Sydney shook her head without thinking. "It doesn't hurt."It was only a scrape, barely skin deep. Even when she had cleaned and dressed it, she had felt nothing. Now it was scabbed over. As long as no one gripped her the way he just had, it wouldn't hurt at all.The moment she shook her head, Julian was hit by a memory of Sydney as a child.She had never tolerated pain. At the first sign of fever, when the family doctor came to put in an IV, she would start crying before the medicine was even mixed.Back then…Tears streamed down Sydney's face like beads on a broken string. One hand was pinned by the doctor, so her free hand clung desperately to Julian's.Between sobs, she barked orders in a small, trembling voice. "Julian, cover my eyes, quick!"She couldn't even watch a needle. She was fragile to the bone.Julian covered her eyes, muttering his disdain, "You could just shut them yourself."She was trouble, through and through.But Sydney shook her head, still sniffling, an
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