Page 24 of Damaged

How the fuck did he know my name?

It didn’t matter. I had to complete the mission.

But I was in no way prepared for the feel of soft fingertips caressing my chin and gently urging me to turn my head. It was so unexpected that I actually did it. I turned my head.

The expected grease marks on his face to match his skin to the camouflage uniform he was wearing weren’t there. I saw only different shades of black, blue, and green marring his pale skin.

And his eyes… his beautiful nearly clear eyes that almost looked silv?—

Reality hit me hard enough to have me scrambling backward until I hit the hard wooden leg of the bed. I watched in horror as Silver’s hands went to his throat and he began coughing as he tried to pull in one breath after another.

I knew I should do something, but my muddled mind couldn’t fully process what had just happened.

Not to mention that I wasn’t the only one who’d put some distance between us… or at least tried to. Silver was scrambling backward on the hard floor.

“Silver—”

That was all I got out before Silver held his palm up in a defensive position. That finally got my ass moving. I climbed to my feet, pulled on a pair of sweats hanging over the foot of my bed, and hurried to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. By the time I returned to my bedroom, Silver was huddled up in a ball against my nightstand. He wasn’t crying and he didn’t try to stop me as I crouched before him. He was still wheezing and struggling to breathe. Shame consumed me as I saw the bruises already starting to form on his neck.

Silver was trembling violently, so I quickly grabbed my comforter and eased it over his body. I doubted his tremors had anything to do with being cold, but that would come when the shock of what I’d done to him began to wear off.

“Jesus, fuck, Silver. I’m so sorry—” I began but stopped when I realized he didn’t need apologies right now. He needed physical help.

“Can you try to drink some of this water for me?” I asked as I handed him the cup. He shook his head and pushed it away. I set it down and then sat cross-legged in front of him. My own adrenaline was wearing off, which meant pain was beginning to consume my body but amazingly enough, I barely noticed… or cared.

“Silver, I need to look at your neck to see if I did any kind of damage that means I need to take you to a hospital.”

I suspected the suggestion of taking him to a hospital was the only thing that had him carefully turning so he was facing me. He’d grabbed my comforter and drawn it up to his neck. As he lowered it a bit, I realized he was wearing my sweats again. I liked knowing that, but I also didn’t.

“Fuck, focus, Dalton,” I said under my breath as I carefully reached my fingers out to examine Silver’s injury. The fact that I’d added to the many black and blue marks on his face made me want to put my fist through a wall.

Not surprisingly, Silver pulled away from me until his head hit the wall behind him and he was forced to hold still as I quickly checked to see if I’d broken his hyoid bone.

“Can you swallow for me?” I asked. I wasn’t feeling any swelling, but a doctor was far more equipped to make the call when it came to how much damage I’d done.

It took Silver several long seconds to swallow. I kept feeling around his throat to see how tender it was and asked, “On a scale of one to ten, how bad did swallowing hurt?”

Silver hesitated and shook his head as his eyes filled with confusion.

I felt foolish as I realized he might not know what a pain scale was.

“With the number one meaning no pain at all and ten meaning it’s the worst pain you’ve ever felt, what number would you give the pain? You can pick any number in between. For example, a five would be right in the middle of no pain and worst pain ever—” I began before Silver held up four fingers. His breathing seemed to be coming easier to him but there was no denying the angry red mark forming on his neck. The low number surprised me. Either he was lying, or he’d experienced a shit ton of pain in his life. Part of me hoped that even as I’d been caught up in the nightmare, my gut had somehow known who Silver was and I hadn’t used as much pressure on him as I would have with a real enemy.

“Would you come with me to the kitchen so I can put some ice on your neck? It will help with the pain and swelling,” I explained as I stood.

Silver nodded but refused to take the hand I held out for him.

I couldn’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me either.

Chapter 8

SILVER

Out.

I just needed to get out.

Run.

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