Page 121 of Tear Me Down
“Ser and Carter are here and can take care of something if I need them to. You can’t get much rest if you're in this much pain.”
“If you feel it, I feel it.” He murmurs against my forehead, as if his words are carved in stone. Normally, I wouldn’t argue, submitting to his demands almost immediately, but not this time.
“I think it’s a little different, Damien. I wasn’t blown up or shot.” A chuckled huff escapes my lips. “We should’ve stayed at the hospital, I'm worried about you.” My fingers lightly trace the gauze that lay on top of his stab wound, remembering how agonizing it looked just a few minutes ago.
“I'm okay, baby girl. As long as you're right next to me, I'm fine.”
“Well, don’t worry, I won’t be leaving this spot for a good while.”
“Good.” He reaches down and kisses my cheek, letting his lips linger there a moment longer than he should. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I think I am, actually,” I admit, and he nods as he tightens his grip on me, like at any moment I’ll change my mind and start packing my things. I bury my face in his neck, and I can feel the trembling beneath his skin, a crystal-clear sign of his anguish. “But you're not, Damien. Take something? Please?” I beg.
“I don’t think Tylenol is going to help.”
“You may be the most stubborn person I know. There are other options, and they’re sitting in a bottle right down the hall. You don’t need to suffer, Damien. I need you to be okay. You've endured enough.” He closes his eyes as he takes in another rigid breath, debating it for my sanity, if anything, but I know his stubborn ass, and he’s never going to agree to it on his own. “I'm going to get them.” I kiss his cheek and gently make my way to the edge of the bed before he grabs my hand.
“You better lay the fuck back down. You’ve been up and moving too much today as it is,” he demands, and while his protective nature always warms my chest, I snap back.
“No. You're not going to keep putting yourself through this, Damien. You are not going to keep punishing yourself for something that isn’t your fault. I'll be right back.” I pull my hand from his as I stand up and walk out of the room, making my way down the hall. His grunt sounds out behind me, but I ignore it and keep going, sure that we'll argue about it later. As I approach the room Carter is staying in, I hear soft moans and other noises I probably shouldn’t, immediately making me take a step back. They’re finally making up, and now I’m about to ruin it? God, I’m such a bitch, but I can’t go back without his pain medication. I reluctantly knock on the door and call out. “Sorry to bother you, Carter.”
“Shit.” I hear him say on the other side of the door, followed by a loud thud, like he fell off the bed, and a quiet gasp from Ser. It’s only a matter of seconds before he swings the door open, shirtless and pants only halfway on.
“I’m really sorry.” I cringe.
“No, I'm sorry, Ash. We’re not here for this. It shouldn’t have happened,” he spits out, but I can see the moment when what he says registers on his face, and his features sink. Serena scoffs and shakes her head, clearly pissed off as she stands up, and pulls her shorts back up, but walks out with only her bra on.
“You’re totally right,” she sneers as she walks past him.
“Shit, Ser, come on. I didn’t mean that.” He goes to grab her hand, but she jerks it away and continues down the hall towards her room, her strides strong and determined. Once she gets to the door, she turns to me with enough force that her hair flips over her shoulders.
“I’ll be in your room in two hours for your meds, okay?” she confirms angrily, and I just nod as she steps into her room and slams the door. I can hear the lock engage from here, and I turn back to Carter with a guilty expression.
“Sorry, again.”
He runs a hand over his face, clearly agitated, but then he looks back to me with a softened face.
“What do you need? You okay?” he asks softly.
“Oh, I’m fine. I just need Damien’s pain medication.”
His eyes widen and he cocks his head.
“You convinced him to take them?”
“I mean, not really. I kind of just got up and said I was getting them. So now if he doesn’t take them, he’ll feel bad. That’s bad isn’t it? That’s really bitchy.”
He just shrugs and shakes his head.
“Hey, whatever works. He needs them. I’m surprised you didn’t just bat your eyes at him. You’ve got him whipped.” He walks over to his duffle bag to retrieve them, and I just nod my head, because yeah, I know I do, and it’s one of the best feelings in the world. He strides back over and hands them to me.
“I really am sorry about Ser.” I gesture down the hallway, and he swats his hand like it doesn’t phase him, but I can see the slight disappointment in his eyes.
“It’s not your fault. We were arguing, and it just kind of…” He trails off, and then shakes his head like he shouldn’t continue. “It’s no big deal. Get some rest.”
I just nod and turn back towards our room. Hopefully, Ser will tell me tomorrow about what’s been going on with them, but her silence on the matter is concerning me. It’s clear she cares about him, otherwise, she wouldn’t showhim the time of day. She’s normally a one and done type of woman, but Carter isn’t the case. Maybe I’ll corner her while she’s staying here and force her to loop me in on what the hell is going on between them two.
As I walk back into our room and close the door, I hear a groan in pain and immediately jerk my head to the sound. Damien is sitting on the edge of the bed, clearly trying to get up. I rush over, grabbing the water bottle already sitting on the dresser nearby.
