Page 101 of Anything To Be With You

Luke pulls the box out and leaves, coming back with a shirt, and another pair of sleep shorts. He helps me out of Mason’s sweatpants and my destroyed shirt, tossing them with the rest of my dirty clothes.

"Jesus fucking Christ." He mutters as he takes me in. "Sweetheart," Archer stands, "I'm going to ask again. What happened?"

I refuse to look at him.

"Daniella." His voice is stern, almost furious.

I chance a look at him. "I wasn’t raped."

"Glad to hear it, but that’s not what I asked."

"I was attacked."

"Where’s Mason?" he questions.

"At Axe’s." I answer.

Luke says nothing as he wets a cloth and sinks to his knees in front of me. He swipes at my skin gently. The sting of the cloth against the raw skin on my thighs and stomach has me hissing through my teeth. Luke stays quiet as he dresses me, leading me outside and helping me into his truck.

I can feel the rage radiating off him as he drives, his body’s shaking with it. He drops me off at the ER doors and speeds off. I stand there dumbfounded, watching the taillights of his truck disappear around a corner. Tears spring to my eyes. He left me. He said my scars don’t bother him. Guess these new ones were his breaking point. Swallowing the steel ball in my throat, I walk in and towards the triage window, knocking once.

The window slides open, and an incredibly young nurse smiles up at me.

"Can I help you?" she asks kindly, and I freeze.

I can’t go through this again.

The nurse waits me out. I look around before leaning in.

"I, ah…I was…um…attacked." I whisper.

Her face softens. She passes me a clipboard and a pen. "If you could fill this out and bring it back, we’ll get you seen as soon as possible."

I nod, taking what she gave me and sit by the windows.

Away from prying eyes.

He Stays

Luke

I find Dani sitting by the windows. Shoulders slumped and head ducked as she fills out a form. I sit next to her, making her jump.

"It’s just me."

"I thought…I thought you left." Her extraordinary eyes wide as she looks at me.

"I was parking the truck. I’m not leaving you here to deal with this alone."

She opens her mouth but snaps it shut and nods. Her chin wiggling. She’s going to break down.

I drape my arm along the back of her chair, touching the nape of her neck lightly. Dani hisses and pulls away. I move the collar of her shirt and find a bruise forming on the back of her neck that look an awful lot like fingers. As if someone had their hands wrapped around her neck.

Unadulterated rage flows through me. No one should ever put their hands on another person. However, when I find out who did this—and I have a really good inkling of who it might be—I will return the favour ten-fold.

Dani stands and walks over to the triage window, handing back the clipboard and walking into the room. She sits next to me a few minutes later, purse clutched in her small hands.

"Sweetheart—"

---