The only thing I did was to bandage them up. You've had no painkillers. It should hurt just as much as before."
Stella shook her head, looking very much like a little kid and very less like the usual bully she was, "It doesn't hurt anymore! Thanks Darwin!"
Darwin sighed, "You must have developed an unusually high tolerance for pain. It's sad."
But Stella was not listening. She was biting her nail and contemplating something. Finally, Stella spoke up, "Hey Darwin, will you do me a favour?"
Before Darwin could reply, Stella continued, "I know I don't deserve one, but I would really be grateful if you did. Hell, I'll even stop bullying you!"
Darwin raised an eyebrow, "That's a good deal. What do you want me to do? Bring more food? Sneak in food everytime you are punished?"
Stella shook her head and took off her deep purple tank top, "Could you make the pain of these go away too?"