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“The black one,” I mumble.
He grabs it from the towel rack hanging on the door. When he hands it to me, he keeps his gaze locked on the ground.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
It’s not until I’m done drying off that I realize my clothes are a soaked heap on the shower floor.
“I—I don’t have any dry clothes in here.”
“I can grab some.”
“No,” I blurt. If he unlocks the door, I don’t trust Wes and Kellan to stay outside. “I’ll just…” I look around, hoping to find something that I forgot in here, but there’s nothing.
“Here.” Cal pulls his hoodie over his head. “Is it okay if I turn around?”
I tighten my towel around myself. “Yeah.”
He hands me the hoodie, his jaw tightening when he takes me in. “Your neck.”
When they walked in on me, my hair had been plastered to my skin and obstructing their view. Now, it’s all behind my shoulders.
Slowly, I move so I’m in front of the mirror. My stomach turns at the sight of the long, thin bruises across my neck.
Finger marks.
I turn away, gasping in small breaths. It’s like his hand is still there, tightening, crushing my throat. It doesn’t matter that he wasn’t even strangling me for a full minute. I can feel it just as well.
“Athelia,” Cal says gently. He takes a tentative step closer. “What all did he do to you?”
“It might be better to ask what he hasn’t done,” I mutter.
“How bad…” When Cal’s hand comes to rest on my waist, I wince, so he pulls away. “How badly did he hurt you? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“No. God, please no.”
“Okay.”
“What do you want from me?” I ask.
Cal sounds so genuinely concerned, and I don’t know what to do with that. Yesterday, he joined Wes and Kellan in doingwhatever they wanted with me. I’m honestly not sure what’s more traumatizing—what happened last night or this morning. Because last night, I was so conflicted. I still am.
But today…
I try take a deep breath, and pain shoots through me.
Fuck.Never mind. What Professor Kammes did was so much worse.
“If you can’t breathe properly, then you should—”
“I’m not going to a goddamn hospital,” I grit out.
“Then at least let me see.”
“What good would that do?”
He laughs, but when he sees the confusion on my face, his smile fades. “I’m literally going to school to become a doctor, Athelia. Please just let me help.”
“Oh,” I mumble. “I forgot about that.”
