“Talk to me.Tell me what’s going on so I can help you,” she orders and grabs my hands, pulling me closer to her.The movement pulls my back and I suck in a sharp breath as the lacerations tear a little more.“What’s wrong, Sutton?”
“I—”
The door opens and Dr.Melissa, Stone’s stepmom, comes in.
“Hey girls, I wanted to stop by before I headed home to make sure everything is—” she stops talking and stares at me then moves her eyes to the back of my shirt.“Sutton?What happened, honey?”
“What do you mean?’I ask, trying not to give anything away.
“What is it, Melissa?”Raegan asks looking confused.
“Sutton, can you stand up for me?”Dr.Melissa asks, and I know that she must see something about what my father did to me.
“Please don’t,” I plead for her not to say or do anything.
She doesn’t listen and comes striding over to me.
She takes the back of my white shirt and slowly lifts it up.My gasp of pain echoes off the white walls.
“What is it?”Raegan asks again.
“Sutton, who did this to you?”Melissa asks gently.
I shake my head and look over to Raegan.
“Thank you for being so kind to me,” I say.“I’ll never be able to repay you, but I have to go before they realize I left.”
Raegan swings her legs over the side and comes over to me, making me turn around to show her my back.She has the same reaction as Melissa but yanks it all the way up and over my shoulders, exposing the entire area.
“The fuck?”a voice booms from over by the door.We all turn and see Stone and Beckett standing there, holding cups of coffee.The minute they see my face, the drinks are dropped and they eat up the space between us.
“What the hell happened to you?”Stone is the first to ask as Beckett’s focus is on every inch of skin on my back.His nostrils flaring and I can see his chest rising and falling rapidly.
“Sutton, I need to stitch some of these up or it might not heal properly,” Melissa says, but I can hear the worry and distress in her voice.“Do you want to come to my office so we can talk while I do it?”
I start to nod just so I can break away and leave but don’t get the chance.
“You can do it right here while she tells us who did this,” Stone fumes.Beckett hasn’t said a word, but his eyes are zoned in on me.
“I-I—” the dam breaks again, and a sob makes it way out of my throat.
I’m jerked forward into a hard body, and I feel a blazing warm hand on my burning wounds.It makes me cry out.
“Careful,” Melissa chastises.“Honey, let’s sit you down, and I’ll get some supplies.”She doesn’t leave any room for argument as she spins on her heels and races out of the room.
“Here.”Raegan helps me sit down on her bed.
“No, you need to be in bed, Raegan.I’m fine.”I try to sniffle convincingly but clearly fail, if their faces can be read accurately.
“I want a name, Angel,” Beckett growls as the hand that’s placed on my thigh trembles.
“You don’t understand, and it doesn’t matter anymore?—”
“She came to tell me bye and that she was leaving,” Raegan tattles, and I feel Beckett stiffen.
“Were you going to tell me?”His voice has a mixture of accusation but also a little hurt in it.
“I was going to call you when I got settled.”He hops up from the bed and starts pacing the room.“I didn’t even know I was leaving until Judy woke me just a little bit ago and helped me escape.”
