Page 112 of Devour

Then everything goes dark.

“Axl.” I need to tell him. I need to tell him everything. “It was—”

The door opens and a man in scrubs appears. “Miss Carter.” The man stops at the foot of my bed. He has a clipboard in his hand, and he glances at Axl before looking back at me. “It’s good to see you awake.”

“She just came to.” Axl doesn’t move from the edge of the bed. “What information do you have?”

“I’m going to wait outside,” Priest says from behind Axl. I didn’t even realize he was there. That must have been who Axl was talking to.

The man looks at his clipboard after Priest leaves and then back at me. He shifts his weight, and the unease settles over my entire body.

“We got some of your test results back.” He pauses. “And there are some things we need to discuss. Perhaps, you might want your . . . boyfriend to leave the room?”

The man gives Axl a cautious look. It can’t be good if he doesn’t want Axl hearing it.

“He stays.” I don’t hesitate. I reach for Axl’s hand and hold on. “Whatever you have to say, you say it in front of him.”

He’s going to learn whatever it is anyway. I’m not going to keep anything from him, including what Justin did. All of it. We’re going to have to find a way to help Kynlee because going to auction is safer than staying near my fucked-up brother.

Axl grips my hand and kisses the top of my head. When I look up at him, he’s staring at the doctor with his jaw set. I can feel the tension running through his entire body.

The doctor nods slowly but still doesn’t seem sure about Axl staying. He flips a page on his clipboard and draws a breath. “Alright.” He looks up from the chart. “I need to go over what we found.”

CHAPTER 47

SAYLOR

The doctor looks at his clipboard one more time and then holds it to his chest. “We performed a full examination while you were unconscious, Miss Carter. Given the circumstances of how you were brought in . . .” the doctor says, giving Axl a pointed look, “we followed standard protocol.”

I have a feeling I know what he’s going to tell us and tears sting my eyes.

“We found evidence of sexual assault.” His eyes are solemn and kind as he says the words. “Based on the state of the bruising and the semen, it appears to have occurred around the time of the incident or just before.”

I close my eyes. That fucking bastard. It wasn’t enough to try to kill me to hide something he did, he had to rape me one more time too. I grind my teeth, and I’m so fucking angry that my hands are shaking because I want to rip the IV out of my arm and go find him. If I’d been quicker with my knife or if my timing had been better, none of this would have fucking happened.

“No! Goddamnit! Son of a bitch!” Axl growls, and I can feel him vibrating beside me. His grip on my hand tightens, and he cups my face with his other hand. His jaw is tense from forcing himself to be calm for me. “Who did this to you, baby? Tell me who it is, so I can break every fucking bone in his body before I slit his fucking throat.”

“Axl.” I focus my watery eyes on his. They’re red, and there’s so much pain there. I know he’s going to blame himself, and I don’t want him to. There’s only one fucking person to blame, and he isn’t in this room. I glance back to the doctor, preferring to have this conversation with Axl in private. “Is that all?”

The doctor hesitates. He glances at Axl again with that same cautious look he gave before.

“What is it?” I ask. How much worse could it be than being raped by my brother?

“Your bloodwork showed elevated hCG levels.” He pauses and takes a sad breath. “You were pregnant, Miss Carter. It was very early. Based on the levels, approximately three to four weeks.”

I bring my hand to my mouth. “I was pregnant? What are you saying?”

“With the trauma your body sustained and the drugs in your system and it being so early—the pregnancy didn’t survive.” He says the words plainly, but his eyes are softer now. “I’m very sorry.”

I stare at him. My brain is trying to process two things at once. I was pregnant and I didn’t know. And now I’m not.

Axl grabs his head, and his fingers tighten in his hair. “No. Please, no.”

But the first thing my mind goes to isn’t grief. I need to know what I just lost.

“Three to four weeks?” My voice is shaking. “You’re sure about the timing?”

“Based on your hCG levels, yes. We are very certain.”