9. Max
Chapter nine
M y brows furrow, like my brain can’t comprehend what she just said.
“Did you say you’ve been kept in the basement?” She looks at me and nods. “As in… you’ve been locked down there?” I ask in clarification and she nods again.
“Fuck,” Atlas growls as he starts pacing the room, he pulls out his pocketknife and starts spinning it in palm, trying to calm his frustration and probably stop himself from punching a hole in the wall or throwing something.
“That bucket, did you have to…” Jasper asks before trailing off, making my horrified eyes move to hers.
She swallows heavily and nods, looking worried about our response.
“She made you pee in a bucket?” I ask in horror. My worry is confirmed when she nods again.
We all saw that basement we found her in. It was dirty and cold and not a place someone should be living. She didn’t even have a real bed, just a broken, flimsy excuse for a mattress on the floor. I look at Jasper and we exchange determined gazes. We already made her new room comfortable for her, but now I know she hasn’t had one since she was six years old, I’m more determined than ever to make it extra special for her somehow .
“Don’t worry, Sugar, you’ll never have to stay in a place like that ever again,” Tucker tells her softly as he continues to run his fingers across the back of her hand and up her arm in a soothing motion. She tries to readjust herself in Dom’s lap and ends up grimacing.
“What is it? What hurts?” Tucker asks worriedly. She motions to her left shoulder before pointing to everywhere else, then shrugging with a quirk of her lip. “It just pulled on the wound a bit, but it’s better now?” Tucker asks to confirm and she nods.
The door opens and her doctor steps in. He sees Mina is awake and offers a friendly smile. “Ah, so it’s true! Sleeping beauty is awake!” He moves to her left side as Tucker slips out of the way. He gives Dom a funny smile, but doesn’t ask him to move from where he’s still seated behind her.
“My name is Dr. Whitmere. I’ve been in charge of your case since you arrived about two weeks ago. I need to ask you a couple questions, Mina, is that alright?”
She nods, and he smiles warmly at her. He is a bit of a stickler for the rules, but this sixty-year-old man seems to be a decent doctor. He reaches out to pick up her left hand and slowly starts removing the bandage.
“Do you remember what happened to cause all these injuries?” She nods. “Are you feeling confused or light-headed at all?”
She glances at Ben and he holds his phone out for her again, and she begins to type.
“My head hurts a bit, but I’m not dizzy or confused.” The phone tells us out loud.
“Do you know all the other men in this room right now?” Her eyes dart to each of us as she nods her head .
“And which one is your boyfriend?” Her eyes dart to mine and a huge grin splits my face. I wasn’t sure if she had heard me claiming myself as her boyfriend yesterday, but I’m definitely pleased she did. I wonder if she thinks I was joking. I wasn’t.
Her face turns red and her jaw drops open as she looks at the doctor in shock.
He chuckles at her reaction. “Ah, I see, I see, just as I suspected,” he says right before he finishes taking the bandage off and all of our attention is now solely on her left hand, or more specifically, her ring finger.
“It’s healing very well. I’m going to need your help to see how bad the damage is. Are you ready? It might hurt.” She nods and Dom holds her a bit tighter as she grips Ben with her right hand.
“Alright, I want you to gently try wiggling all your fingers.” I narrow my focus on her fingers, not daring to blink and miss it. But nothing happens and she frowns. “That’s okay, it could take some time. The fact that none of your fingers are moving is a good thing. If the rest of your fingers moved, and not that one, it could mean it was badly damaged. Take your time and keep trying, alright?” He stays there patiently waiting. Two of her fingers twitch, but nothing else. She looks frustrated and sad, and I can’t stand to see her upset, so I move around to stand beside the doctor.
“Hey doc, you mind if I try something?” I ask him, motioning for her hand.
“As long as you’re gentle, by all means.” He gives me her hand and steps back. I sit on the side of her bed and bring her hand up to my cheek, placing my own hand over it to hold it in place.
“You know, Sweetheart, I think I may have been too patient with you.” She frowns, and I continue. “I had to witness you kiss my own brother while I waited patiently for my turn with you. Then you go and get hurt before I get a chance. But now I’m your boyfriend, I think it’s my right to get your first kiss as a free woman. Wouldn’t you agree?” I ask her with a raised eyebrow.
“Y-you want me to be your g-girlfriend?” she stutters out in her raspy voice.
I drop the act and lean a bit towards her, cupping her face with my free hand.
“Oh, Sweetheart, nothing would make me happier in this world. You are so sweet and kind and… and I want to kiss you so bad right now. Say I can, say yes.”
My lips are almost against hers when she whispers, “yes.” I close the last inch between us, pressing my lips to hers. I try to be gentle with her but finally getting to kiss her has sparks of pleasure shooting down my spine.
Now I know her real age, and she’s out of that hellhole of a house, nothing can hold me back from her. Not wanting to waste any more time, I lick her lips and she opens for me. I slide my tongue in and groan at her taste. She tastes minty and so compliant against me that it instantly makes me hard.
You might think it’s weird making out with a girl while she sits in your brother’s lap, but it’s not, it’s the opposite. She groans and I open my eyes to see Dom kissing and nibbling her neck. Fuck, that’s hot.
