“Foot,” I mumble, tears pooling in my eyes.
How have I forgotten about my foot already? The throbbing should have kept me occupied, but it seems like whenever I’m with Daddy, all I can do is think about him. Why do I have this attraction toward him? Why do I want to be near him all the time?
“Look at her foot first,” Daddy tells Yamal. “She was injured when she was brought to me.”
“I’m going to feel around your leg now,” Yamal gently explains.
“Nooo,” I whine and pull my leg up.
I don’t want anyone touching it. I don’t want it to hurt even more than it does right now.
“I need to examine to make sure that you aren’t going to worsen the injury,” Yamal says.
“That doesn’t make sense.” I peek at him.
“I don’t want it to get infected. Where did you hurt yourself?” he asks.
I stay silent and put my head back in Daddy’s chest. I grip onto his shirt and let out a sigh. I need to stop calling him Daddy, but it feels so natural. But I shouldn’t want to. I shouldn’t want to be so close to him.
“It got caught on the cage,” Daddy explains. “Or that is what I was told. Is that what actually happened, Little one?”
My whole body freezes at his question. If I agree, will he get mad at me for speaking badly about the guards? If I don’t agree, is he going to punish me for lying?
I grip the sides of my head and close my eyes tightly. It’s better to stay silent.
“Leah, answer me,” Daddy demands. “Tell me the truth.”
I shake my head. Nope. No way am I going to get in trouble.
“She must be afraid,” Yamal whispers.
How does he know? Do they have some type of way to read my mind?
“You have nothing to be afraid of. I just want you to answer truthfully,” Daddy gently says as he grabs onto my hands, detangling them from my hair and putting them to my side. “Is that how it happened, or was I lied to?”
Daddy lets go of my hands and cups my face, pulling back so I’m looking into his eyes.
“You’re okay. They can’t hurt you anymore,” he whispers. “Just tell me if that is what happened or not.”
Tears pool in my eyes, and I suck in a breath.
“You’re okay.” He wipes away the tears on my cheeks. “I bet you were so scared. You are with me now. I won’t let anything happen to you. You are mine to keep and protect.”
I stare into his eyes, letting the tears fall freely. I was terrified when they came into the room and went straight toward me. But how did he know that?
“I told them to be gentle with you and not to scare you,” he mumbles. “It looks like they did the exact opposite.”
He did what? I blink several times as I stare at him. Dadd... I mean, Chale is confusing me right now.
“I am going to have to give her a shot if she was injured on one of the cages,” Yamal says, bringing me out of my trance. “I don’t want her to get an infection. I don’t know when they were cleaned or whether they are rusty. Can you tell me that?”
My head snaps in his direction as I look at him with wide eyes. A sh-shot?
“Were the bars rusty?” Daddy asks as he rubs my back.
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know,” I whisper.
I wasn’t concerned about the bars at the time. All I wanted was to stay away from them and be safe. I was more worried about how everything was going to play out.
