“Let me know if you need anything else,” I said. On the way past, I squeezed his hand.
He gave a slow nod.
“P…pl…please…”
“I won’t be far,” I said, turning to look at the man. “Zevon won’t hurt you.”
“You can stay,” Zevon said. “I don’t think he’ll care.”
“I’ll wait out here, all right?” I said to both of them.
“Will that be okay?” Zevon asked.
The man, who really needed a name, looked at me pleadingly before nodding his head once. My heart hurt for him, knowing without words how much pain he had already gone through.
I would have stayed in there with them while he showered and cleaned up, but my panic was rising. I knew if I saw how much damage was done to his body, I wouldn’t be able to hold it together. I was barely hanging on as it was. At least Zevon had a way to keep calm. I did not.
“I need to check on my other friend real quick, but I’ll be back soon,” I said, letting go of Zevon.
I heard his low voice follow me towards my room, but didn’t hear what was being said. When I got to my room, I found Dominic fast asleep in the middle of the bed. The blanket was twisted around his waist as he slept face down. His back rose with each breath in and out, a soft snore passing his lips.
I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him. He had so much on his shoulders, and he never once complained about doing anything since I’d known him. He had never once treated me like broken glass and was always there to listen to me.
I wanted to think that was the reason I was slowly finding my footing. He hadn’t shielded away from answering any of my many questions.
My heart panged, aching for more from him. I knew that wouldn’t ever be possible, even with my eyes opening to things around me. Just because my heart wanted something, it didn’t mean that it was the right thing.
“He’s on the mend,” Collin whispered, stepping up beside me. “He’s not too pleased about what happened.”
“None of us are,” I said just as quietly.
He agreed. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my life, but you have truly changed the three of us here. The first time I saw Zevon so torn up about anything in life was when it came to you. Today is the second time. And Dominic, well, he’s never been one to shy away from experimenting in life. He loves to live on the dangerous side, but he’s starting to be a bit more careful.”
“No one needs to change because of me,” I said.
“We all know that, princess,” he said, giving me a smile. “But we found areasonto change because of you. You have a heart of gold, and I hope that one day soon you’ll figure out that it’s worth a lot to us all.”
By the time I got my emotions and thoughts somewhat under control, I found Zevon and the other guy back in the bedroom. The new man was huddled in a towel, sitting on the floor next to the bed. His legs were covered in a pair of thin sleep pants that were a bit too long for him, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Hey,” I said, entering the room slowly. “Can I look at the cut on your arm now?”
The man nodded while Zevon said he’d go find Collin in case it needed more than a bandage. From how much blood there had been, I’d expected we’d need him.
“So,” I said, taking a seat on the floor gently. He held out his arm and kept his body stiff. “You know my name. What’s yours?”
“Whoever you want me to be,” he whispered around biting his nails on his other hand.
“I want your real name,” I said, glancing up at him.
His arm had a huge gash running from his shoulder down to almost his elbow. Parts were scabbed over already. Some still oozed blood.
“Sage,” he finally answered.
“Well, Sage,” I said, meeting his eyes, “I think this needs looking at by Collin. He’ll know what to do about it so it can heal better.”
“It’s fine,” he said, letting his eyes look at his arm.
“I’ll stay here the entire time,” I coaxed, hearing Collin and Zevon come back. “He took care of me.” I let go of his arm to hold up my own scar.
