He ushers us into a room, and I set her on the gurney.
“I said I’m fine,” she argues, trying to get up, but I push her down by her shoulders.
“Restrain her,” I order Devin.
Ninety-nine percent of the people he sees here are prisoners of Carnage. Every bed, table, or gurney we have is outfitted with restraints for the prisoners who need medical attention. They can’t be trusted.
“What?” Eve gasps, her wide eyes on me. “Kashton…no.” She starts to fight, but Devin is quick at getting her wrists in the medical restraints and then her ankles. Once done, I let go of her, and she narrows her eyes on mine. “I fucking hate you.” She throws her head back onto the gurney, and a sob breaks through. “I…hate you.”
Devin cuts open her jeans with a pair of scissors, and I sit down on the couch next to the bed, dropping my head in my hands, listening to her cry.
“She’s ripped it open. I’m going to have to numb the area, clean the wound, and stitch it.”
“Then fucking do it,” I snap at Devin.
He leaves the room, and I stand, running a hand down my face. I walk over to the side of the bed and push her wild hair from her tear-streaked cheeks.
“Please?” Her bloodshot eyes meet mine, and they look like the same ones I saw on the tapes. When she begged Evan not to hurt her.
Am I doing the same thing? Am I hurting her by keeping her here? No. I’m helping her. I’m protecting her from them. If she goes back to her house, Evan could show up again and hurt her. Or worse, she could kill herself before he gets the chance. She admitted to us that she’d had the thought. Haidyn wasn’t wrong that she needs help. I’m going to be the one to do it.
I have to protect her from the world and herself.
“Please, Kash.” She arches her back and slams down onto the gurney.
“Let it out, angel,” I tell her. Maybe she will exert herself and fall asleep.
Her body tenses as she pulls on the restraints, a cry ripping from her lips.
“It’s okay to be mad,” I tell her.
The door opens, and I expect it to be Devin, but it’s Haidyn. “What the fuck happened?” he barks, rushing in with Saint.
Fuck this day.“She’s fine.” I want to slap myself. It’s the same thing she told me, and I called her a liar.
He looks at the restraints and her blood-covered jeans, how she’s got her head turned toward me, away from the door while she sobs into the pillow.
He steps forward, and I walk around the end of the bed. “You need to leave.”
“Kash—”
“Get the fuck out, Haidyn,” I bark. I’m not in the mood to deal with him right now. One thing at a time, and my girl always comes first.
Saint rushes to close the space between us, his hands on our chests. “Not in here,” he urges.
Haidyn turns and leaves, with Saint following to calm him down.
I walk back over to Everett and sit down, taking her hand in mine. I hold it, but she doesn’t hold it back. It lies limp.
She tries to pull it away, but the restraints don’t allow it. “I’m sorry, Eve,” I tell her, running my free hand over her soft hair. “I’m so sorry.”
She’s going to hate me. Fine. Let her hate me. This is who I am. A Lord who controls his Lady. She may not be my wife yet, but she will be, and I’m going to do a lot of things that she isn’t going to agree with.
The door opens, and I look up to see Devin with all his supplies. “May I speak to you for a moment?”
I let go of her hand and move to the other side of the room, where he whispers, “I can numb the area, but there’s always a possibility she’ll tear them open again if they don’t have the time to heal.” I glance over my shoulder, and she’s struggling in the restraints, trying her best to get free while she cries so hard her body trembles.
I place my attention back on him. “Sedate her.” I know what he’s asking, and she needs the rest. He needs her calm in order to help her, and I’d rather him not have to do this to her again.
