“Is that better, baby?” Heaven asks, calling me a sweet pet name, but I choose to ignore it. He’s probably being nice.
I tuck my hair behind my ear and nod, not looking up to see his eyes pitying me.
“Crap, you’re really bleeding,” Heaven says, rushing over from the bathroom with a towel in his hand. He rubs the soft fabric against my arm, and I notice a streak of red smearing on my arm has he wipes me clean, then presses it against my head. “Don’t be nervous. Head wounds bleed more even if the injury isn’t severe.”
I want to ask how he knows that, but I don’t want him to think I’m attacking him with guilt because of what happened to my sister. The only person who truly knows anything is Grace and the man that killed her. Asher only saw the aftermath.
“I’m not afraid,” I say, numbly. “I don’t know what I’m afraid of these days, but bleeding to death isn’t one of them.”
“You should always be afraid of death,” he states, his voice sad at my declaration.
“Why? Living is so much harder.”
“Until you find something that is worth living for, something that will bring meaning in your life again. It will come. Right now, you’re swimming in a wicked storm, but it can’t rain forever. The calm will come.”
“I don’t know if I believe you,” I say weakly, pulling my legs to my chest and wrapping my arms around them, but careful to keep the blanket covering me. My entire back is exposed to Heaven, but it’s not like he has never seen a back. Once you seen one hundred of them, you’ve seen them all, right?
“That’s okay. I’ll believe in it for you.”
“Knock, Knock,” Owen says at the door. “I hear someone slipped and fell?” he has a red first-aid kid in his hand and he give Heaven a warning glare. “Stop pushing yourself. You need to rest. I’m not fixing those stitches again.”
I turn to look over my shoulder to see Asher shrugging, but he doesn’t move away from me. “What he is talking about?”
“Nothing, baby. Don’t worry about it.”
There he goes with that pet name again. I’m still not going to ask why he is calling me that because I don’t want to think more of him right now. I’m not ready for that because I know the immensity of how I’d fall for him.
Hard and deep with no return.
And I can’t handle him taking over me when I need to find myself.
“What happened?” I ask again as Owen sets his first-aid kit on the bed.
“I pushed him through a sliding glass door. A shard of glass went through his back and out of the middle of his chest. He has a pretty nasty wound. I’m surprised he is even up and walking around right now.” Owen takes the towel off my head and Heaven then takes a pillow and props it up on my back to block me.
I bury my face in my knees and my heart fills with warmth knowing he is protecting me like this, but it means he is also pushing himself for me. I had no idea he was injured. “You should rest. Owen can take care of me. I’ll be fine. After he stitches me up, I want to try to bathe again.”
“I don’t think you need to be doing anything for a day or so.” Owen shines a light in my eyes and it’s unexpected, so I wince away, but Heaven is behind me, crowding my back with his body. I need to pull away from him because his body heat is so comforting, and I don’t want to find solitude in it. I relish how close he is for a few more moments before I scoot away from him about an inch so I can’t feel the tickle of his chest hair against me. “You have a mild concussion. You need to rest, but I don’t want you falling asleep for about twelve hours.”
“Twelve?” I gasp, wishing I never freaking woke up in the first place or this would have never happened.
“Do a movie marathon. Rest. I’ll call the doctor and have him come check on you—”
“No! No, male doctors. I’ll see a female doctor, but that’s it. I don’t want to be around someone I don’t know, touching me,” I shiver at the thought, and I swear I can feel the phantom touch of my abuser. “Please, a female.”
“Anything you want, baby. We understand. No one is going to hurt you anymore, okay?”
I’m not sure if I believe him. The person in this house that has the capability of hurting me the most is Asher, just like he did all those years ago.
“Knock, knock.” I find myself in de ja vu when I stare at the door and see another man standing there and is covered in tattoos. I already know he is the man in charge because of the power he surges into the room. He has confidence and it slithers over me, making me quiver.
There are three men in the room and Jolie is sitting quietly in the corner, but I’m feeling suffocated. There are too many people around me.
“It’s okay,” Asher whispers in my ear, his hands landing on my shoulders to relax me.
Surprisingly, it does.
“That’s Jaxon. He’s the guy that keeps us in line when he thinks we are being too naughty,” Asher gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze and his playful tone reminds me of when we were younger. I always saw and heard him joking around with others. It seems like he hasn’t changed that much.
Jaxon doesn’t enter the room. He seems to catch on that I need space. His fingers are laced together in front of him, a gold watch shining from his wrist. He crosses his ankles over one another and gives me a slight head nod. “How are you doing, Heather?” he asks, the authority in the baritone levels of his voice slither over me and causes a panic.
Asher feels me tense and rubs a hand softly down my back, which reminds me to breathe. I take a deep breath at the same time Owen gets done putting a bandage on the wound. “Okay, it isn’t too deep. I did put glue on it to seal it and in a few hours you can get rid of the bandage. Just relax today.” Owen grabs his medical kit and goes to walk out the door, but I stop him.
“Thank you,” I say, small and timid. “For patching me up.” I lift my hand to the side of my head, grazing the fingers along the gauze.
“You’re welcome,” Owen’s eyes become soft as he stares at me and he holds his hand out to a quiet Jolie who is sitting in the corner.
As the couple walks out, Jolie stops and turns around. “I know it seems like you’re all alone, but you aren’t. I’m here. I can relate to you and I know right now that doesn’t seem like much, but it helps more than you think.” Owen tugs Jolie through the door and Jaxon takes a step to the side to make room from them to exit.
I remember Jaxon asking me how I was doing and gather the courage I need to tell him the truth or lie. I might as well be honest, lying would seem ridiculous, especially in the state I’m in. “I don’t think I’m doing that well, honestly.”
He nods as if he understands but there is no way anyone can understand what I’m feeling unless they have experienced it, like Jolie. “That’s understandable. You’re safe here. I want you to know that. You’re under our protection,” he says.
“I’m learning that slowly,” I reply.
“Slow is better than not at all.” This time, he does take a step inside the room and the intensity rolling off him in waves has my spine straightening. “So, I’m not sure if you know this, but it is something that needs to be discussed.” He sits in the corner where Jolie was just a moment ago, not crowding me.