Rubbing my thighs with his large hands, Levi didn’t take his eyes off mine as he spoke to his sister and Bonnie. “Lottie started talking to a therapist last week about it, and they’re going to see each other for a while. It’s not going to work itself out overnight, but we’re all going to help her.”
“I’m in,” Ariana agreed, not even taking a second to do it.
Bonnie was the same. “Me too.”
Then a chorus of deep voices behind me added, “I’ll do it.”
The freaking tears that kept appearing out of nowhere built in my eyes, and I was struggling to not let them loose. The support meant everything to me, but I wasn’t sure that I wasn’t bothering them with this burden.
And Levi, the man had done so much for me, but when was he going to say enough? I hadn’t done a damn thing for him, so wasn’t that me just using him? What exactly was I bringing to this relationship for him?
Not wanting to share that with everyone, I figured I’d speak to him about it later when they’d all gone home. Until then, I thanked them and let the support and relaxation wash over me.
Just in case, I needed to think of something I could do for Levi. Something special.
LeviI knew that something was bothering Lottie and given everything that had happened, it didn’t surprise me that things reared their heads now and then. It was just getting her to talk about it that was the problem.
I’d just taken the dogs out to go potty and put them in the den with their toys for the night. Ever since that night they hadn’t been able to come through to the bedroom in case they jumped on her and hurt her, and she was missing them. It just wasn’t worth the pain right now, though. Really, it had only been a matter of taking away the little steps at the end of the bed that she’d bought for them, but she wouldn’t have been able to ignore them if they were in the room, so to the den they went.
Leaving the hallway light on in case she needed to go to the kitchen, I strolled into the bedroom and almost tripped over my feet. Kneeling on the edge of the bed, Lottie was wearing a dark blue lace panties and bra set that I hadn’t seen before, and she was wearing the necklace I’d bought her for Christmas. It was made of solid silver and was a two inch by two inch copy of the Flor del Espiritu Santo, a type of orchid that was Panama’s national flower.
I’d been looking for something meaningful online and when I’d seen it described as the dove orchid, I’d seen a lot of Charlotte in the flower. It was beautiful, it was rare, it was unique, it was delicate, but orchids were also robust and resourceful. Doves looked like ordinary birds, but there was something special when they flew up into the skies that made people stare at them and want them for special occasions. She was all of that and more to me, so this necklace was perfect for her.
And it looked amazing nestled between her tits, her pale skin a stark contrast against the shiny silver and the angles of the petals.
The problem wasn’t that I didn’t want her, because I really, really fucking did. It was torture not being able to slip inside her and take her, having that closeness back. The problem was that she’d been hurt by Eric, and I didn’t want to cause her more pain while she continued healing. When I’d found her, it had looked like he’d broken her body into pieces, and we’d all been preparing ourselves for the best case scenario to only be surgeries, casts, and scars.
It sounds ridiculous phrasing that as the best case scenario, but the other scenarios would be ruptured organs, perforated or collapsed lungs, removal of major organs, a traumatic brain injury, paralysis… so really it wasn’t that stupid. After doing numerous x-rays, scans, and tests, it was concluded that she’d escaped with severe bruising and exposure to the cold temperature that night. That didn’t sound so bad and we were all relieved, but that’s because few of us understood exactly how bad bruising could be.
Her right thigh and arm – the side of her body that had been facing up when he’d been beating her – were badly bruised, and the blood had built up in the bruises so badly that they had to put a drain in and were considering surgery at one point. She’d then developed cellulitis in her thigh as well and had been on IV antibiotics because she’d been so sick with it.
In total, she’d been in hospital for nine days, and had been out of it now for eighteen days. The bruising was beginning to disappear, but there were still dark patches of purple surrounded by yellow over areas of her body.