Fragile: Book One in The Everett Gaming Series

by Sera, Drew

  “Anth, we can’t wait ten minutes. We need to go. Can you lift her?”

  “Yeah, she doesn’t weigh anything.”

  I pulled my jacket off and draped it over her as Anthony headed to the door with her. I grabbed her phone, locked the door and raced ahead of Anthony to get the back door opened and a blanket from the cargo area. I helped him into the back with her and dialed Matt before moving the car towards his hospital.

  When he answered I spoke quickly and briefly told him what Anthony and I walked into and that we’d be there shortly. Luckily, Sydney’s place was close to the hospital Matt worked at. I disconnected the call and concentrated on getting us there. I had to push the urges away to turn around and look. I knew Anthony would do his best back there with her.

  I heard some struggling and coughing and then Anthony swore under his breath. I kept my eyes on the road. She sounded like she was coming out of it some and began whimpering.

  “Easy, sunshine. No, honey I’m not going to hurt you. Shhh, Sydney…look. Look at me. It’s me, Anthony. Anthony. That’s right, you’re safe, sweetie. Colin is driving us to the hospital. You’re safe, try to relax.”

  Fuck, she was coming out of her stupor and thought she was in the arms of her attacker. Anthony’s words must have calmed her some because I didn’t hear anymore frantic movements. As I approached a red light, I heard her cough and Anthony swore again. When I stopped at the light, I turned to see her cradled in his arms with one battered hand poking out from the blanket clenching the open part of Anthony’s shirt. I was shocked to see that his white shirt was splattered with blood. It looked like someone flicked red paint at him. I glanced at Sydney and she had blood trickling from her mouth. Anthony was wiping it away with his thumb. I made eye contact with him and saw worry and concern etched all over him. This was bad. Very, very bad.

  “Green light, Col.”

  Fuck! I’m not paying attention. I kept my eyes on the road and got us there quickly. Matt was standing outside just as he said he would be. He had helped Anthony out of the car by the time I made it around to them. Matt led us to a room and went to the sink to wash his hands while Anthony set her down on the table. I took up the other side and helped Anthony try to calm her. She was shaking and kept trying to sit up.

  “‘M okay. Just need to go home and sleep,” she slurred.

  “No baby, you’re not going home to sleep. Remember Matt? Yes? Matt’s a doctor and is going to take a look, baby.” I said to her while brushing her damp hair off her face. Her skin felt clammy and she felt like she was running a fever.

  Anthony hadn’t moved and her hand shook as it kept its grip on his shirt. Matt came over and pulled the blanket away leaving her covered partially by my jacket. I’m glad she was in his hands. I trusted Matt with my life and knew he would be the best for her. He had an excellent bedside manner and since he’s also a trauma counselor, he would be able to calm her.

  “Sydney, tell me where you hurt the most.”

  She tried to move the hand I was holding towards her stomach.

  “Stomach? Okay. I’m going to pull this jacket away and take a look.”

  Sydney started to whimper when he moved the jacket and let her head roll from side to side. She didn’t want to feel so exposed. But fuck that, she was really messed up and needed care.

  “No, please,” she sobbed and clutched her stomach.

  “Sydney, I have to look, sweetie. I’ll let you have the blanket back as soon as I’m done looking.”

  When Matt pulled away the jacket, my eyes began racing around looking at the damage. It was impossible to focus on one wound or injury because there were so many. With a gloved hand, Matt began gently touching her abdomen. She cried out and tried to bend in the middle while trying to roll towards Anthony. She was moving towards him for safety.

  “Sunshine, Matt is going to help you. He won’t hurt you.” Anthony had her face in his hands and was talking quietly to her. She still held onto his shirt for dear life with a shaky hand.

  Matt continued talking to her as he felt around and kept his eyes moving to quickly assess her. Sydney wasn’t able to answer most of his questions though. She was in shock. Matt set a hospital gown on the exam table and looked up at me.

  “I need to get a CT scan. See this discoloration around her ribs, I need to see if something is broken and check on this abdomen. I’ll be right back with a wheeled bed.”

