Page 15 of Edge of Desperation

I don’t answer because if I open my mouth, I will start screaming, and I won’t be able to stop. Dr. Sheppard gets to work. The pinpricks of needles stab me in the most intimate places, and it takes everything I have not to kick the good ol’ doctor in the head.

After I’m good and numb, Dr. Sheppard gets to work stitching me back together. Through all of it, Willow never let go of my hand.

“All done,” Dr. Sheppard announces. “You can sit back now. Be careful.”

“Here.” Carol sets down her camera and steps up beside me, taking my other hand. “Let me help you.”

Both she and Willow navigate me back to the head of the bed. I lean against it with a sigh of relief.

“I’m going to have April come back in and clean out those wounds on your ankles and wrists.” Dr. Sheppard removes her gloves with a snap. “I’ll be back when she’s finished to check and see what else needs to be done. Carol will take some more pictures.”

“When can I take a shower?” I shiver.

After being poked and prodded, all I want to do is wash the filth off of me, scrub my skin raw and forget this ever happened.

Dr. Sheppard smiles sympathetically. “Once April cleans your wounds, she can help you with a shower.”

“No,” I state firmly. “Willow will help me.”

“It’s hospital pol?—”

Willow places her hands on her hips. “I’llhelpher.IfI need assistance, I will pull the cord in the bathroom or yell for muscles outside the door to grab the nurse.”

I giggle for the first time in days. Willow is that friend who will always have my back. She’s up for anything and everything and will do what I need her to do and ask questions later. She’s exactly who I need in my corner right now.

Dr. Sheppard narrows her eyes. “Fine, I’ll be back to check on you soon.”

After she leaves, Jaxson pops his head in. “How ya holding up?”

“She’s doing great,” Willow answers for me. “The other nurse should be back soon to clean up her wrists and ankles.”

Jaxson scowls. “They haven’t cleaned those wounds yet?”

“We had more important areas to tend to,” Carol snaps.

“I understand that.” He aggressively runs his hands through his hair. “Fuck, I should’ve insisted Hudson do that on the plane.”

“Jaxson.” His eyes snap to mine. “Hudson asked me. I didn’t want him to touch me any more than he had to.”

A soft knock at the door interrupts what he’s about to say, and April pokes her head into the room. “Are you ready for me?”

“Yes,” I answer.

Jaxson heads for the hallway. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

“Jaxson, huh?” Willow bumps my shoulder. “I like him.”

If you had asked me a few months ago, I probably would have said I like him too. But now? No one is ever going to look at me and want this broken, used body ever again.

April lifts my ankles first and places a pile of towels under them, followed by a basin full of water. She picks up a scrub brush and gives me a sympathetic smile. “This might sting a bit.”

At first, the pressure is steady and bearable, but the more she digs into the wound, the more uncomfortable I get. My foot jerks uncontrollably when she hits a spot by my tendon.

“Shit!” I hiss.

“I’m sorry.” April drops the brush into the bucket. “I need to change out the water real quick, and we’ll get the other ankle.”

Forty-five minutes later and with a few death threats from Willow, April is finally done. Dr. Sheppard returns and surveys the damage.

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