Bloody smart arse.
“Did you do this to yourself?”
Kaden’s breath hitched.Two fucking fingers!Except…had he? No, why would he? He grew increasingly agitated.
“Calm down.”
He wasn’t sure he wanted to. Panicking seemed perfectly acceptable in the circumstances.
“Did someone hurt you?”
Kaden shrugged.
“You don’t know?”
He shook his head. But if he hadn’t done it to himself, then someone must have.Harris?But why make that suggestion about a monster cock? Unless he was being…cocky. But wouldn’t he have whispered to Kaden to keep quiet about what had happened?
“Did it happen in the hospital?”
Kaden shrugged again. He wanted to know as much as his dad did.
“Does this have anything to do with Jalis?”
Jalis?Who the hell was that? Had his dad meant to say Harris? Kaden picked up the pad again and wrote in shaky letters—it was genuinely tricky—Can’t remember.Take me home.
“If I can, but I’m not sure you’re ready to be let out.”
“Mr Bauer?”
A doctor approached and shook his dad’s hand.
“What’s happened to my son? You do know Kaden has a pacemaker.”
“Yes, we’re aware. We saw the card in his wallet. As for what’s happened, we’re not sure. Kaden’s suffered blunt-force trauma to his throat and oesophagus. There’s significant internal bruising extending down to his stomach.”
“Something was forced down his throat?” His dad sounded horrified. Not as horrified as Kaden felt.
“There’s nothing in his stomach so… We took x-rays. No foreign objects were found inside you, Kaden. Apart from the pacemaker. Your teeth weren’t damaged so whatever it was that was forced into your mouth, it wasn’t something rigid. Nor was it corrosive. But it was large.”
Kaden swallowed hard, then regretted it when it hurt.
“Could I have a private word with your son?” the doctor asked.
His dad hesitated, then stepped away. The doctor drew the curtains around the bed.
“Did someone sexually assault you?”
Kaden shook his head, then hesitated and lifted his shoulders in a hopeless shrug.
“You don’t know?”
He shook his head again.
“Because the injury pattern suggests that something large was forced into your mouth and down your throat. Unlikely tobe a penis but…possibly an oversized sex toy? Ridged silicon of some sort? Not the soft toy we found in your bag.”
Kaden lifted his shoulders again.Oh God.He hoped he looked as appalled as he felt. But that explained the penguin that sat on the bedside cabinet.
“Have you taken any drugs? Could drugs have been slipped into your food or drink without you knowing?”
