Page 1 of Dr. Damaged Protector

Chapter one

Family and the Girl from Chicago

Lucas

Her bewildered look switched to a satisfied one.

"You know, that was enough to make my heart skip a beat," she said with a mischievous smirk.

"I'm glad it worked," I sighed.

She moved her thighs, and it caught my attention. Those succulent laps, crossing each other, appealed to me, even as her skirt seemed to move a little higher. I wanted to touch them, to know how they felt and how she would react.

****

Lucas Hills. Thirty-six years old. As a child, I would stare at other children at school events with their parents in attendance. I would watch the fathers praise their sons in sports. I would watch mothers boast about the achievements of their daughters. Meanwhile families with brothers and sisters were protecting each other.

Even on TV, it was the same: a standard family living together in bliss, love, and harmony like everything was perfect. Despite the trials and tribulations, the family always looked out for each other.

It all seemed foreign to me and my siblings. The parents who praised their children would look at us with disdain while trying to encourage the children who had lost to us. It wasn't our fault. Four or five of us were kept from losing or failing; we had our parents to thank for it.

You see, our parents ensured that we always remained ahead of our peers. Sounds like a good thing, right? Yes, it definitely sounds like a good thing. Only problem? How my parents did it.

It was a strange family. It felt like we didn't have parents, as they usually left us to our own devices. Then, when it was punishment time or Dad got drunk, we would suddenly have a father. Or when we failed, we would have a mother.

You name it:

Slaps.

Beatings by hand.

Kicking.

Belts.

Tabitha, the oldest girl, had it rough with Dad after Mom left because she looked a lot like Mom, and she wasn't the best woman for Dad with her hunger for power.

Gregory was passive and tried to get us to act like a family for a while, but he got used to his body being used as an ashtray and blamed himself for Mom leaving as he was the last to be born.

Helena: to be honest, I have no idea what was wrong with that girl. Then there was Isaac, born roughly the same time as Gregory. He was playful, but his new scars told us that his mother wasn't excellent, either.

I grew up watching the outside world respect my father because he was an angel and a philanthropist. But he was a degenerate and a monster behind closed doors. He was a bit partial to me because I looked like him. I promised myself that I wouldn't end up like him, nor would I have a similar taste in women…but I couldn't be any more wrong.

****

I left Richmond temporarily. I spent most of my time traveling around the world to become a better person and escape the overwhelming nature of my parents' shadow. It was the only way.

I didn't fear them once I had turned sixteen, but in some ways, I worried about their ability to get their hands on things they wanted…even if it meant sacrificing one of their kids. I wouldn't sit around and become a scapegoat for either of them. The least I could do was rise to power in one way or another.

I found a way through medicine. Medicine was, more or less, a remedy (no pun intended). Maybe for a child who suffered physical abuse and had to learn how to perform first aid on himself. So, I converted that talent into something that could help others going through a similar or a worse version of what I had.

At thirty-four, I became a successful medical doctor with my own hospital. With the time a doctor dedicated to medicine, getting involved with romance took a lot of work.

"It's alright, I have time." These were the words I repeated to myself; and with time, I had no idea who I was trying to convince.

A night in Chicano changed everything.

****

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