AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She turned back to me, her head heavy with so many thoughts as it landed on my shoulder. Her fingers moved again, this time drawing patterns on my legs. Patterns she wouldn’t dare admit were in the shape of love hearts. I tried not to focus on that, too.
“I know. Your nonna told me. You’re a doctor, which explains why you don’t know shit about art,” she teased, trying to humor herself.
But I couldn’t laugh, though I saw the joke.
“I’m okay. It’s a period,” she said quietly. “It started this morning. I don’t have tampons or pads.”
I nodded and hoped she understood I would take care of that.
Her whole body tightened in my grip, bracing against the cramps in her abdomen.
I let her nails dig into me, and in return, I ran my hand over her back softly, giving her compassion.
My eyebrows pulled down, and I saw the blood surrounding us, the metallic smell catching my attention.
I used my hand to move the red stain—and the large clots of blood that caused her cheeks to pink with embarrassment—from us.
I tilted her head to the glass and wrote another message. My chosen profession was why I’d taken an interest in her well-being. Yeah, let’s blame it on the profession.
Endo?
“I don’t know.”
She didn’t know if she had endometriosis.
“I haven’t had any tests.”
What the fuck did she have at home? No tests for brutal periods. No wheelchair for moving around the house. No wonder she hadn’t mentioned wanting to go home. All that was waiting for her was neglect. But neglect was better than abuse, I guess. And that’s all she’d had here.
Maybe she hadn’t mentioned going home because she was afraid I would walk in and murder her father accidentally on purpose. In the most violent way I could think of.
I needed that thought out of my head and to stay at bay, which was almost impossible…until Feebee looked at me. She wiped at the blood still loitering at my nose with the gentlest fingers. Then, her small body was twitching in my arms again.
I wrote her one last message, making a promise.
I’ll look into it for you.
As soon as my soon-to-be medical room was gutted and furnished, I wanted to help her receive the medical care she needed. I hadn’t told my family of my plans to gut out half of the downstairs and turn it into a private medical practice. It was always the plan…then shit happened and postponed everything.
They liked me as an art dealer and thought art was less stressful. Fuck, it was rarely not stressful. But I had grown to enjoy my job. I wouldn’t leave art behind for good, letting all the great paintings I could acquire dampen in dusty corners. I would just have to divide my time.
It was the only way. While I loved my job, I still felt like a part of me was missing when I wasn’t surrounded by medical tools.
I missed helping people.
People like Feebee, who crouched closely, one arm around me, her other around her stomach.
Chapter 22
Feebee
We sat in the shower until the sun dropped below the window and retreated for the night. Pretty pink painted the sky again...and I hated it, reminding me so much of the room I couldn’t face.
“Can you lean me back? I’m thirsty.” It was the first thing either of us said to each other in hours.
Mercer shook his head, water from his hair flicking into my face. He licked his lips, feeling the same way. He stood from the floor, water dripping from every ridge and ripple. Then, holding me tight, he stepped carefully onto the bathroom floor.
A quick rummage through his fancy drawers had him finding what he was looking for. He checked the date on a pack of sanitary pads and was satisfied enough with it to pick one out. Holding the packet between his perfect lips, he gripped a towel from the rail and walked me to the bed.
