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“No worries. I assure you I’m old enough to be Ember’s grandfather. I’m also a professional, which is why you hired me in the first place.”
“Okay, let’s get this over with so you can go home, doctor. I’m so sorry Josh is wasting your time.”
“Your wellbeing is far more important than anyone’s time, Em.” Josh sits down on the couch. His eyes do not leave the doctor’s.
I undo my jeans and start pulling them down. I can’t help the wince I let out when the denim rubs over my hip.
“Fuck, I knew something was wrong!” Josh is up and beside me like The damn Flash.
“I’m fine. It’s just a little bruise.”
“Stop, let me help.” Josh removes my hands from my jeans and starts tugging them down. When I wince again, he stops and pulls a knife (one I didn’t even know he had) from his ankle. Holding the denim as far away from my skin as he can, he slices it in half all the way down my left leg.
“Fucking Jesus, hell. Fuck. Em, that is not a fucking little bruise. Goddamn it,” Josh curses and yells. He throws the knife behind me. I hear it hit a wall with a thud. I flinch and step away from him. I can’t help it—it’s instinctual.
He notices right away. “Emmy, I’m sorry. Sorry…” he says quietly as he slowly steps into me.
“Come, sit down—no, you should be on a bed. She should probably be in bed, right, doc?”
“Ah, let me have a look.” The doctor bends down and lightly presses around my hip. For a bit, he’s just prodding and poking.
“It’s just some bruising. Apply ice twenty minutes on, ten minutes off, and rest. Don’t go doing anything strenuous,” the doctor finally says.
He packs all his equipment away before asking, “Mr. McKinley, can you walk me out?”
“Ah, yeah, sure.” Josh picks up a throw and wraps it around me before sitting me on the couch. “I’ll be back with an icepack. Don’t move.”
“Okay.”
I know I said I wouldn’t move, but after they leave the room, I follow anyway. I need to know what the doctor has to say. What if he recognised me?
Leaning against the wall, I catch bits of their hushed voices.
“Multiple wounds, scars,” the doctor says.
“I’m aware,” Josh grits out.
“I should be reporting this. It’s ethical to report it. She’s clearly in some type of trouble, Josh.” Huh, he’s calling him by his first name. They must be closer than they made it out to be.
“I appreciate your discretion, doc. I’m looking into it. Believe me when I say she will get her justice,” Josh says.
I limp to the couch. I just get settled in when Josh comes back over. “You know, all you have to do is ask,” he says.
“Ask what?”
“What the doctor had to say. I’d never lie to you, Emmy.”
“Sorry…”
“Don’t be. Here, hold this on your hip. I’m going to pack the car. Do you need anything else?” He hands me an icepack and a bottle of water.
“And take these,” he instructs, handing me pills.
“What… what are they?” I ask warily. I don’t like just taking random pills. Trent used to force me to take pills that would make me sleep for days. I had no control or memory of what he did with my body during those days. I’d wake up every now and then, wishing I hadn’t.
“It’s just Panadol, babe. Here.” He pulls out a sheet of sealed pills, showing me the Panadol label. Rather than take the sealed sheet, I take the pills he already has out. This is Josh. I trust Josh. I swallow the pills before I can change my mind.
* * *
