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My gaze swings to Cade, standing at the foot of the bed with his back against the wall, and I watch as he breaks down. He covers his face and a sound escapes his throat that’s half-tortured, half-relieved. Rae rubs his back as he cries, hiding his face from us. I don’t think I’ve seen Cade cry ever, and it’s weird to see him breaking down to this degree, but we all know he needs it so we say nothing and give him this moment.
I feel Thea’s hand on my stomach and I reach down, placing my hand on hers. She looks at me with sad but hopeful eyes.
“Fuck,” Jace says after a while and once Cade has composed himself. “I never even imagined.” He presses his lips together and then asks the question I think we’ve all been wondering. “Why didn’t you hit him back? At least, once you got older? I mean, you’re a big guy, you could’ve taken him.”
Cade looks to the ceiling and Rae squeezes his hand. He sighs heavily and says, “I’d come to expect it and feel like I deserved it, and then, in recent years, I’ve …” He paused. “Hitting him back felt like stooping to his level and I didn’t want to do that.”
Rae leans her head against his arm and whispers something.
Cade whispers to Thea, “I can’t believe you knew. I thought I was protecting you by not saying anything. I never wanted him to go after you.”
She gives him a sad smile. “He might not have gone after me with fists but he went after me in other ways. I hope Mom will finally leave him,” she whispers the last part. “We’ve all spent too much of our lives being scared of him and he shouldn’t get to rob the rest of our years. I want to wash my hands of him and pretend he doesn’t exist.”
“Me too,” Cade echoes. “I’ll tell Mom if she needs a place to stay she can crash with us. It’s not like this one sleeps in his bed anymore.” He points at me. I laugh and lower my head to Thea’s, hiding my smile behind her hair.
Another knock sounds on the door and it opens, revealing the doctor and a nurse.
“Oh,” the doctor says, reeling back in shock at the amount of people. “Um …”
“We’ll be in the waiting room,” Cade says, leading Rae out.
Jace and Nova follow, both giving Thea reassuring smiles.
Once the door closes behind them, the doctor introduces himself and looks Thea over. Like I thought, her nose isn’t broken, but it’s going to be sore and she’s going to have one wicked bruise on her face.
Before we leave the room, Thea heads down the hall to wash her face and I wait in the room for her.
Today has been insane, which feels like the understatement of the century.
Between the tubing thing, my mom going ape-shit about the marriage, and then this with Thea’s dad, I’m exhausted.
But I know the battle is only beginning.
We’ve opened up a massive black hole where everything’s being sucked inside, and I really fucking hope we’re not next.
I wake up the next morning with Xander’s arms wrapped around me and Prue by my legs. It might be a sweet moment if it weren’t for the throbbing of my face. I feel like shit.
I maneuver my way out of his hold and manage to get by Prue without kicking her.
I stumble into the bathroom, the throbbing in my head making the short walk seem impossible.
I get into the bathroom and grasp the counter, holding myself steady as my head spins. It’s so bad I think I might throw up. I reach for the switch and turn the light on. I slowly lift my head and get a look at my reflection.
I squeak in fright. “Oh, my God what is that?”
Me. It’s me.
My hair is a mess, basically a wild and untamable beast, but my face? It looks I stuck it in a blender and tried to puree it. The skin around my nose and left cheek is a mixture of red, purple, green, and yellow, and if I stare closely enough I can see where it looks like blood vessels have popped. I look like a cartoonish monster from a kid’s book.
I take a deep breath and turn the faucet, running warm water. I splash some on my face, wishing it would wipe away the disgusting swirl of colors there, but unfortunately, they stay.
Ugh.
Shower. A shower is a must if I’m going to at least have my hair under control.
I turn the water on and make sure it’s steaming hot. I plan on staying in there as long as I can.
After my shower, I wrap a towel around my body and blow-dry my hair, then slather the makeup on to hide the hideous bruise. I pad into my room and over to the closet. I grab a pair of black scallop shorts with a gray t-shirt.
