I quirked an eyebrow as I watched the scene unfold.
I was so busy watching my brother and taking in the scene before me that I didn’t even realize Doc entered the room until he crouched down to her side. She flinched, and almost immediately, my brother was up from his crouched position and sitting next to her on the couch.
“Would you like an arm around you?” he asked.
Since when the fuck did my brother ask permission for anything?
It was like watching a completely different person, to be honest.
Every time Doc did something that made her flinch, my brother was right there, murmuring to her and soothing her. She finally allowed him to wrap his arm around her, and he tucked her to his side like she was a wounded little bird that had yet to fly the nest. Doc was careful with her wounds, checking out the back of her head and cleaning off the matted blood from her scalp.
I noticed she had ligature marks around her ankles.
Skin that was rubbed raw.
Fucking hell, she had been shackled.
“No,” the woman said.
My attention snapped back to her face and I watched her bury herself into my brother’s side.
“We don’t have to do it right this second,” Doc said. “I’m sure you want a shower. Maybe some food. But if you won’t let me take blood, we have to check and make sure?—”
“I’m not spreading my legs for you,” she hissed.
“Hey, hey, hey,” my brother said in a voice I didn’t really recognize before he gripped her chin and tilted her face up tomeet his. “You’re okay. It’s okay. Whatever you don’t consent to, you don’t consent to, and that’s that. We do need to check things like your hormones, check for infections, your vitamin deficiencies. Things like that. But once you’re ready for a blood test, that should be enough without needing a pelvic exam. Right, Doc?”
My brother shot the man a hardened look, like it would mean Doc’s life if he didn’t agree. But Doc didn’t seem fazed.
“He’s right,” Doc said as he sat crosslegged on the floor. “If you can find a way to tolerate the needle for just a few seconds, that’ll be all I need.”
The woman sniffled. “But can I take a shower first?”
Doc nodded. “As long as you feel strong enough to stand by yourself in the shower. Otherwise, I’m sure there’s a tub around here that you can use.”
“Three of them,” my brother said as he scooped the woman beneath his arm a little more. “We’ll figure out what makes you comfortable and go from there. Okay?”
She tilted her eyes up to his face “Promise?”
Did my brother just fucking smile? “You have my word.”
I pushed off the doorway and headed back into the kitchen. I didn’t know what to do with what I’d just seen. My brother, of all people, soft like that. It unsettled me in a way I couldn’t name.
I expected Cap to still be handing Brutus his ass when I slipped back into the kitchen, but there wasn’t anyone there. Everyone had already scattered, so I started my search. I wanted to see how Brutus was. I wanted to congratulate him on a job well done. Rescuing a woman would never be something bad in my eyes.
I was happy he found her.
Hell, I was just happy they were all safe and sound.
“Fucking brute,” Cap grumbled to himself as he charged down the hallway.
He rushed by me, and I pivoted on my feet. “Cap.”
“What?” he asked, not stopping to face me.
“Go find Ariel. You need to breathe for a minute.”
He growled as he paused, his shoulders pulling taut. “Anna?”
