Page 28 of In My Blood
“Jesus Christ,” Rafe gasped. “Get a doctor here Dario, right away. We need to know what the hell just happened.”
“No,” Cara sputtered. “No doctor. I…I’m okay.”
“Do you know what happened, Carr? Was your head hurting?” I asked her. I already had my cell in my hand, searching for the number of Xander King – the doctor who had been out to help Cara before.
Instead of answering me, she looked up and her wide, panicked eyes met mine, glassy with tears. She was trembling violently and her pallid colouring was concerning. None of that was what hit me most though. It was the look on her face, filled with fear and turmoil so palpable I was sure I could feel it come off of her. She looked so lost and broken, then it hit me harder than any physical blow ever could have.
“Cara, did you try to hurt yourself?” I asked gently as I ducked low to meet her gaze.
“What?” Rafe gasped, and I saw him clutch her tighter to him in fear.
“I c-can’t do it…not anymore,” Cara squeaked out. She was crying and still fighting for breath, clutching onto the arm her brother had wrapped around her with everything she had left. “I….I’m so tired.”
I looked up to Rafe and the only thing I saw in his face was what I was feeling too – utter panic. I had no idea what to do to help Cara now, but I knew we had to do something.
“You can’t give up now, not when we’ve only just found each other again. You said you were going to give me a chance,” Rafe said to her, and once again he sounded completely devastated.
“I don’t want to be scared any more, Raffy. I’m s-so sorry,” she whimpered shakily.
“Nor do I want you to be. You’re safe now, sweetheart. If you’ll just stop running away from me, I can protect you the way I always should have.”
Cara just seemed to slump against Rafe completely, as though she didn’t have the strength to keep herself upright. She started to sob and I tried to understand what she was going through. But that was impossible. We had no idea what she had been through since the day Isabella ran with her. We didn’t know what the rest of her childhood had been like, though I had a good idea that it hadn’t been good. Then, just the last few days she had possibly been raped before or after witnessing the murder and dismemberment of her mother, then seen her brother, who she feared terribly, for the first time in years. She’d run, we’d terrified her again by trying to stop her, then those fucking bastards had cornered her in that car park and raped her again. She hadn’t slept nearly enough, hadn’t eaten, and was most likely dehydrated again too. No wonder she was struggling to think straight.
“Cara. Dr. King left some sleeping pills for you when he was here. I think you should take some and get some rest. You haven’t slept anywhere near enough and you’ve been through so much. You can’t try to make important decisions right now when you’re struggling to think straight, can you?” I suggested, keeping my tone gentle and soothing.
“Dio’s right,Tesorino. When was the last time you ate? I haven’t seen you eat once since I’ve been here, and you’re exhausted and in pain. Let’s just get you comfortable so you can rest, please?”
“I am tired,” she sniffled.
“Of course you are. Let’s get you up. I’ll help you pull some nice warm clothes on and Dio will get some food for you. Once you’ve eaten you can try the sleeping pills and rest for a while. How does that sound?” Rafe coaxed with just a note of his usual command that never got ignored, not even by me.
“I guess,” she shrugged. “For now anyway.”
“Good.” I let out a sigh of relief. Obviously, we needed to talk and take the fact she had literally just ended her life seriously, but it seemed unwise to do that when she was so weak and obviously right on the cusp of a cliff edge. “I’ll run down to the restaurant and get some food. Brax, Don, and Sil are all on watch,” I added the last for Rafe’s benefit, knowing he was worried about who had attacked Cara outside the club she worked in.
Rafe just nodded, then gathered Carr up into his arms. I helped him to straighten the towel that was covering her nakedness, then grabbed his arm as he stood with her.
“Don’t take your eyes off of her,” I uttered close to his ear, so only he would hear me, though Cara looked too out of it to have heard my words anyway.
Rafe nodded then turned to carry Cara to the bed in her room. I watched them go, wishing I could be the one holding her and assuring her that I would keep her safe. Instead I walked right out of the room to do as Rafe had asked me to. Right now we needed her to trust one of us, and it was most likely going to be Rafe, because he was her brother. No matter my growing feelings for Cara, I was going to have to step back a little so she could learn to trust Rafe. All that truly mattered was that she was safe, mostly from herself, more than anyone else.
CHAPTER 9
CARA
“I don’t know, Dario!” The elevated voice instantly brought me back to consciousness, but I remained still, not opening my eyes.
“Steady. We don’t want to wake her,” Dio almost whispered. He was close to me. He and Rafe both were. I could hear them breathing. Other than that there was just silence. I was laid out, but not in a bed. I could feel the edge of what felt like a leather sofa with my left hand. I was covered with a thick fleecy blanket and beneath I had been dressed in clothes that didn’t feel familiar to me.
“I just don’t want her to wake up and be scared of me even more. We should have waited. We should have taken her to the hospital like Xander told us to, let a specialist doctor check her over following the rape, at least,”” Rafe said, and he sounded distraught.
“We couldn’t, Rafe. If we stayed there any longer she was either going to run, or try to hurt herself again. We have to get her back to London. As soon as she sees Gia and my Mum she’ll understand that she’s home – that she does belong there.”
“And what if she doesn’t? What if I take her to our home and she hates it. What if she…she does that again? I should have got herprofessional help, Dar. I should have checked her into a secure unit with doctors and staff who know how to help her. I don’t even know if she’s alright. She was raped, twice! She drowned herself and stopped fucking breathing! Should she even be on a long haul flight right now? What if there’s internal damage? I’m fucking it all up so terribly. All I wanted was to get her back…..for so bloody long I just wished I could hold her and tell her I loved her. I assumed that would fix everything, but how could it? How could I fix anything when I’m the one who abandoned her?!” I had to fight not to let out my own sob at the sound of Rafe’s desperation. He was blaming himself for everything, and I knew that was at least in part down to me. I had blamed him too. I had yelled at him for not coming to get me and breaking his promise. I had been scared of him when in reality he had done nothing to deserve my fear. I had smiled to his face, then tried to off myself the second he left the room. I was tearing him apart, because he loved me, I realised. He was shaken and scared because of all I had put him through. He had wanted me back for so long, he had said, so that meant he had never wanted to hurt me as I had come to believe. He’d just been trying to protect me all along.
“Xander told us her lungs sounded clear, She’s breathing easily, and I’ve been checking her pulse every thirty minutes. It’s a little fast, but it’s steady. We’d know if she was in too much pain, but she’s obviously not, because she’s been sleeping peacefully for hours. I understand why that doctor advised us to get her to the hospital, but I feel like it would have been the end for her if she woke up in that place. She told us no doctors. She’s scared and traumatised. Getting her away from all of that fear was the best decision. She is going to be alright, Rafe. We’re going to keep her close, get her the help she needs, and show her that all we will ever do is take care of her. We’ll get her through this and show her that she can have a better future with us and the family.”
“And what if she still just wants to die? What do we do then?” Rafe uttered, and it sounded like he was fighting tears, his voice breaking on the word ‘die’ like he couldn’t even say it.