  “Matt, she needs something for the pain,” I said to him as he headed out of the room.

  I looked up at Anthony and then back down at Sydney. She was writhing in pain and tried to grab at her stomach. I picked the hand up and straightened the bent, shaking fingers and flattened it between my hands gently. Her small fingers were red and purple around the knuckles. She was probably no match for her attacker. Her body was a mess.

  “Just rest, baby. Matt will be right back,” I told her.

  I wanted to start asking questions about what the hell happened. But I had to be patient and keep myself in check. She was obviously scared and I’m sure her head wasn’t clear. The last thing she needed was Anthony and I to lose it. She needed medical attention first. Matt came back with the wheeled bed and Anthony swiftly moved her to it. We walked down the hall to the set of double doors where two people in scrubs met us. Matt looked up at me.

  “We won’t be long.”

  Anthony stood next to me and Sydney pulled on his shirt as she was wheeled away from us. She whimpered and craned her head to look at Anthony and I. Anthony started to move towards her but I put my arm across his shoulders to halt him.

  “We can’t go back there, Anth. Matt’s with her.”

  He and I sat down on some seats close to the bathrooms and I pulled my phone out. I called Sydney’s director at Openin, Dwayne. I filled him in on this evening and asked him to look for an emergency contact. She didn’t have anyone listed with Openin and I already knew she didn’t have anyone listed with my company either. Fragile kitten was alone. I wrapped up my call with Dwayne and told him Anthony and I were with her and would stay the night and that I’d update him in the morning. Anthony sat leaning over, resting his head in his hands while his knees bounced. I quickly called James, our assistant, and filled him in. I told him Anthony and I would both be out for a few days.

  “Anth, let’s go get cleaned up. You look like you’ve been in a fight.”

  We went into the bathroom and I stared at myself for a few minutes before washing the blood off my arms and hands and I splashed some water on my face. Anthony took his button shirt off and threw it away, leaving him in a white tee shirt. He gripped the side of the sink and stared blankly into the sink. I didn’t mean to rush him, but we needed to get back to the hall so we’d see them when they went by.

  “Come on, Anth. We need to get back out there. We’re all that is familiar to her.”

  “Fuck! You don’t think I don’t know that?”

  I stood there as support while he quickly rinsed his face and scrubbed at the blood on his hands and neck. Anthony was starting to unravel. Sydney didn’t need us loosing control. He tilted his head back and shut his eyes. He was taking deep breaths and exhaling them slowly.

  “Sorry, Col.”

  “Come on, Anth. We take care of her and then you and I figure out the rest.”

  I handed him some paper towels and then we made it back to the hall just as Matt was pushing her through the doors. Anthony and I both raced over and took up each of her sides. She was curled up in a little ball on her side and was gripping the short sleeves on a hospital gown. Definitely in shock. Matt had hooked her up with some pain medication.

  Back in the room Matt continued his exam. I took hold of her hand that was closest to me and Anthony uncurled her fingers and attached them to his shirt hem. Matt worked quickly to clean and bandage several cuts on her torso and arms. I knew the medication was starting to work because her grip on my hand got lighter and her eyes shut a few times. Matt was great for her because he’d explain what
he was going to do before he did it. Not that she was completely coherent and heard it all.

  I helped Matt roll her towards Anthony so that he could take a look at her back. Her back was torn up. It looked like she had been whipped. Matt stopped moving and I swore under my breath when we saw her back. I quickly looked up at Anthony to see if he had heard my swearing.

  “What?” His tone dared me to sugar coat it. I shook my head at him but he leaned over Sydney’s side to see. I knew he was sick inside too. Matt cleared his throat reminding Anthony and I to keep calm. If we got worked up, Sydney would as well. We were her calm during the storm.

  Sydney’s back looked like a scratching post for a cat. I reached out to touch one of the raised welts when Matt smacked my hand away. Her spine was black and blue and her hips were bright pink and looked chapped and dry. I couldn’t believe that this was our fragile kitten’s body.

