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He wraps his good arm around me, pulling me into his warm embrace and I lean my body entirely against him; cherishing and welcoming the strength he’s offering me in my moment of weakness. He rests his chin on the top of my head, pulling me closer despite the action causing him some pain.
“Beautiful, tell me what has happened? Is it Theo?” He pulls back and tilts my chin with the hand, not in the sling. He’s still pale and I can see that just the walk from his room down the hallway to here has caused sweat to break out on his forehead with the strain and pain. His finger strokes my chin and jaw as the color further drains out of his face. “Did something happen? Is he alive?” His breath comes out harsh.
I nod, and another sob escapes me, the image of Theo in the hospital bed and how frightened he was. “Something’s wrong with him, Carter; he’s terrified of us, of me. He doesn’t want anyone to touch him. He told us we should have let him die.”
“What the fuck? No, no way! He’s just messed up right now; maybe it’s all the pain or the drugs he’s on. No way is he afraid of you, Mia.” Carter pulls back from my body, pivoting and heading toward Theo’s open doorway. Stopping at the door, he holds his arm out for me and takes my shaking hand in his tight grip.
We walk through the doorway together, hands tightly clasped, just in time to hear the doctor telling Theo of his injuries and explaining his recovery and prognosis. Theo stares at a spot on the wall just past the doctor’s head, his eyes vacant and face slack. Like he’s not even in there, just a shell of my strong Theo.
“Son, are you listening to what I’m telling you?” The doctor sighs and turns away from Theo to look back at Carter and me. Then shakes his head, indicating that he doesn’t believe Theo is listening to him. “Get some rest, son. I’ll be back later to check on you again.”
The doctor leaves the room, and Carter and I move a few steps closer to the stark hospital bed Theo is lying on. He doesn’t turn toward us or acknowledge our presence. I catch Mateos and Finn’s eyes, concern and fear lying in their depths. Theo stares at the same spot on the wall, not even really blinking. His mouth is drawn in a tight line, and tears continue to track down the sides of his swollen face.
“Bro, talk to me, please. Bro, we’re alive. We made it out of there.” Carter releases my hand and shifts closer to the bed, positioning himself in Theo’s direct sight line.
Theo doesn’t acknowledge Carter, his eyes continuing to stare sightlessly at the wall and his body giving no indication that he heard Carter. Carter leans across the bed and touches Theo’s arm, which has an IV in it. Theo’s body recoils immediately from the touch, pulling his arm closer to his body, as a pain-filled sound escapes his lips.
“Carter,” I whisper, the sound of my words sounding desperate to my ears. Carter ignores the plea in my voice and leans further down to touch Theo’s hand.
“No!” The whisper-shout fills the silent room.
Carter jerks back, staring down at Theo, tears making their way down his bruised face. “No fucking way, Theo! You snap the fuck out of this shit! You’re alive, bro! We are alive; we made it out, Theo.”
Theo’s head thrashes on the pillow, his whole body seizing up tight and then shuddering at Carter’s harsh tone. He closes his eyes tight and bites down hard on his lower lip until a drop of blood skates down his chin, followed by another.
“Carter! Stop, something’s wrong.” I grab Carter’s good arm and try to pull him away.
“No, Mia! We need to wake his ass up! He’s still trapped back there with those fuckers hurting him!” Carter shouts, shaking off my hold.
“Guys, stop, please. Let’s just give him time, okay? He just woke up after two fucking days of being out cold, and the last thing he remembers is being there with those monsters. Just give him a bit to get his head straight.” Finn moves closer to Carter and me, putting his body in between Carter and Theo’s hospital bed.
“Finn’s right,” Mateo utters from the bottom of the bed. His stare solely on Theo, jamming his hands in the front pockets of his dirty black jeans and bobbing his head. He’s the only one of us who hasn’t gone home to change, refusing to leave Carter and Theo’s sides. He’s still wearing the same clothes we went to rescue Theo and Carter in two days ago, dark dirt smudges across his golden skin.
“I need to talk to you three out in the hall,” I murmur.
Carter, Finn, and Mateo’s eyes all land on me. Concern across all three faces. Finn nods toward the door, and we make our way out to the hallway. Mateo’s the last out of the room after quietly speaking to Theo, who is still refusing to open his eyes.
“What’s going on, Mia?” Carter demands through gritted teeth.
My throat momentarily clogs, feeling like shards of glass are lodged inside of it. I part my lips to speak, but the horror of the words I need to utter don’t want to escape. I should have told them what the doctor said two days ago, but my mind was in denial. I thought the doctor was wrong, that there had to be a limit to even Vincent’s depravity. Fuck was I wrong, so horribly wrong.
“When Theo was brought into the emergency department, the doctor…had reason to believe he had been sexually assaulted…raped amongst all his other extensive injuries. They saw evidence on his body when they were reviewing his injuries. I…I didn’t want to believe it. I couldn’t get my mind to process it.” Rage quickens my blood, and I have to take a deep breath. “That Vincent would do that to his only son.”
“What the fuck?” Mateo questions.
“You knew he had most likely been raped, and you didn’t tell us, Mia?” Finn’s face twists with anger, and he steps closer to me.
“I didn’t want to believe it, and then the worry was he was bleeding out and had to be rushed into surgery, and it slipped to the back of my mind.” A wretched sob leaves me; wincing, I wrap my arms tightly around my chest.
“Rape slipped your mind?” Finn spits out with venom.
“I’m going to kill that motherfucker!” Carter screams and punches the wall with his good hand, the plaster wall cracking and a hole caving in.
“Carter, shit. Knock that off; you’re going to hurt yourself worse.” Mateo steps up and grabs Carter’s good arm, preventing him from taking another swing at the wall.
Finn’s lips draw back in a snarl, throwing his hands in the air, “What do we do now? We can obviously see by his reaction that the doctor was right.”
Silence fills the corridor. I stare at each of them with fear and devastation racing through my body. How can I fix him? Has what Vincent put him through irrevocably broken his mind? The Theo filled with terror in that room is not my Theo. His body might be there, and those dark blue eyes that call to me, but his mind is fragile and filled with broken pieces. Shards so sharp that they will slice open everyone they come into contact with. Rape is such an ugly word. Rape is too small and insignificant a word to describe the horrors he must have endured. Even knowing that he may be broken for good, I refuse to release him from my hold. He is fucking mine, and no one will take him from me, not even his own damaged mind.
