Page 45 of Slaughtered Firefly
You.I thought. The handcuffs landed with a thud on the hospital tray in front of her, and she looked at her wrist in confusion.
“Do you always live like — ” I gestured towards the state of the room, the urge to tidy it getting the better of me.
“I haven’t had a solid meal in two weeks, chained to a bed and forced to entertain myself with what was available, you try it and you’ll get the same results I am sure,” she huffed, stretched her arms above her head and cracked her neck.
“Point taken,” I stood there unsure of what to say as all trains of thought left the station. Fuck, why was I so awkward when it came to Mia?
Mia swung her feet off the side of the bed, fiddled with the tie holding the catheter bag to the end of the bed and started to yank the IV out when I stopped her.
“Don’t,” my voice sounded stronger as I held her wrist away from the IV.
“Don’t free myself from the IV that will be infected if left in another few hours? Hate to break it to you but this sucker hasn’t been changed in three days, and they blew it. Unless you want your only chance at Midas dying of sepsis?” her eyebrow quirked.
“I–uh” I stammered, dropping her arm, and she returned her attention to the IV.
Mia tugged the IV out of her arm. There was a trickle of blood as she stood searching the cabinets for gauze. Her ass hung outof the gown, and I groaned as she reached towards a top shelf, having located the gauze. I leaned over her to grab them for her, and she glared annoyingly back.
“Thanks,” she muttered, turning back around, and I caught sight of the scars poking out the tops of the gowns. Gauze in hand, she padded the wound where the IV had been and held pressure. I burned with curiosity and rage about the scars across her back. It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen them before because I saw the word carved into her flesh the night I arrested her, but I had somehow packed that away until now. My face paled as the image of that night came into view,WHOREcarved into her backside from her shoulder to her waist, each letter jagged and misshapen accompanied by the jagged circle, two horizontal lines split the upper half of the circle, a vertical line further sectioning it. Obsidian’s mark but the ‘s’ in the corner was out of place. I didn’t like it. As if she did notice the heated stare on her back, Mia faced me once again. “I don’t want your pity, so you might as well fuck off.”
A confused expression wove across my face, and rage simmered beneath the surface.Who did that to her?She plopped back on the bed and flicked through the TV channels on the remote, oblivious to my mental crisis or without care, I wasn’t sure which, but the scars would not leave my mind’s eye. Why did I care who did it to her? She’s not mine; she’s a fucking criminal. A murderer and she has lied every step of the way. This train of thought increased my need to throw her in a cell and call it a day, but nagged by my own conscience, that would never be the case. She would go free, because someone so captivating and daring didn’t belong in a cage.
“If you are going to think that hard, do it somewhere else. You look constipated and it ruins the sexy cop vibes,” Mia deadpanned. Pointedly fixing the expression on my face, I saw her shoulders shake with a silent snicker.
“You know I can’t let you go anywhere without a psych exam right?” I came around to stand in front of the TV, looking down at her.
“Yes, let’s set the date, how’s Friday? I would prefer to be either committed or released on a weekend anyways,” She glanced down at her hands, counting the days on her fingers.
“That easy huh? Not at all concerned?” Bewildered by her calm manner, I looked at her sideways.
“Yep, although I am sure Scott would appreciate a heads up, he’ll want to be a witness in case of any mistreatment or malpractice. Yes I am consenting just give me the paperwork or whatever else is needed and I will sign it. Oh and I wouldn’t mention the IV to anyone else, it would not look good on your lady doctor’s rap sheet,” she smiled sweetly, and I just stared. “Well chop, chop mister, we are wasting daylight, and I want to watch,” she shooed me towards the door, done with the conversation. I pulled open the door, and her voice called out once more in a manufactured cheery tone, “Oh just a heads up, Midas will be released on bail, I expect as early as Wednesday.”
I stopped turning back towards her. “why tell me that?”
“Because someone should at least know before it’s too late,” her eyes were glossy like she didn’t quite understand what she was saying, and when I tried to reply, she had already immersed herself in the TV once again.
27
IF YOU’RE USELESS YOU’RE DEAD
Seven years ago
Someone pounded on my door. I looked up from my seat in the small dining area towards the clock on the microwave, three o’clock in the morning, and yet I was still sitting there. I had been sitting at that table for hours drinking, my mind rattled from the events of the past few days.
‘I swear to fucking God if you do not tell me where my child is I will never speak to you again,’ it was the last thing Summer said to me. I should have taken her word for it, but I was an idiot. Summer couldn’t keep the kid; we both knew as much, but my mind stumbled back to that dingy clinic room. Midas was outraged, and we both had been avoiding him for too long. I had hidden Summer these past two months, her pregnant belly too big to be concealed anymore. Any longer and Midas would have discovered our secret, so I had to take matters into my own hands. Summer would forgive me eventually. At least, that was my initial thought. I regretted that Summer couldn’t spend longer with our child. My throat felt raw, and my eyes were puffy.
I took a swig from the bottle, letting it burn down my throat. The burn was pale in comparison to the pain I caused myself, the grief I caused my firefly. I was now a villain. I was proudly the villain, and I’d die if it meant Summer’s child, our child, could live free. If she never spoke to me again, it would be worth it. I loved the little thing as much as I loved Summer, probably more, but I would not allow Midas’s touch to corrupt anymore. I was done. I could see the images from the last few days as clear as ever, the liquor did nothing to stop my brain from overthinking, and the incessant banging on the door reminded me that I deserved this. I hurt my firefly beyond repair. There was no going back this time.
I stared across the table as my mind went back to the moment of betrayal.
The C-section was brutal, but a necessity. We couldn’t risk a natural birth. I drove her four states over to Utah. She knew she would have a C-section but didn’t know my plans. I helped her up onto the table. Once on her back, I pulled out the arm boards, securing her arms within them. My heart was beating faster; it was the only thing that moved fast as I deliberately took my time, planting a gentle kiss upon her forehead and murmuring words of encouragement. I kissed her legs, gently stroking them as I strapped her feet to the bottom of the table. Click. God, it was so loud, echoing off the walls, and it took every ounce not to wince and give away what was going on.
I watched as the doctor lifted the dressing gown and prepared her stomach. He looked at me nervously as he continued to double-check the area, a pitiful look towards Summer, who was just trying to breathe through it, and I knew I had to take over. Squeamish doctors were not reassuring, and I knew this one was the wrong choice. The straps were already in place, she knew it would be that way, but she didn’t see the locks on the underside, and what she thought was the securing lever of the arm and foot rests locking into place was the soft click of the padlocks. A must for what proceeded, I told myself.
There were no epidurals to be given, no medicine of any sort; it was risky enough having to do it in the middle of the night and in a clinic that had seen better days. I was disgusted; even my torture rooms back home were more sterile, but I kept my face neutral, gleeful even as I was about to welcome our child into this world. He or she would be delivered by my hands.
The doctor’s scalpel hand shook as he walked closer to her big, beautiful bump. He smiled uneasily at her, and she raised an eyebrow.
“Everything alright doc?” The hesitation in her voice made my heart thunder.
