"At first, yes. But it was poulticed until the heat and swelling went away." Mostly away. It's red and angry today, but how much of that is from the cold and a morning's work?

Nonsense though. If he cared for more things to pack the wound with, he'd have returned to Etienne. Her squeeze of his finger feels distant like it's happening to someone else's hand.

"Something better to apply is well and good, but I can't say what it will fix."