11
Maxwell
The following day, I was woken by a sharp knock on the door followed by fearful murmuring. I bolted up, then was hit by a wave of dizziness from getting up too fast. I groaned. The whole adjusting-back-to-vampire-schedule thing was still disorienting.
I threw the door open to reveal a frowning Benji and Lark with tears in her eyes. My eye was immediately drawn to her arm, which was covered in a makeshift bandage. The sight of her wound instantly made my grogginess disappear and I became fully alert.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Sorry for waking you,” Benji said, “but Lark accidentally scratched herself too hard and now she’s bleeding.”
I gasped. “Oh, no. Come here and let me take a look at it.”
I urged them into my clinic next door and Benji sat Lark down in the chair. She was sniffling and holding the bandage to her arm.
“Let Dr. Maxwell look at it, honey,” Benji murmured.
Lark frowned but wordlessly removed it. The wound was light, just a few scratches across her forearm from her long nails, but they were still bleeding. A dark red color beaded at the surface when the bandage was removed.
“She’s been scratching herself non-stop while Pierce and Adriel are around,” Benji explained with a deep frown. “Maxwell, I don’t think she can keep doing this. She’s pretended to be itchy for so long now that she’s been wearing her own skin down. Look.”
It was true. Red marks from all the constant pressure criss-crossed on her arms.
Lark sniffled in her chair. Wet tears rimmed her eyes. I brought a tissue over for her.
“I’m sorry, Lark,” I said. “Here, let’s get you cleaned up, okay?”
She nodded but didn’t reply. She hadn’t said a single thing since arriving, which worried me.
“This might sting a bit,” I warned before applying a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol to her arm. She grimaced but didn’t whimper or pull away. “There we go. Now I’ll just put a bandage on and you’ll be all set.”
As I finished up, Lark glanced up at me with big eyes. “I don’t wanna lie to daddy anymore.”
My heart broke in half. What had I done? Made a little girl lie to her family and pushed her so hard that she accidentally hurt herself?
What other choice did I have?I thought.It was either that, or Theo was banned from seeing me.
I shut my eyes, shaking my head. No, that couldn’t have been the only option. We could have thought of a different plan.
“Maxwell?” Benji asked.
I had to face reality. I opened my eyes and kneeled down to Lark’s level. Her big wet eyes met mine, and I knew she was just as fed up with this situation as I was.
“We don’t have to play this game anymore, okay?” I said softly. “It was a bad game to begin with.”
Lark nodded, still pouting.
“How does your arm feel?” I asked.
“Okay,” she mumbled.
“Here. I know how to make it a little better.”
I retrieved a lollipop from the counter and handed it to her with a smile. Her face lit up as she snatched it from me and enthusiastically ripped the plastic cover off.
Benji let out a relieved sigh. “At least she’s feeling okay enough to eat candy.”
I nodded. “She’ll be fine. I’m just sorry about this whole mess. I shouldn’t have gotten you two involved.” I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming on from all the stress. “I’m really disappointed in myself.”
