Page 37 of Dearest Protector

My gut tightened as my gaze stayed locked on her right foot.

Not because it was a horrible sight, but because it brought back way too many memories that I’d tried like hell and failed to scrub from my memory.

It reminded me of how much agony she’d obviously endured for months on end.

Most of the time, she’d gone through all that on her own.

Alonein the hospital with no one who really cared.

“I told you that it was ugly,” she said in a soft, tentative voice that was barely audible.

She obviously did hate anyone seeing her scars, but I wasn’t justanyone.

Maybe she didn’t realize it, but I was the guy who wanted to comfort her more than I wanted to take my next damn breath.

I ran my hand over her injuries, as if I could absorb all the pain they had caused her.

“How painful is it exactly? And don’t bullshit me, Ariel,” I said through my clenched jaw.

“It’s just irritating. It always has been. I think that’s pretty normal, but as time passed, I felt the irritation of the hardware more,” she replied in a matter-of-fact voice that I hadn’t heard from her before.

She was trying to blow off the discomfort she’d probably experienced for months now, but that bullshit wasn’t going to fly with me anymore.

And I wasn’t going to pretend like it had never happened.

“Why haven’t you seen a doctor before now? You can’t tell me that your specialist in New York didn’t suggest that you find a specialist here to keep an eye on this while it was healing,” I questioned, trying to hold back my frustration.

Ineededher to talk to me.

She sighed. “After I was injured, I lost my medical insurance. I had to officially quit the ballet after I finished my physical therapy and got my final prognosis. Maybe I should have followed up once I got to Florida, but I couldn’t. Leland didn’t offer me insurance. I was barely surviving, Ben. It wasn’t a priority.”

Rationally, I understood that.

But I was far from levelheaded at the moment.

“As of right now,thisbecomes priority number one,” I said in a low growl.

She tried to tug her foot away. “I’ll let you know what the doctor says.”

I shook my head and refused to let her pull her feet out of my lap. “You won’t have to. I’m going with you. How involved is the removal surgery?”

“Ben, my appointment is at four. You’ll be working, and—”

“I’ll be there with you,” I interrupted. “The surgery?”

Fuck!I was going to lose it if I didn’t get some answers.

“I don’t know if they’ll even do it right now,” she said, her voice more relaxed. “If they do, I’m going to need a little time off work. I’m sorry.”

If she apologized one more time, I was absolutely going to lose my shit. I’d show her exactly what I wanted from her, and how little I cared about what her scarred footlookedlike.

“You’ll get all the time off you need,” I said tightly. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“No,” she answered, her tone remorseful. “My foot has always been the biggest problem. Everything else healed months ago.”

I finally turned my eyes away from her foot to meet her gaze, and it floored me when I saw that there were tears swimming in her beautiful blue eyes.

Thatcompletely gutted me.

---