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“I don’t actually know,” he admitted. “I could just smell something dark, something evil, and I thought I was protecting you by chasing it off. I heard you follow me then turn around. I should have gone back with you.” He shook his head. “We found you this morning and brought you here. The healer was able to fix a couple fractures, but you’ve got a concussion and you’ll need to take it easy for a few days.”
I felt my eyes fill with tears and I closed my lids, not wanting Trevor to see me cry. I turned my head away from him, but I felt his fingers graze my chin, turning me back to face him.
When I opened my eyes again, he was leaning over me, and he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.
Our gazes locked and my breath hitched as his pupils dilated and his tongue darted out to wet his lower lip. He moved closer to me again, slowly, as if giving me time to push him away.
But I couldn’t.
I felt absolutely frozen as he moved until his lips hovered over mine. He stayed there, letting me be the one to close the distance and press my mouth against his. The kiss was soft, just a gentle brush of lips, but for just a moment, the world around me seemed to melt away. My anger and fear and pain and confusion were gone. It was just Trevor and me and it was the most at peace I’d ever felt in my entire life.
And then the door to my room opened and reality crashed back around me.
Trevor jumped away as if he’d been electrocuted and we both turned to see the healer, Josephine Mann coming in. Her face was turned down toward the chart in her hand, so I was pretty sure she hadn’t seen us, but the guilt and shame I felt at almost being caught kissing my stepbrother was so fast and heavy that I knew we could never, ever, kiss like that again.
“Ms. Warner,” Jo said as she looked up, smiling brightly at me. “Nice to see you awake. How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay,” I answered immediately. “When can I go home?”
“Soon,” she said as she turned her gaze on Trevor. “Mr. Gaynes, would you excuse us for a moment? I’d like to talk with Celia alone.”
“I’ll be right outside,” Trevor told me firmly as he squeezed my hand and gave me a smile before walking out and shutting the door behind himself.
Jo wheeled her little stool over to sit next to me and I had an overwhelming urge to ask her if I was in trouble for something.
“What’s up, Doc?” I asked her when she didn’t start talking right away.
“Celia, physically you’re fine and I can send you home right now—”
“Great!” I said, not really interested in anything else she might have to say. That had been all I wanted to hear.
“But,” she snapped, reaching out to grab my arm when I tried to climb out of the bed. “Your mind and your aura are a mess.”
Well that wasn’t anything I didn’t already know.
“It’s been a rough few years,” I answered, raising my left shoulder in a shrug as I moved my gaze from the healer.
“It’s been rough, full stop,” Jo said firmly. “I’d like you to talk with my friend Astrid Jessup.”
“The shrink?” I asked, rolling my eyes as I yanked my arm free of Jo’s grip. “No thanks. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” Jo snapped. “The trauma you’re carrying around is unhealthy. It’s like a poison slowly working it’s way through you and eventually it will consume you completely. Celia, this isn’t a request.”
“You can’t order me to go,” I told her sharply. “I’m an adult.”
“Yes, you are,” Jo agreed. “And I think it’s time you started acting like one. I’ve healed your bones, but I’m not qualified to fix what’s really broken in here.” She pressed a finger to my sternum. “And until you do the work with someone who is, nothing is going to get much better for you.”
She wasn’t the first person to suggest I see a therapist but honestly I didn’t see the point in it. The bad things that happened to me were in the past. What the hell good would it do to bring it all back up again?
“Celia,” she said softly, reaching out to rest her hand on my leg. “Trauma is like an infection in the body. It festers if you don’t treat it. I don’t know everything that’s happened to you, but I can feel it wrapped around your aura like a vise. It affects everything. Every emotion, every decision, everything. Please just think about it.”
“I will,” I promised her.
I probably wouldn’t, and the stern look Jo gave me let me know she didn’t believe me for a minute, but she just sighed and stood up, reaching into her pocket and placing a business card on the table next to my bed.
“I hope you do,” she said, her voice thick with disappointment. “Your mom is back with your clothes, so you can head home. I want you to rest for a few days though.”
“I will,” I said again, actually meaning it that time.
