Page 24 of In You
The tips of my ears get hot, and my entire body flushes warm as a tear moves down my cheek, shocking me.
I don't mean to sound like this but, I couldn't tell you when's the last time I cried. I think when Frank gave me the verbal lashing of a lifetime when I was eighteen, but that's it. I didn't even cry at my sister's funeral, because in my head, Flora's not gone. But this? What this man did to Tamryn was fucked up. I've never seen a woman cry like this.
And what's worse, I'm about certain now that her brain has split to protect itself.
The woman who's crying right now isn't Tamryn, it'sCamilla,and Camilla was hurt beyond belief.
Something else I can't ever remember feeling regret about is a kill. But right now, I know for a fucking certain I killed that man way too mercifully than what he needed. He deserved to suffer for what he did to this woman. A single bullet between the eyes was maybe a tenth of what he should have had happen to him.
God fucking damn it.
When she gets the cast off, my fists clench even harder and my chest tightens at the sight. Bile floods my mouth forcing me to swallow hard. The fingers are crooked, and there's huge, blooming black bruises going up the third and ring fingers of her right hand, trailing up her wrist and halfway up her forearm. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened.
Leaning forward in my seat I rub my hand down my face and exhale a quiet breath. He was making her live with a broken hand under the guise of it healing to the outside world.
Dr. Riviera doesn't say a word, just sits back on her heels for a moment as Tamryn's crying disturbs the otherwise eerie silence. "It's not set right," she finally says.
My eyes narrow, because it very obviously wasn't set at all. But I suppose the doctor knows that, she's just trying to spare Tamryn any more trauma than necessary. Seeing the doctor be so obviously tender and kind to Tamryn has me wondering that just maybe there's a woman out there who might get me to open up. My eyes slide to Tamryn, whose tear-streaked face ignites and soothes something deep inside me.
Is it possible that it could be her?
"This is why you feel like this. May I put my hand on your arm? I'm going to press into your joints just a little and see what we're working with. And then," Dr. Riviera looks up at Tamryn, "I'm going to have to set this the right way. I'll need to use an x-ray machine just to make sure that I don't miss anything, but we can't leave your hand like this."
Tamryn's breathing hard as she stares back at her, but then her eyes slide to mine just for a moment. When our gazes clash, I nod.
She takes about three deep breaths and then nods at Dr. Riviera. But none of us are prepared when the doctor ever so slowly puts her hand to Tamryn's bare arm, and the scream that comes from her is jarring. She jerks her face to the side, squeezes her eyes shut, and her face flushes red at the first contact, and just wails her heart out so loud it echoes through the home.
Ringo puts his ears back and growls.
Worried, I lean forward to lay a hand on his head. "Shhh. Calm down Ringo, it's okay," I murmur.
Dr. Riviera snatches her hand back and then goes a step further and shuffles back a foot. Tamryn runs out of breath because her scream stops, and then she shivers in the seat, weakly pulling the blanket more over her. Her body's broken out into a sweat. And the poor thing is shaking so hard it's a wonder she's staying in her seat.
I grit my teeth so hard I'm surprised I don't crack a fucking tooth straight in half. Couldn't tell my brain I didn't though; pain explodes through my head, and I clench my fist on my thigh, forcing myself to be silent, because this isn't about me and I don't want anyone thinking it is. Through some very clever convincing, Tamryn allows Dr. Riviera to give her a local anesthetic to get her through the x-rays.
But she's still fearful of being touched.
It takes almost an hour, and a lot of apologies on Dr. Riviera's behalf, and it has to be done through Tamryn's screaming to the point she almost passes out; she's so exhausted, but we get the x-ray pictures. Pity rises in me; there's a knuckle out of joint, and the ring finger needs to be adjusted, and a phalange from her knuckle to her wrist needs to be pushed back into place.
She relents to being put under anesthesia, and while she's out cold and the doctor is working on her, I step into the next room, put my head in my hands and cry silently, my past being dredged up in response to her pain. Because I get it.
I get what it's like for someone to touch you when you don't want them to.
9
DID you?
Tamryn
Myeyesflutteropenas I wake up and I turn my head to the side, seeing I'm in a bedroom. The hunter green drapes are closed against the window, and though it's dim, I can tell there's a bit of sunlight shining through the edges.
Looking around, I don't see my familiar bedroom.
It doesn't smell like Calvin’s home either. It smells bright here, pure. Like wood and the faint smell of paint, and dog. Though it's not overpowering, I can tell pets live here. And though I didn't grow up with any, I find it's a welcoming smell.
My heart begins to beat wildly as I blink, making the blurred room come back into focus. I roll my head on the softest pillow, realizing that I'm not in my squeaky old bed, either. This mattress is gloriously soft, the sheets lush, however it highlights the soreness throbbing through my entire right arm. I whimper, looking down my body to see I'm in a white tank top that's about five sizes too big for me.
And instead of a white cast, a blue cast has taken its place, and another, sturdier sling cradles my arm close to my body.
