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“The full works. She was raped today and assaulted before that.” Remi’s jaw was tense, like the rest of his body. He placed me on the bed and sat at my side. His arms took his weight, keeping him propped up as he leaned back. “There’s been some body modification that doesn’t look like it’s healed right…”
I’d always felt self-conscious, more so now. My arms wrapped around my body, and I shielded myself.
Remi didn’t fail to notice, but he didn’t comfort me by lying and saying that I didn’t look like a Raggedy Ann doll who had been damaged and poorly stitched back together, ready for the trash.
“She had trouble breathing earlier, and I’d like that checked over first. She has a heart defect.”
The words sank into my ears, and my jaw dropped. “I have a heart defect?”
“There is also an issue with memory loss,” he told the doctor. “Could that be an emotional shutdown?”
“That, or an injury? Do we know what kind of heart defect?”
“I think it was something to do with a hole in the upper wall?” Remi’s eyes shifted to me, his body, too, just an inch, but I couldn’t give him what he wanted. I didn’t have the answer to his question.
This was all new to me, and it was so much to process.
Remi continued, “I knew her when we were younger, and I remember her telling me about a heart defect.”
“Okay. Is she from the facility?”
“No.” Remi shook his head. “I found her somewhere else, but she is trafficked.”
“Would you care to elaborate?”
“You have the information you need.”
“Okay.” The doctor, whose name had already slipped from my head, didn’t appreciate Remi’s vagueness. “And will she go to Beyond Heaven when we’re done here?”
What is Beyond Heaven? I was afraid to voice the question.
“No. She’ll be staying with me.”
“And Ollie is okay with that?”
“Ollie has another girl at the house right now, and Beyond Heaven is filling up.”
“They are working on an extension. Some of the older residents will be happy to share in the meantime if that’s what is needed. We can get some extra beds.”
“That won’t be necessary. As I said, she’ll be staying with me. I paid my share for that house. The boys can’t say anything.”
The tension in the room was interrupted by a buzzing phone that the doctor pulled from his pocket.
I used this time to ask Remi, “Is your stomach okay? I really think he should check you over, too.”
“I’m fine.” He smiled, his eyes a little glassier. He moved closer, taking my hand to his lips to whisper against my skin. “I appreciate your concern.”
He kissed my knuckles, his lips still soft.
“You can relax, Olivier. He’s here.” There was a slight pause as the doctor waited for Olivier to talk. “At Beyond Heaven? Did they say what?”
“What’s happened?” Remi jumped from the bed, his cold fingers freeing from mine instantly. “Is she okay?”
My heart, with its unknown defect, sunk. He had another person. A person whom he cared so much about that he dropped me instantly. Tears filled my eyes, and I knew how ridiculous that was because I didn’t actually know him. All I knew was what he’d told me, that his scent brought comfort, and that he felt like home.
I held those tears back because if I cried now, with everything I felt, the pain inside and out of my body, the guilt of killing, the loss of Callie, I’d never stop.
“I’ll tell him, but Olivier, you can stop worrying now. Take the night off work, and get a good night’s sleep. You fucking need it.”
