everything that matters

LEFT CHEEK — Lighter burn x2, multiple strikes to the burns after, cleaver cuts to the burns.

[Lola] pressed the lighter to his cheek.

[Lola] dug her fingernails into his raw skin just to make him cry out again.

[Lola] held fast to Neil so Romero could crush the lighter to his face once more. Lola's strangling grip on his throat meant the best Neil could manage was a pained whine.

Lola considered Neil again, then smacked his burned face as hard as she could.

Nathaniel braced himself for the inevitable blow, but his knees still buckled when Nathan punched the burns on his cheek. Nathan caught him by his throat as he fell.

Nathan put [the dull axe] to Nathaniel's neck next so he could carve shallow lines in Nathaniel's burned face with his cleaver.

RIGHT CHEEK — Knife cuts x2 (likely similarly placed wounds)

Lola wound her arm around the back of his chair so she could hold her knife to the right side of his face. The blade cut a paper-thin line from his mouth to the corner of his eye.

Heat ate a fierce line through his [left] cheek as he retreated right into Lola's waiting knife…He twisted his head out of her reach and remembered her knife too late. He tore a second line down his cheek and hurriedly hunched forward instead.

THROAT — Scar from throat to collarbone, sharp cleaver to the throat.

It started at the base of his throat, a looping scar curving down over his collarbone.

[Nathan] must have just sharpened [the cleaver], because blood welled up almost immediately…A fist to the face killed his next attempt and then Nathan was sitting on top of him with his cleaver to Nathaniel's throat.

CHEST — Bullet scar near collarbone, knife cut to chest, long knife cut to chest.

A pucker with jagged edges was a finger-width away [from the looping collarbone scar], courtesy of a bullet that hit him right on the edge of his Kevlar vest…[Andrew’s] right thumb found the puckered flesh from a bullet.

Riko pressed the knife to Neil's chest and slipped the edge under his skin.

Lola dodged, but barely, and left a hot stripe up his chest with the tip of her blade.

LEFT SHOULDER — Roadburn scar from shoulder to navel.

A shapeless patch of pale skin from his left shoulder to his navel marked where he'd jumped out of a moving car and torn himself raw on the asphalt.”

RIGHT SHOULDER — Half an iron burn scar (old).

And there on his right shoulder was the perfect outline of half a hot iron…his father ripped the iron from his mother's hands and smacked Neil with it. Neil still remembered how his skin looked as it peeled off with the metal…On Neil's right shoulder was a burn scar, courtesy of getting smacked by a hot iron. Andrew put his left hand to it, fingertips lining up perfectly with the raised bumps the iron's holes had left behind. 

FOREARMS — Cuts and burns to the forearms, scratches to the injuries.

Time stopped as Lola burned and cut a path up Neil's arms.

[Lola] sounded appreciative, not insulted, and scratched hard lines down his injured arms.

WRISTS — Handcuffs x2 instances.

Metal cuffs locked his hands to the headboard. He yanked his arms as hard as he could, nearly skinning his wrists in the effort, but the headboard didn't even creak…Andrew reached for the bandages on Neil's wrists, and Neil let him rip tape and gauze off. The scabs looked worse today…Neil dragged his stare up from the ugly lines striped across his wrists to Andrew's face.

Lola climbed into the backseat behind him and pulled Neil's arms around back of his chair. She cuffed his hands together and clicked them as tight as she could…He tore his wrists open on unyielding metal but he couldn't stop.

HANDS — Knife to fingertips, knife to base of fingers, knife from base of finger to thumb, burns to the palm, crosshatch knife cuts on back of hand, burns to knuckles, burn between thumb and index.

Neil kicked his legs a bit, testing his range of movement, but was quickly distracted by the press of sharp, cold metal against his fingertips.

[Lola] got bored of the teasing before long and cut a shallow line along the base of his fingers.

[Lola] cut a stinging line down from the base of his finger to the thick flesh of his thumb. She covered his hand with burning lacerations before moving on to the next one.

He traced the outline of a key into his bloody, burnt palm with a shaky finger, closed his eyes, and wished Neil Josten goodbye.

Lola had lined the back of his hand with crosshatches and burned angry circles into his knuckles. Another burn mark stained the tender flesh between his thumb and index finger. The burns were starting to ooze, but drying blood smothered most of the mess.

ABDOMEN — Multiple large knife cuts and punctures to abdomen.

Along his abdomen were larger overlapping lines from confrontations with his father's people while on the run…All of his men were well-versed in knife- fighting, and more than one of them had tried to stick Neil like a pig.

Andrew was quiet a long time, then dropped his hand to the slashes across Neil's gut.

LEGS — Less extensive, handcuffs on ankles. 

He pulled his new shirt on over the one he was already wearing and wrestled the bottom layer out from underneath. It took a bit of work, but he managed to keep most of his skin hidden. Changing out his pants was easier, since most of the damage was on his upper half.

Neil watched Lola cuff his ankles to the seat's rails and barely refrained from kneeing her in the face.

MISC — Random old scars on torso, 50+ stitches from knife cuts all over, cane whipped across the mouth/cheek, most extensive are the burns on his face after the Lola incident.

Faded scars crisscrossed here and there from his life on the run, either from stupid accidents, desperate escapes, or conflicts with local lowlifes.

"I think I pulled my stitches," Neil said. "I feel blood." - "Where?" Wymack asked. - "Everywhere?" Neil guessed, and tried undoing his coat buttons one-handed…He didn't say anything about how many bandages Neil had wrapped around his chest and abdomen or how many bruises showed around the gauze…He'd ripped threads loose on his side, down near his waist…"Shut up," Wymack said. "When you're sporting fewer than fifty stitches I'll consider letting you on my court again.”

He saw the cane come up, but it was too fast for him to dodge. It caught him in the face across his cheek and the side of his mouth.

The worst injuries were the ones on his face, but the mess Lola made of his hands was the most inconvenient.

Neil, sweating: I only have two jobs, and taking care of Kevin isn't going great so I'd better keep the mas safe

“We’re both old”. “You’re old and you’re stupid”.

*dramatic eye-roll*