“Well, that’s promising,” Dr. Whitmere says, and I slowly pull back, remembering not only do we have an audience, but I had a reason for that kiss, besides the obvious.
Mina’s hand is now tangled in the hair at the side of my head. She pulls her hand down between us and stares at it with wide eyes. She manages to wiggle all of her fingers, including her ring finger, then turns to me with a huge smile and laughs. I think that’s the best sound in the entire world, and it brings a huge smile to my face. It’s my mission in life to hear that laugh every day.
“I’d say that was a successful test, hmm?” Dr. Whitmere asks us with a smirk.
I laugh. “I’d say so. I’ll sacrifice myself for the greater good any day!” He laughs and Jasper shakes his head, smiling.
“Now, I’m more interested in the fact that you spoke. I was under the impression that you were mute,” he asks her, before reclaiming his seat at her side.
“She hasn’t spoken in eleven years,” Gideon informs him. “She—” He cuts himself off, looking to Mina for permission to tell the doc what happened. I’m relieved when she nods and Gideon can continue. “Her mother poured bleach down her throat when she was ten and she hasn’t spoken since. She’s managed a few strained words since she woke up.”
“Hmm. May I?” he asks, pulling out a flashlight and motioning to her mouth. She nods. “Open up, I’m just going to take a peek.” She does as he asks and he shines the light in her mouth.
We all wait eagerly, wanting to know the prognosis. When he switches the light off and releases her jaw, he gives her a smile. “There is some scarring in there, but nothing that should stop you from talking. Does it hurt to talk?” She nods.
“It’s probably from disuse. Keep trying to talk, just a word or two at a time, and you should notice an increase in how much you can say pretty quickly. Make sure to stay well hydrated, water will help soothe your throat.”
“Thank you,” she says softly, making him smile .
“You’re very welcome, my dear.”
“Hey doc, what about her other injuries? When can she go home?” Gideon asks.
“Ah, yes, well, Mina, would you like the boys to leave the room so I can tell you in private? Some of it might be a bit sensitive.”
“Stay,” she whispers, making me smile as I move beside the doc and take her hand between mine.
“Okay. When we assessed your abdominal laceration, we found your uterus was nicked by the knife. We fixed the cut, but we won’t know if there are any repercussions until you try to have children. It’s hard to say now whether you will be able to or not.”
She nods, not showing any sign of being upset by that news, and asks, “what else?” Ben holds the straw up for her drink as the doc speaks.
“You suffered stab wounds in both shoulders. We’ve repaired the damage and they need time to heal. You might find your arms are quite weak now, which is to be expected. In a few weeks, we can determine if you need physical therapy.
“Your legs were covered in cuts, a few needed stitches, but they have all healed nicely now and eventually you shouldn’t have too much scarring. You had a nasty injury on your right arm that we’ve cleaned and removed the infection from. It’s finally healing now. You might have a small scar, just make sure to keep it clean until it completely heals over.
“As for the marks on your back, they are mostly healed now. They aren’t bothering you, are they?” I frown, not remembering anything mentioned before about marks on her back.
“No,” she whispers, shaking her head.
“Can I ask, who did those to you? They weren’t done at the same time as the other injuries. It wasn’t any of these boys, was it? ”
Dom’s arms tighten around her, but she quickly shakes her head. “No… My mom,” she rasps out.
“I’m assuming you boys will make sure a police report is filled out for that, too?”
“What are you talking about? What marks on her back?” Dom asks through clenched teeth, sounding like he’s barely able to keep it together.
“Oh, I… You didn’t know?” he asks before looking at Mina. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to tell them something you didn’t want them to know.”
She uses the phone to answer him this time. “It’s fine. I would have told them, anyway.”
“Told us what?” Tucker asks.
She looks at the doc and nods. He sighs before speaking. “She has several marks across her back, possibly from a belt. There were a few that looked maybe a week or two old when she came in. But I saw scarring of healing ones that were probably from months before, and some even longer.”
“Your mother whipped you with a belt?” Jasper asks her sadly. She nods. “Recently?” She nods again.
“When?” I ask, needing to know. Praying it wasn’t after we met her.
She types her response. “I think it was the end of my second week at school.”
“Fuck, Sweetheart.” The thought of her being hurt like that, practically under our noses is like a punch to the gut. Not only did we not help prevent it, but we didn’t even know about it. How many times had I hugged her and caused her pain?
“You should have told us, we could have helped,” Jasper says softly. I can see him trying not to look disappointed, but if she had told us, what was going on, how bad it really was, we could have gotten her out of there before it got to this point.
“I’m s-sorry,” she whispers, using her shoulder to wipe away a tear.
She turns to the doctor as she rasps out, “when can I go home?”
“Do you have somewhere to go where you can recover?”
“Yes, she’ll be living with us,” Dom tells him firmly.
“Well then, I see no reason to keep you any longer. You are healing nicely and it’s clear you will be well taken care of at home. And I think having seven fewer bodies in this hall would be a good thing for the staff. It’s starting to get a little crowded.”
We all smile and thank the doctor and watch him leave, then I turn to Mina as I ask, “well, Sweetheart, you ready to go to your new home?”