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"You're sure?" Lo asked, making me pace closer to the door to listen.
"Yeah," the other woman's voice said, sounding relieved. "There's no signs of any sexual activity whatsoever recently, let alone rape."
"Thank God for small miracles," Lo said and I felt the words too, exhaling hard.
There was some mumbling for a minute, like they were talking in hushed tones and facing away from me, making it impossible to make the words out.
"Duke," Lo called suddenly, making me start.
"Yeah?" I called, still not stepping out.
"Hate to do this, but we need a hand."
"Happy to help," I said, grabbing the edge of the door and pulling it open.
Penny was on the bed, panties on, but shirt fully off, laying on her stomach so her back was on full display, the giant bloody H staring us all right in the face.
"What do you need?" I asked, forcing my eyes over to Lo.
"They need to stitch her. And they can do a little numbing but there's no way to..."
"You need me to hold her down," I guessed, guts twisting a bit at the idea, but understanding the necessity of it.
"We're not sure if she's unconscious from the beating or if she was drugged," the other woman said, shrugging a little. "If it's the latter, she might just go on sleeping through it. If it's the former, though..." she said, face getting tight.
"Yeah," I said, nodding, knowing there was going to be screaming and writhing and God-knew what else. "How do you want me to do this?"
"We could have you hold down her upper body and Lo do the lower, but..."
"But?" I prompted when she trailed off.
"Honestly," Lo started, "you're a lot stronger. It makes more sense to have you hold her against your chest tightly. It gives them room to do what they have to do and you can sort-of pin her in place."
I took a deep breath, looking over at the bed. "Right."
"If you don't..." Lo started.
"I got it," I said, moving over toward the bed and sitting back against the headboard then reaching down to grab Penny under her armpits and dragging her gently up my body, trying not to jar her too much to hurt her ribs or anywhere else she might have been hurt while simultaneously trying to allow her to keep at least a semblance of modesty by not having her tits all on display. Lo moved in behind me as I put an arm across the top of her shoulders and low on her hips, to push her legs around my back.
"Okay. That should do it," Lo said with a nod. "I am going to go check on Jstorm and Alex and see if they are onto anything. Holler if you need extra help with her legs," she said, moving toward the door, giving me a look in those warm, but guarded brown eyes that I couldn't quite decipher. It was almost a sadness and a resignation mixed with determination. Like maybe she understood what the girl had been through and what it would take to bounce back. Hell, maybe she did. That wasn't my business.
"I know you're trying to be gentle," the woman said as she and the guy moved onto the bed, spreading out a load of supplies on a towel, "but you need to hold her tighter."
I nodded, slowly squeezing her, building the pressure until I was sure there was no chance she could squirm. Her face was tucked into my chest, her blonde hair mostly fallen out of her braid. I released her shoulders for a second to collect it all and swipe it to one side of her head so it wouldn't get in the way, finding almost immediately that it had a strong scent of some honey and vanilla shampoo or something. I wrapped her up again, worrying momentarily that I could snap her little bird bones with the strength in my arms, but knowing that people were capable of a lot of strength when they were in serious pain.
I'd know.
I'd delivered pain like that before.
I squashed those memories before they got a chance to surface, exhaling hard as the guy looked at me. "Ready?" he asked.
"No," I said honestly and he nodded but proceeded to grab the bottle of peroxide and pour it down Penny's back.
Her body jolted against mine as she cried out, but it was a far-off, sleepy sound and I figured without being able to see her face that she was still mostly unconscious. I hoped, but knew better, that she would stay that way through the lion's share of the procedure as I watched the girl stab something into a few spots on her back, likely something to try to numb the area.
I wondered as I watched them silently work, picking up various items, how the fuck Hailstorm got the supplies they had. From what I understood, they had an entire hospital room set up at their compound on the hill and that it was stocked like a real God damn hospital room too, all the same supplies as you could find in any emergency room. Doing the shit they did on the daily, I understood the need for that.