  As I swallowed my own bile, I realized that this all didn’t happen in one night. Some of the bruising was in different stages of healing. Anger welled up in me as I wondered how long this fucking shit had gone on right under my nose.

  Matt went back to cleaning the marks on her back. He had calm, slow movements around Sydney. As he moved her hair out of the way we saw a sprinkling of small burns on her neck. They were already white and had probably been there for a while.

  I quickly counted at least a dozen tiny little white marks on the back of her neck. Matt touched one and her shoulders came up as she whimpered. Anthony gave Matt a warning look with a frown.

  “Probably cigarette burns,” Matt said quietly as he rubbed some antibiotic gel on her cuts. I looked up at Anthony and saw that his face was red and a vein was prominent in his neck. He was as sick over this as I was.

  Sydney was quiet as Matt poked and touched her. She was alert enough to know what Matt had examined and bandaged and what was still left. Matt skipped her private region and tended to her legs. It looked like at some point she had received a beating with a belt or leather strap. I had money on the belt though because I could see the faint mark of the wrapping of the buckle on her hip and lower part of her abdomen. Her butt cheeks were badly bruised and the backs of her thighs had the strap marks. Her knees were raw, ankles looked like her wrists and the bottoms of her feet had cuts on them.

  Whoever fucking did this to her better be good at hiding. I’m resourceful with the means and will find the bastard. Matt’s voice brought me out of my thoughts and I saw a rape kit pack sitting on the silver table tray Matt kept returning to.

  “Okay, just about done Sydney. I know you don’t want me to sweetheart but I have to check …” Sydney’s tears cut him off.

  “No, please. No m-more,” she begged and looked up at Anthony and I hoping we’d tell Matt not to check anywhere else.

  “Here sunshine,” Anthony moved her hand from his shirt to wrap around a few of his fingers. “Squeeze my hand as hard as you need to. If you hurt me, then I can use it as an excuse when I loose at golf.”

  He winked at her and she smiled and even let out a small laugh. Somehow through all of this, she had a smile in her and Anthony knew how to get it out. She smiled through her tears and kept her eyes closed. I nodded at Matt to hurry the fuck up. She couldn’t take much more so I hoped that this would be the last of what he needed to do for now.

  I prayed everything would be okay down there and glanced when he began his exam. I looked away when I saw the small cuts on the inside of her thighs that sat on black and blue skin.

  “Almost done, baby. Matt’s almost done.” I stroked her forehead and rubbed the top of her hand.

  Finally Matt lowered her gown and took his gloves off after screwing the lid onto a few vials with cotton swabs. He stuck some labels on the vials and put her name on them and returned to my side. He pulled the sheet up to give her added comfort and patted her leg.

  “You were a very brave, good girl. I’m going to take these up to the lab to be processed immediately and secure a room for you. Do you have anyone we should notify?”

  She shook her head, confirming there was no one. I met Anthony’s glance though. We were all she had. When Matt left, she closed her eyes again and said something wearily with a faint smile. At first I didn’t catch all of it but then I pieced it together.

  “He said I was a good girl.”

  I wiped up the trails of tears from her cheeks and looked down at our wounded, fragile kitten. I wanted to fix everything that had happened to her and heal her from the inside out. I wanted to keep her safe and sound.

  When Matt came back he had the CT scan results with him and reported severely bruised ribs. She had sustained some hard blows to the abdomen, which is what Matt thought had caused the coughing up of blood at this time. Matt had ordered an MRI be done to rule out any damage to any organs. Many of her other bones were bruised as well and she had a hairline fracture in her left wrist. The samples he took from the pelvic exam along with some blood was up in the lab now.

  “Okay Sydney, you’re going to have to stay here a few days. The blood work should be back in a little bit and then we will know a little bit more about your stomach. Is the stomach pain subsiding some?” Sydney nodded weakly. I hoped the painkillers would hurry the fuck up. “We’ll, get the MRI in the morning. I’ve already arranged a room for you.”

