13. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Jaylen
S he's blushing.
I can't even speak, and I can hardly move, yet I've somehow made this beautiful woman blush.
Damn, I might as well be magic.
My eyes stay locked on her face as she gently unwraps the bandages from around my body.
I take note of the way her brows furrow whilst she's concentrating on being careful, and the way she cringes slightly when she sees the stitches across my body before pulling her lip into her mouth to mask her small reaction.
My eyes flit across her face, tracing every inch of her and burning her image into my mind.
Everything about her is mesmerising.
She turns to the side to grab something and when the bright hospital lights beam against her face, my eyes narrow at what I'm pretty sure is a bruise on her cheek.
Ignoring the pain shooting through my body as she begins to clean my stitches, I stare intently at her left cheek, hoping that my burning gaze can melt the make-up she's applied to her skin so that I can be sure of what I saw .
A beeping sound grows louder in the room and both Sophia and Rory turn to stare at me with worry evident in their eyes.
That's when I realise that the machine monitoring my heartrate is the cause of the beeping.
"Are you okay?" Rory asks, slipping her hand into mine as she peers over at me.
When I don't respond, she straightens up, standing at her full height.
I think she's planning to move away, so I put all of my focus and energy into wrapping my fingers around hers, gripping onto her hand again.
Her eyes flit down to our connected hands, then back to mine.
"Jay, what's wrong?" Sophia asks from beside me.
The beeping slows to a quiet steady rhythm again, but my eyes never stray from Rory's cheek.
I'm certain of what I saw.
She may have covered her face with some make-up and made it harder for people to see, but I'm sure that she has a bruise on her face that she's trying to cover up.
Rory steps closer to me and my eyes drop to her neck, seeing that her make-up is also spread across the delicate skin there as well.
A grumble sounds through my chest and the heart monitor picks up again as fury seeps into my bones at the realisation that someone has put their hands on her.
Someone has willingly hurt her, so severely that she's bruised, and if I had to guess, it wasn't an accident, otherwise she wouldn't feel the need to cover them up .
The beeping continues, growing louder as my anger grows stronger.
My lips part and I try to focus on the words I want to say, hoping and praying that the words will finally come out because I need to know what happened to her.
I have to find out who hurt her.
All that escapes me is a strangled noise, and the scratchiness of my throat sends me into a coughing fit.
Sophia jumps up from beside me, rushing to grab a cup from the table across the room and fills it with water before hurrying over to me and lifting the cup to my lips.
I swallow some of the water down, slightly soothing the soreness in my throat and once she pulls the water away from me, I try again.
"Who—" I cough again, struggling to get my words out.
My eyes stay glued to Rory's neck and my hand tightens around hers.
"W-who. Did. That," I bite out, my voice rough and croaky.
Her hand starts to tremble beneath mine and I tear my gaze away from her neck and up to her eyes.
She nervously glances between me and Sophia, and she rolls her lips inward as she tries to pull her shaking hand away from mine.
"Rory," I breathe, exhausted from exerting myself and pushing myself to speak and move when I'm unsure my body is ready for so much all at once. "Who?"
My eyes drop back to her neck, silently communicating with her that I can see the bruises and that's what I'm asking about.
Her lips part, and her bottom one starts to wobble as her glassy eyes dart across my face .
Sophia gently places her hand on my arm, giving it a small squeeze before she slowly stands from her chair.
"Rory, are you okay?" she asks, watching the nurse beside me with a concerned and cautious look in her eyes.
Rory stares at me like a deer in headlights as she takes a shaky deep breath.
"I, uh, I'll be right back," she mutters before yanking her hand away from mine and practically running out of the room.
I stare at the door as it closes behind her, shocked by what's just happened.
Shit. What if I've scared her off?
My eyes dart over to Sophia who's also staring at the door, her brows drawn low.
"S-soph," I croak out.
Her head whips around and her eyes shimmer with ushed tears.
She reads my unsaid words immediately and nods her head before giving my arm another squeeze.
"I'll go find her," she says, walking towards the door.
As she grabs the handle, she turns to look at me over her shoulder.
"Are you going to be okay?"
I jerkily nod at her in response, knowing why she's asking me that question, but I can't worry about myself at the moment and I certainly don't want to spiral into the dark depths of my mind and think about my childhood and everything my mother endured in life.
All I can focus on right now is if Rory is okay.