Chapter 9 Chapter 9: In his bed
Milo
"Kid, are you okay?" a voice asked me.
"What…?"
"Where does it hurt?"
It was the bus driver. Had he really come all the way out here?
"Where it doesn't hurt would be a better question," I muttered.
"Come on, I´m taking you to the hospital," he said, placing my arm over his shoulder and helping me stand.
"No, not the hospital…", I shook my head.
I could only see out of one eye, breathing was difficult, and I held my injured arm with the other. My entire body was screaming in pain.
" Who attacked you?"
I was afraid. Those guys had threatened me. They had left me alive so that I could suffer.
"Let me take you home, then. You live on the farm of…"
"No, please… just leave me on the bus. I have to get out of here," I begged.
He was broad-shouldered, with a mustache and a wide forehead. He looked like a decent person.
"Please, sir…"
"Noah. My name is Noah. I have to be honest with you, kid, you don't seem to have any internal injuries, but you do have a lot of bruises and…"
"Mr. Noah, please, just let me on the bus…"
"You need help,"
He looked genuinely worried. I didn't know why. I don't think I had ever seen him before. Maybe he just felt sorry for me.
"I'll get help at college,"
I was surprised by the strength with which he lifted me, and within seconds I was back on the bus. It hadn't left, and even more surprising, my backpack was there on my seat, a little dirty but still there.
During the ride, Mr. Noah kept watching me through the rearview mirror. He helped me get off and continued looking at me with concern.
"Straight to the infirmary…"
"I promise," I said, limping.
But obviously, I didn't. I stumbled my way to my room, leaning against the walls.
God, I just wanted to get inside, lie down, and maybe take a shower.
Dolores was visiting a relative. I had no one else. And when I entered quickly, I realized I wasn't alone.
Fuck.
"Dammit! Where the hell were you? I told you that…", I heard Blake's voice, but he froze when he saw me. "What the fuck…?"
So many emotions crossed his face: surprise, pity… fear?
"What the hell happened to you? Who did this to you?" he asked with his eyes wide open.
He looked like a different person. He always had that arrogant attitude of a superior alpha male, but now he was something else entirely.
I closed the door and leaned against it.
Well, my father had already hit me, and then a group of bullies had beaten me. What was one more beating from this man?
"Milo… I asked you: Who. The. Hell. Did. This." he spat furiously.
"I don't have time for this, Blake,"
At least the idiot had kept the dividing line intact. Good.
And when I was about to reach the bed, my knee gave out, and I fell to the floor.
Or almost. He had caught me.
"Let go of me!" I growled, shaking myself away.
"Let me help you. I know we have our problems, but…"
"This is your fault, do you understand?" I snapped.
I supposed that, in part, it was true. I remembered what Joshua had said, his threat.
Blake was in shock.
"Do what you do best, Blake. Mind your own business…" I muttered. I needed to get the blood and dirt stuck to my skin off. I felt so filthy…
He watched me with a mixture of anger and anguish, his fists clenched and his arms at his sides. I didn't know if he was going to run away, hit me, or what.
With him, you never knew.
But my weak balance failed me again, and I fell face-first to the floor, although this time he caught me firmly. I didn't have even the slightest strength left to fight him.
"Dammit… you're so stubborn…", he said.
My mind drifted in and out. The pain overwhelmed me, and I cried out. A cold sweat ran through my body. I returned to the punches, to the dirt rising around me, to the sun burning against my face.
It returned to my family, the people who didn't want me.
To Morgan…
Where was he?
When I felt a burning sensation in my side, I woke up.
I was lying somewhere soft, not on the floor.
"What…?"
"Can you stay still? I'm trying to treat this wound."
"You're doing what…?"
My arm was in a real sling. There were bandages around one of my hands, a couple of fingers immobilized, one foot elevated on a pillow, and ice packs placed over different parts of my body. I could even feel my skin cooling.
Blake had… done all of this?
"You…",
"Yes. I laid you down and bandaged you," he murmured while applying ointment to one of my wounds that burned like hell.
"You just didn't want them to find me dead in the room or…"
"I'm glad you can still keep your sense of humor," he said sharply without even laughing, completely focused on my injury.
His hands on me felt… careful. His closeness affected me, even in circumstances as terrible as these.
"You shouldn't have crossed…"
"What?" he asked.
"The line,"
He didn't even look at me. He remained focused on the wound.
"I didn't cross it. You're in my bed. You crossed it."
"Oh…" That was all I said, and I fell silent.
After everything that had happened, it was the final blow that the person who had taken care of me was my worst enemy. My bully.
"Is that all you have to say?" His sad brown eyes looked even sadder.
"What do you want? You never healed my wounds when you used to hit me in school," I said.
I watched his expression fall, even though he tried to hide it.
"No. I expected you to tell me where this happened."
"I…"
"You were running away from your house? What happened there?"
God, not even my mother had asked me this many questions in my entire life.
"It's not your problem…", I murmured weakly. He didn't ask anything else.
Not what happened afterward, not who did this to me, not why I blamed him.
He kept looking at that wound. The bite. It seemed like Blake knew everything, but how?
"Is it too much to ask that you stay still while I get you some food?"
"I don't think I have the strength to move," I sighed.
He nodded. When he left, I was finally able to cry.
I pushed myself upright as best I could. Blake had cleaned me with a cloth. Nearby, I saw blood-stained bandages, medicine, and other supplies.
And one quick look was enough to make me realize that he knew exactly what he was doing.
I hadn't even finished checking my condition when the door opened. I trembled when I saw Big B standing there. He looked at me in shock and then roared:
"What the hell are you doing in the alpha's bed?"