  She was staring off into space and her eyes kept shutting and reopening every few seconds. Our fragile kitten was alone and it made me more determined to make sure she was taken care of. I could see her tense up and it was like she was building a wall up around herself. Probably a defense mechanism or coping mechanism. I wasn’t going to let her shut us out.

  Chapter 25

  Monday, October 21st

  Colin

  Watching Sydney sleep calmed me down some. After the evening we had, I was glad to see that she wasn’t in any pain at the moment and was sleeping. I sat on the windowsill ledge next to her bed while Anthony sat in the chair beside her. Even as she slept, she had one hand holding his sleeve. Anthony was showing a tender side that I’d never seen before. He was gentle with her and had balled up a blanket and pressed it against her sides.

  She trusted us. I couldn’t wrap my head around it but there it was. Plain and simple. After what happened to her, I could easily see her never trusting anyone. But she felt safe with Anthony and I and the thought warmed my heart. Anthony was still pushing blankets up against her sides.

  “What are you doing, Anth?”

  He looked over at me and stilled his hands. No answer came from him right away and I raised my eyebrow at him.

  “She’ll feel better. It’ll help her feel protected and safe,” he said quietly and went back to focusing on her.

  I glanced at Matt. How Anthony thought about that right now was beyond me. But there he was building a sea of protective blankets against Sydney while she held his sleeve.

  I learned at a young age how important a blanket could be as it can be the source of comfort to those who experience trauma. I’d say that she definitely had experienced some trauma. When I was involved in the car accident that killed my parents and brother, the paramedics wrapped a blanket around me. They continued that practice at the hospital as well. I smiled as I saw Sydney being surrounded by soft blankets, courtesy of my tough guy best friend.

  Matt was sitting next to me while we were waiting for her lab stuff to come back. None of us spoke but each of us were deep in thought about the evening.

  “So, the deal with her wrists are that they are burns,” Matt said quietly. I think he was trying to get a grip on everything as well.

  All of us hated to see a sub abused. Matt dealt with it some with Gina and I could tell it had him thinking about that. I sighed and nodded.

  “Thank you for helping her, Matt. I was glad you ended up working double today.”

  “Wouldn’t have mattered. I would have been here for her when you called.” He looked up when one of the monitors she was hooked up to made a noise that I hadn’t heard before
. He stood and adjusted the drip line for the pain medicine.

  “I had to notify the police. But you two already knew that, I’m sure. While I had her back doing the CT, I had one of the techs assist with the photos. An officer will be here tomorrow to talk to her and take her statement.”

  Neither Anthony nor I said anything. We knew it was protocol and that Matt had to. I winced thinking about the scene at her apartment. Matt stood and said he was going to check on the lab results.

  “She can’t go back there, Anth.”

  He nodded and leaned his head back on the chair while he stroked Sydney’s hand that held his sleeve. He pulled her blanket up around her some more. He was being very protective and gentle with her.

  “I don’t give a fuck if she never wants anything to do with the BDSM lifestyle, she can stay at my place until I can get her a new place of her own. Closer to work and in a safer area,” I said to Anthony.

  Matt came back in with some papers in his hand and sat back down beside me while he read. The constant scowl on his face worried me.

  “She’s got some serious shit in her system.”

  Anthony and I both looked at Matt waiting for him to elaborate. He continued to read and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe these were her blood results.

  “She’s got stuff in her system that would numb her. Make her more tolerant to pain. There is a decent amount of it. I doubt that it was all from last night.”

  I knew what it meant, but Anthony voiced it.

  “So some ass fuck has been forcing it on her, having his way with her and binds her to hot metal. Fuck.”

  I could tell he was fuming. He moved quickly and started to pull Sydney’s fingers off his shirt as if he felt he needed to get out of the room for a while. I went over and grabbed a fistful of his shirt causing him to stop moving and look up at me.

  “Don’t you do that.” I pointed to the direction of his hand. “She’s scared, Anth. You and I are all that she knows and trusts. If you push her away like that you’re going to hurt her.”