“Her thighs.” Fuck. I can’t look at any of her brothers when I’m talking about her thighs. “There’s bruising.” I wave my free hand. “She has a bruised kidney, a minor liver bleed that shouldheal itself, and she’s covered.” Another swallow as my hand shakes inside Artemis’s. “She’s got so many bruises.”
I sniff, wiping at my cheeks with the heel of my hand. “They beat her when she fought.” I retell her story to them the way she told it to the nurses. “It hurts to talk; she doesn’t have much mobility in her face because of the swelling. She bit one of them.”
Please don’t make me say it. Please don’t make me say it.
My shoulders shake.
“He had his… His…”
Apollo cusses.
“She bit his cock?” Ares doesn’t mince his words, absolving me of having to say it out loud.
I nod.
Ares hangs his head in his hands, like he’s regretting having asked me the question.
“She scratched the other guy, too. Clawed at him to get his DNA under her nails. But she’s in b-b-bad shape guys.” I beseech each of them with my eyes. “At the hospital, we did a rape kit. They took everything as evidence, all our clothes, the phone we found a few feet from where she, I, where they, where she was attacked. They took my fingerprints, DNA, statements from both of us.”
I’m still crying as the words come faster and faster from me in a bid to get through the story. “We’ve been there all night. They combed through her hair, did an internal examination. They didn’t see anything out of the ordinary there, but they’ve given her a preventative course of antibiotics, just in case.”
My shoulders sag. “I took her back here and gave her a bath. She hasn’t said much, partly because she can’t, but she’s got this look.” I shake my head like it might clear the look from my brain. “This look like she’s haunted.” Another wave of emotion spills from my eyes in front of her brothers.
I need to be strong for her, but I don’t give a shit if they see me break down.
“She needed you to know. She wanted me to tell you all of the details. If you have questions, I’ll answer them if I can, but it’s been a long night, we haven’t slept, and while I’ve told you what to expect going through that door and into her bedroom, I can tell you you’re not ready to see what’s waiting for you.”
I press at the knot in my chest. “But she needs us all to be strong.” I straighten my spine. “And I love all of you, you all know that. But no one’s going into that room until you are ready to be what she needs. If you need to go take a walk, do it. If you need to punch something, go do it. But once you go into that room you’re here for Athena and Athena alone, nothing else matters.”
By the time I finish, I’m even more exhausted than I already was. I’m still shaking. But if any of these guys can’t give Athena what she needs, I’ll find the strength somehow to stop them.
“I have a question.” Ares’s voice is muffled by his hands. When he lifts his head up, his face is tear streaked. “Who the fuck did this?”
CHAPTER 37
Scott
Imove to stand up, to take them into the bedroom to see my girl but Artemis presses on my thigh. “Not yet.” He searches my face, but I’m not sure what he’s looking for, or what he sees. “Other than Ares’s question about who did it, we also need to know that you’re okay.”
“They were gone when I got there.”
Apollo shakes his head. “That’s not what he means, hermano.” He grips my shoulder. “We know you’d have killed them both and left their bodies for the wildlife. He means, are you okay?”
“Thank you for helping her.” Ares is clearly shaken. His face is pale, his hands are shaking, and he looks like he’s about to cry at any given moment.
I know how he feels.
“I’ll always help her.” The words come out shaky.
Apollo nods. “We know. But what you saw, what you went through with her at the hospital.” He flexes his fists at his sides. “I’m not sure I could have kept my shit together enough not to break down.”
“It was what she needed. I didn’t have time for a meltdown when she needed me to be strong for her.”
They all nod in their agreement.
“She’s so strong.” My jaw trembles as words I’m afraid to hear out loud pass through my lips. “But I’m not sure she’s strong enough to survive this.” I’m whispering, because she can’t hear what I’m saying. “I couldn’t. If that was me.”
I pull my borrowed shirt from my throat. “I th-thought she might be dead when I first saw her foot.”