Chapter 49 Chapter 49
ADRIANA'S POV
Unlike yesterday when my being unable to walk to the bath was entirely fictional, I was actually struggling with it now. I've groaned and cursed about ten times since Candace left me in the bathroom. She'd helped me out of the wheelchair first then helped me get into the bath.
I would have chosen a quick shower but standing was a bitch. What the hell motivated me to run out of the room with no shoes on? Whatever dumb spirit that was, I was really hating on it right now.
I finished my bath faster than last night then got out of the tub, wincing with every contact my feet made with the cold tiles. I wasn't even paying attention to the fact that I had no shoes on in the bathroom. It wasn't dirty in the least, if I was being honest, the bathroom was much neater than my room back at my old pack.
I was tying the towel around me when I heard a knock on the bedroom door. My heart almost stopped, thinking it was Xander. Something told me if it was him, a scene like last night's would repeat itself and this time, there wouldn't be much running. He might just go through with his threat.
Totally unnatural, my stomach clenched in what I had to assume was fear. There was no other plausible explanation for that. Thankfully, I heard Daciana's voice. I instantly calmed when I was sure it wasn't her brother. Come think of it, Xander doesn't knock, he mostly barges in like he owns the place. Okay, he actually did own the place but weren't we deserving of privacy? That was secondary to him apparently.
"Adriana, are you okay n there?" I looked down at my covered body. My feet were burning but that was the least of my problems. " Hello, Adriana?" Daciana asked ahai, her voice louder which meant she moved closer to the door. Not wanting to worry her I clear my throat and reply.
"Yes, I'm fine." I muttered, loud enough for her to hear. "I'll be out in a sec." Even from here, I heard her relieved sigh. "Okay, I'll wait for you here. What do you think about having breakfast together?" I nodded before realizing she couldn't hear me. "Yes, that sounds good." With that. I wrapped another towel over my wet hair then walked outside, wincing with every step that I take. It felt like I walked through hot coals without shoes instead of grass. Though there were a few moments when I'd walked through gravel and rough patches, the worst of it was the woods. That doesn't explain the burning in my soles though.
"Oh my God! What happened to you?!" Daciana shoots off the bed and comes running toward me when I come into view. I stand by the door, awkwardly trying to desperately hide the grimace on my face.
"What happened?!" She shrieks, the horror barely hidden in her voice, her eyes were wide with shock.
"Oh my God. Come, your feet must be hurting." She holds my hand gently and walk with me to the bed. I heave a grateful sigh when the pressure is finally lifted off my legs. She wraps her arms around me and I wince before I can catch myself. She of course notices that and before I could say anything, she started dragging the towel lower.
Her doing that made the other I roughly tied over my hair fall back on the bed, letting my wet hair touch my now bare back. I wince when I feel it burn. Water and wounds weren't really a good combination. I should know that. She let out a horrified gasp that made me
terrified.
Did my back really look that bad?
"What in the hell happened from last night till now?" she asked, she was looking over me like a mother checking out her child for injuries. When she was seemingly satisfied with what she found, she made a small sound at the back of her throat and stood back up. "Who did this to you, Adriana? You were fine when I left you here last night." She said the last part more to herself than me. She lowered herself into the bed beside me with a groan. Her hand was in her hair, pulling it like that would answer the questions she was
asking.
"I...fell?" I didn't mean for it to come out like a question. I wasn't sure what I remembered happening and if the wolf was the actual truth. I've been beaten multiple times for saying something I wasn't sure of. I doubted Daciana would hit me but I've been trained to understand never to say things I wasn't sure of.
"How can just a fall do that to you?" She sounded lost. I do too because now I realized how dumb that was. "Did someone push you out of the window or what the fuck?" She grumbled. Her eyes wide.
"No, nothing like that." I shook my head frantically. She was starting to get hysteric. She got off the bed and started pacing. "We should call the doctor. You need to be taken to the hospital to have that back checked out." She said with a shake of her head. "God, I'm so sorry I didn't come earlier, why didn't anyone tell me?" She looked angry. I knew she wasn't angry at me, she was angry for me. That was something I've never had.
When she was close enough to me, I grabbed her hands, stopping her pacing. She looked down at me, her face softening as she took in my pleading eyes. I didn't want her to make a big deal out of this.
"I'm fine. It's just a little scratch." I tried to laugh, so she could see that it really want anything serious. She of course didn't fall for it.
"That's not just a little scratch. You have a scar almost running up your entire back." She cried out. "And look at your feet. No, this isn't nothing." She rushed out, her voice raising with each word that she uttered. She shook her head again and took in a deep breath, to calm herself most likely.
I looked down at my hands, not knowing what to say or do. It was still awkward when I saw how angry and worried she gets on my behalf. I wasn't used to having another person care for me that way.
"It's like calling the black hole a big hole." A small laugh left my lips at that. I didn't know the relation between my wounds and the
black hole.
Daciana though wasn't finding any of this funny. "You have to tell me what happened? How it happened." She added the last part pointedly. I cleared my throat and looked away.
"Adriana," she called, her tone pleading. She sat back beside me and picked up my hands that were intertwined on my thighs and held it
between hers.
"You don't have to be scared Adriana, tell me, who did this to you?" Her voice softer as she asked that. She gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, urging me to speak up.
Me keeping quiet wasn't going to help anyone, especially me, and telling her what happened would make her worry less when she sees that is really was nothing.
"Erm," I swallowed and cleared my throat again. "Xander came here after-"I realized I made a mistake by staring with Xander's name when she growled the moment I said it.
"What did that bastard do?" Her eyes went wide. "Did he do this to you?" I shook my head immediately after. She looked like she was getting angry. Though I've never seen it, something told me it wasn't going to be pretty.
"He didn't do anything." I stuttered. The images of that wolf throwing my body like I was nothing more than a rag doll filtered through my head, the hairs on the back of my arm rose.
"Don't defend him!" She growled and before I could utter another word, she stormed out of the room, her anger still crackling in the room even after she had left.
I really hope she wasn't about to do anything to him, Xander was innocent in this case. I was dumb for not drilling it into her head.
Shit, I was honestly a terrible person. I couldn't even do something as simple as getting her to listen to me and now she was upset with her brother who only helped me.
Maybe my father and brothers were right all along. I didn't deserve anything good and all I brought was bad luck and chaos.
I shook my head trying to get rid of their voices in my head, them calling me names and telling me how worthless I am. I convinced myself they weren't right and pulled the clothes that were on the bed over my head, ignoring my still damp here that was surely leaving
a wet spot over the top.
My mind was still trying to shut Carlson and Damien's voices. As much as I tried to pretend none of it affected me, I knew deep down, a part of me believed that. And it made me feel even more terrible.
It doesn't matter how far I run from them, I wasn't going to escape them and their cruelty.