“Baby, wanna let me in so I can help you with that?” I knocked on the door when she didn’t answer my question. I wasn’t going to force her but I wasn’t going to let her go through this alone either. I stood there and waited for her to be done or let me help her. Whatever she wanted, I was going to be there for her. When the door opened she was in a long sleeve shirt with some sweatpants. The marks around her throat made me want to bring JP back to life and kill him all over again. It was obvious in the way she wouldn’t look me in the eye that something was wrong. She wandered to the bed and laid on her side, facing away from me. That was when I saw the gauze sticking out from the bottom of her shirt.
“Riley, what did he do to you?” I whispered. I traced my fingers along her upper back, right underneath her hairline and down her arm. Linking my fingers with hers I kissed her over her shirt, all along her spine. I wanted her to know that no matter what nothing would scare me away.
“He ruined me. You might as well look and get it over with since you aren’t ever going to look at me the same. Hell, that is if you will even want me anymore.”
“Don’t you talk like that, Riley. There will never be another woman for me. I love you, With all my god damned heart. You are the only one for me. I promise you no matter what is on your back, I will be here for you. You are the love of my life, you beautiful, stubborn woman.” I kissed her on her cheek until she rolled her face to mine and I was able to kiss those soft, pillowy lips of hers.
“I don’t want to push you, Riley, but the sooner I know, the sooner you can get through all of this.” That was the final straw. She sat up in bed and pulled her shirt off. I was momentarily distracted by her sexy body but then she stood up and turned around. The gauze was covering almost all of her back, save for the upper part by her shoulder blades. I went to pull the top part of the medical tape and she winced. Whether in agony or fear of what I was about to see, I couldn’t be sure, so I asked if she was okay. When she nodded, I kept going. As I got the whole thing off, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There, carved into her skin, was JP. J was on the left side of her spine and P was on the right. The letters were jagged and bloody with stitches keeping it together.
My skin felt too tight to be on my body. It felt like that itch you couldn’t reach, but it was everywhere not only one spot. This had to be some kind of sick joke. There was no way I was seeing it, but there it was, literally in Riley’s flesh. I took a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth. Then the words tumbled out of my mouth.
“We will fix this. You are not ruined whatsoever. This happened to you, yes, but we are going to get you through it. Yes, I said we, meaning Reese and I. She is probably berating you for talking like that anyways.” I put the bandage back on, along with her shirt and I held her while she cried for what felt like all night. When she finally fell asleep, I made sure she was comfortable in bed and went out to the bar for a stiff drink but ended up getting the whole bottle instead.
Riley
As soon as I woke up I knew something was wrong. The bed next to me was cold. The sun wasn’t up yet but it was definitely early morning. Maybe three or four in the morning. And if the bed was cold, it meant Axel had been away for some time now which had me worried. I got up and looked around the room to see if there was a note he left for me, explaining his absence but there was nothing. Figuring the next best thing would be to go looking for him out in the clubhouse, that's what I did. Maybe there was an emergency or something, so I got dressed as best I could and went out in search of him.
What I found was not something I thought would ever happen. The clubhouse was silent except for the light snores coming from the man slumped over the bar with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. There was a little light on above the bar that made it look like a halo hovering over Axel’s head. I walked over on quiet footsteps, as quiet as an injured woman could be anyways, and pushed his hair out of his face. It had grown since I had first met him and it was starting to get shaggy, but it looked good on him. Although that was a topic for later because my leg was aching and I wanted my man in bed holding me.
“Baby, come on come to bed,” I told him. I didn’t want to startle him but I didn’t think whispering was going to do the trick. I tried to shake his shoulder a little bit but that didn’t work either. Huffing under my breath, I figured I would just let him stay there all night. There was a perfectly good couch to sleep on against the wall, across from the bar. Going back to the room and grabbing an extra sheet to lay on the couch, plus the blanket and
