Chapter 34 Taking the Bull By The Horns
Courtney’s POV
If there was one thing I hated more than being injured, it was being treated like I was fragile.
“Sit still,” Damian whispered as the doctor checked my arm.
“I am sitting still,” I argued and bit my bottom lip when fingers pressed a sensitive bruise on my elbow.
“Then stop moving,” Damian hissed as he knelt beside me and helped me angle my arm better.
“I adjusted my arm, not ran a marathon.”
The doctor didn’t even look up from where he was examining the bruising along my forearm. He ran his fingers along the cast that ran from below my elbow to my wrist, checking if it was damaged before moving to check my fingers.
“Adjusting can aggravate the injury,” Damian grunted while keeping his gaze averted from my accusatory one.
I eyed the top of his head, ready to grab a handful of hair with my good hand and yank his face towards mine.
“Did you hire him to say that?”
He finally lifted his face towards me and didn’t even blink.
“No. He’s just competent.”
I leaned back against the pillows with a quiet huff, forcing myself to stay still as the doctor continued his assessment. The room smelled faintly of antiseptic now, the sharp, clean scent filling the air as he worked. It wasn’t a bad injury. I knew that. A deep bruise. Some strain. Nothing else broken apart from my previous injuries. But the way Damian was watching, you’d think I had barely survived a war zone. Which, okay. Technically, we had just been attacked. Still.
“I’m fine,” I muttered again.
“You’re injured again,” Damian replied calmly from his position on the floor.
“I’ve had worse.”
“That doesn’t make this better.”
“It makes it manageable.”
“It makes it dangerous to underestimate.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Do you rehearse these lines?”
“No.”
“Because they sound rehearsed.”
“They’re called facts.”
The doctor cleared his throat slightly as he completed his assessment. He looked at me through his rimless glasses and smiled faintly.
“If you two are finished—”
“We’re not,” I said at the same time Damian said, “Continue.”
I glanced at him. He didn’t look away. And for a moment, just a moment, something softer flickered beneath all that control. Concern. Real concern. It hit me harder than I expected. I looked away first. The doctor finished wrapping a light support band around my arm, careful not to jostle my arm any more than needed to be.
“No additional fractures,” he said. “But there’s significant bruising and mild muscle strain. You’ll need to rest it.”
“I can still work,” I added immediately.
“You can still rest,” Damian countered.
“I will still work.”
“You will still rest.”
I sighed.
“This is exhausting.”
“You’ll survive.”
“Barely.”
The doctor packed up his things, looking just about at his limit with our back-and-forth banter.
“I’ll leave some anti-inflammatory medication. Try not to strain it for a few days.”
“I’ll try,” I said.
Damian didn’t respond. Which meant he didn’t believe me. The doctor gave him a brief nod and exited the room. Silence settled in almost immediately. I flexed my fingers slightly, testing the movement.
“Don’t.”
I looked up at Damian.
“You’re still here?”
“I live here.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I don't,” his gaze lingered on my injured arm, his lips pulled into a strained line.
“And?” I asked and waited, not quite sure what I was expecting him to say.
“And I’m making sure you’re okay.”
“I just got medically cleared.”
“You got medically assessed.”
I stared at him.
“You’re impossible.”
“We've drawn this conclusion already, and I’ve accepted that.”
I exhaled slowly, leaning back again. “Damian…”
My tone softened. Just slightly. “I am okay.”
He didn’t respond right away. Instead, he pushed himself off the floor and sat on the bed beside me, taking my good hand in his and gently cupping it between his.
He was so close now. Close enough that I could see the tension in his jaw. The way his shoulders hadn’t fully relaxed. The way his eyes kept scanning me like he was still checking for something he might’ve missed.
“They grabbed your injured arm,” he said quietly.
“I know.”
“You could’ve made it worse.”
“I didn’t.”
“You could have.”
I tilted my head slightly.
“But I didn’t.”
A pause. Then—
“They tried to take you.”
There it was. Not the injury. Not the bruise. That.
I took my hand from his and used my index finger under his chin to make him look me in the eyes. I held his gaze.
“And they failed.”
“Because you fought back.”
“And because Elena did too.”
His jaw tightened again. “I should’ve been there.”
I blinked. “That’s not how this works.”
“It should be.”
“It’s not.”
“You shouldn’t have been in that position.”
“Damian,” I said firmly, “I am in this position because I chose to be.”
His eyes flickered.
“That doesn’t mean I like it.”
“I didn’t ask you to like it.”
“I asked you to be careful.”
“I was careful.”
“You walked into an ambush.”
“I adapted.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
I pushed myself up slightly, ignoring the pull in my arm.
“It’s exactly the same thing.”
His gaze hardened.
“No, it’s not.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s a risk.”
“It’s reality.”
“It’s unnecessary exposure.”
“It’s doing what needs to be done.”
We stared at each other. The air between us tightening. Charged. Then, I softened. Just a little.
“Look,” I said more quietly. “I know you’re worried.”
“I’m not worried.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Really?”
A beat. Then—
“I’m aware of you having the ability to....to adapt.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And I don’t like it, but you and I chose one another because we know each other's strengths and weaknesses.”
“Uh-huh, I like where this is going,” I joked and felt the warmth build in my stomach when the corner of his lips lifted a bit.
His lips quirked and I felt like something in me switched. I leaned forward slightly. Carefully.
“But I’m not going anywhere,” I said.
His gaze locked onto mine.
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I was considering options. Safe options. You know, you always said you missed Anna so much. Why not a trip to Europe?”
“Stop,” I warned him. "As much as I would love to see Anna again in person, she would agree with me on this one. I belong here. With you."
“It’s not.....it's not that simple.”
“It is.”
A pause. Then—
“You’re staying here then, indefinitely,” he said.
I blinked.
“I beg your pardon?”
“It’s safer. I'm sure the patrols are going to need to continue,”
“It’s your house.”
“Yes.”
“I have my own place.”
“Not right now, you don’t.”
I stared at him.
“You cannot just relocate me like I’m furniture.”
“I’m not relocating you.”
“You literally just did.”
“I’m protecting you.”
“I don’t need protecting.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.”
Silence. Heavy. Unyielding. Then—
A knock at the door. Peter’s voice followed.
“Are you two done arguing, or should we order popcorn?”
I closed my eyes briefly.
“Go away, Peter.”
“Can’t. Important update.”
Damian exhaled slowly.
“Come in.”
The door opened. Peter stepped inside, Emily just behind him, Elena lingering slightly in the hallway.
“All good?” Peter asked, glancing between us.
“Define good,” I muttered.
“No additional broken bones,” Damian said.
“That’s something.”
Emily stepped forward slightly.
“We’ve been going over the timeline.”
I shifted my attention to her.
“And?”
“And if Elena’s documents are what we think they are…” she said slowly, “then Felicia isn’t just covering tracks.”
“She’s trying to erase them,” I finished.
Emily nodded.
“Which means she’s not going to stop.”
I leaned back against the pillows again.
“Good.”
They all looked at me.
“What?” I said.
“That didn’t sound like fear,” Peter noted.
“It wasn’t.”
“It sounded like a challenge,” Elena added quietly.
I smiled slightly. “It is.”
Damian looked at me. Long. Steady.
“You don’t back down.”
“No. That bitch looked me in the eye and thought I was easy.”
“Definitely going to earn her an ass-whooping,” Peter declared with a wide grin.
A beat. Then—
“Alright then,” Damian said.
And just like that, the tension shifted. Not gone. Never gone. But aligned. Because whatever this was, whatever Felicia Ardent had started—
We weren’t running from it. We were stepping straight into it. Together.