“Gosh dang it!” I seethed, turning to face him. “The next person who scares me today will be kicked where the sun don’t shine.”
“Uh…I think you need some training there, kiddo,” Collin laughed, but he covered his mainly bits just in case. “Anyhow, how’s it going in here?”
“Okay, I guess,” I shrugged.
“Dominic was in bad shape when Ace adopted him, but he was a scared little boy. Sweet too, in his own way. But that’s his story to tell. I was there to help him after he nearly overdosed, and I got him back on track.”
“Rehab.”
“In a way, yes. I need to clean up his cuts, but first, let me check yours.” Collin tilted his head towards the man who whimpered in the corner.
I moved to sit on the edge of the bed. I could feel the man’s eyes on me, peeking through his scraggly hair. I lifted my shirt up while Collin dug out scissors and tweezers to remove the stitches.
“I got stabbed about three weeks ago,” I said. “Someone wants to kill me.”
“Zevon shot the guy,” Collin continued for me. “And from that time on, Scarlett started to trust him a bit more each day.”
“Kind of hard not to like the guy after that,” I shrugged.
Collin was quick to remove the stitches, commenting that it was healing nicely. When he was done, I pulled my shirt back down.
“Would you mind helping me check his cuts? There’s one I’m a bit worried about.”
“Sure,” I said. “Tell me what to do.”
“Is that okay with you?” Collin asked him. He got no reply, which I expected. Collin gave me a sad smile but wasn’t deterred.
“Hey,” I said, sitting back down on the floor, a bit closer to the man. “Do you want to sit on the bed?”
A small shake of his head. His top teeth dug into his bottom lip.
“Yeah, I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t want to either. My…well abuser…” I trailed off, not able to go on with that train of thought. “Anyway, we need to check your cuts.”
“O…only y…y…you,” he stuttered in a soft whisper.
“Okay,” I said, giving him small smile. “But if you need more than what I can do, Collin will have to step in. He’s a doctor.”
“No doctor. No,” he said, shaking his head back and forth quickly. His light gray eyes filled with panic.
“Okay,” I soothed. “I’ll do what I can so he doesn’t have to, then. Will that work?”
He visibly relaxed at my words. Slowly, he held out his arm that I’d first thought was caked in dirt, but it was actually blood. It was crusted over, covering nearly his entire arm.
“This would be easier if we can get you washed up,” I sighed, not touching him.
“I’ll go find Zevon,” Collin said, standing up. When he was out of the room, the man before me relaxed a bit more.
“Come on,” I said, standing with a grimace as my legs had fallen asleep. “I’ll show you to the bathroom.”
Slowly, he stood. He was a good foot or more taller than me, but he held himself as short as possible. His head was down, shoulders hunched inward.
Had I looked like that? I had felt that defeated for so long, I knew he’d be feeling the same.
What had everyone thought when they looked at me when I was as my lowest of lows? Had they felt as helpless as I did then? Could they see how much I hated life? Did they see past what I wanted them to see?
Shaking my thoughts away, I made my way to the bathroom. Once there, I turned the shower on a bit warmer than warm and set out shampoo, body wash and a towel. He watched my every move, jerking away when I got too close.
“I’ll take it from here, Scarlett,” Zevon said from the doorway. “Thanks for helping.” I looked at him, seeing his red-rimmed eyes, cloudy with whatever he’d taken on hisbreather.
