I smirk. “You know how many times I’ve cut or burned myself? Hazard of the job. Always prepared for the worst since I live alone.” Taking a deep breath, I steel my spine. I’m not usually squeamish, but I know this is going to be bad. “I’m going to clean you up now. Do you want like something to squeeze? I don’t have any alcohol or I’d?—”
He shakes his head. I hate this. I grab the cup I brought, filling it with lukewarm water. “Want to hold my hand? I’m just rinsing the blood away.” After a moment he reaches out for my hand, and I take his cold hand in mine, giving him a reassuring squeeze.
With a wince of my own, I pour warm water down his back. He clenches my hand in his. “Fuck,” he grounds out.
“I’m sorry.” Taking another cup of water, I keep washing away the blood. My eyes well with tears I try to blink away. What the hell happened to this man? I swallow. “What happened?” I continue cleaning the blood away, but a lot of it seems to have clotted. It’s hard to clean like this with one hand, but the grip on my fingers tells me he needs it.
“How bad is it?”
No way. I’m not letting him ignore my question. Aiden grits his teeth as another cup of water flows down his back. What’s leftis angry red lashes and thick raised welts, at least seven. Some dripping blood. “What happened, Aiden?” I say again quietly.
“Nothing.”
I freeze. “You can’t come to my doorstep like this and expect me to just let it go.” I want to hurt whoever did this. “Tell me what happened. You’re safe, okay? I’m not going to say a word.”
Aiden opens his mouth, choking back a sob. His fingers slip from mine to cover his face. This is too much. Seeing him like this is messing with my head. It’s jarring, and so fucking scary. Patiently, I wait for him to compose himself while I clean his back with both hands. The good news is, no stitches. The bad news... it’s terrible. I’m guessing a belt or strap of some kind. After watching him fight, it’s hard to picture anyone getting the upper hand on him.
“I’m not supposed to have my sister.”
“What?”
“Katya, when she was here earlier and Koda dropped her off. He had an emergency, and he was supposed to come back to get her. He didn’t. I’m not allowed to have her alone. Koda got held up, so I had to take her back myself. To their father.”
“Their father?”
Aiden nods. “He’s not my dad. He’s their father. He hates me. He keeps her from me to hurt me. But Koda never came back, so I had to take her home. Their father did this, because I had her.”
My mind tries to wrap around such cruelty. “Why can’t you take her out?”
“Because he hates me. He hates me.” Aiden shakes his head. “Katya and I have the same mother. He’s always hated me.”
I hate to ask, but I finally have him talking. Just a little. “And you’re still there even though your mom passed away. Right?”
He nods. “She died when Katya was two.” I don’t want to ask how, even though I’m curious. Aiden seems like he’s barely holding it together.
“I’m sorry.” Grabbing a cloth, I try as gently as I can to clean the rest of the blood. “Is she safe with him?”
Aiden’s quiet for a moment, and I let him think while I work. I think I have enough bandages. Luckily the wounds aren’t as bad as I anticipated, though some are deeper than others. I smear antibacterial ointment on one of the wide bandages and smooth it on gently. He hisses. “I know, sorry. Good news is, they aren’t as deep or big as I thought.”
Aiden nods. “She’s safe, but um, I don’t really trust him. She shouldn’t be in that house.” Aiden looks up. “It’s one of the reasons I need money. I want to try and save enough and then attempt to get custody of her.” He laughs sharply. “I’m fucking dreaming, but I’m doing my best. I do what I have to.”
“The fighting?”
“Huh?”
“The boxing. Is that why you do it?”
“Yeah,” he says softly.
I place the last bandage over his wounds. I’ll have to change them tomorrow. I’ll go down to the store at some point to get more supplies. I’m closed for another week, so maybe having Aiden here will be a good thing. He can help me finish setting up for the event.
Wait, why am I just assuming he’s staying?
“You’re all set. I uh... I’ll have to run out tomorrow to grab more supplies so I can change these.” Just ask him. “Assuming you’re staying here.” Aiden’s head picks up. “You can. I um, I want you to. But if you can’t, I understand.” I want to keep an eye on his back, but selfishly, also, I like him.
A lot.
And I want him here. I want him safe.
