The doctor was speakingto my uncle about Gemma, although it took a lot of coaxing and explaining.
“Gemma is my student—no, sorry. She is my daughter. But I just found out that she is my daughter.”
“The man she lived with abused her.”
“He said he was her uncle, but they were not related. He has had her in his custody for her entire life, but it was not formally legal.”
“Yes. Judge Stallard.”
“He did this to her!”
Finally, Special Agent Gibbons stepped forward and flashed a badge and corroborated on everything, and the doctor finally gave us an update.
“Medically induced coma.”
“Possible brain injury.”
“Rape kit.”
“Severe trauma.”
“We need to let her heal and watch her closely. Her body has been through a lot.”
I stood there with my arms down by my sides, feeling as if my entire world had been put on hold. The adrenaline was slowly leaving my bloodstream, and the shock was setting in. My legs weren’t the least bit steady, and my arms quaked. My face was wet, and my chest felt cracked wide open. If I could take her place, I would. In a heartbeat. She’d been cleaned up for the most part and placed in a clean gown. The blankets were pulled up, so I walked a little closer and began pulling the cotton sheet down so I could hold her hand. I wanted her to know that someone was here. That I was here. She looked so fragile, but I knew she was the furthest thing from it.
“Sir, you can’t do that! You really shouldn’t even be in here.”
Fuck off.
“Let him.” I paused at the sound of my older brother’s voice and rolled my eyes as he began pulling out his badge, guiding the nurse away for a moment to discuss the situation. It amazed me how pulling a badge out could sway people in different directions. Some people had more power than others, and if that landed in the wrong hands, things like this happened—where people got fucking hurt, when they didn’t deserve it all, because someone else held the power.
My finger rubbed softly on the white gauze wrapped around Gemma’s wrist, and my throat grew tight. I shut my eyes as her beautiful face floated into my head. The sassy look she’d given me on the day I met her. The way her features were pulled in tight as she yelled at me for making the school think something had happened between us in the art supply closet during that first week. How excitement shined bright in her green eyes when we darted through the forest with something much more than attraction pulling us together. It all seemed so trivial now, so innocent and insignificant given everything we’d been through, but there wasn’t a moment spent with Gemma that was insignificant. We had no idea the shit we were up against that first time I kissed her. I hadn’t known how deep it all truly went.
And I had no idea that she would be able to crawl under my skin and bring to life my deepest, darkest fears. She proved to me that I had true insecurities lying underneath my guarded exterior, and one of the biggest threats was that I would bring harm to someone that I loved because of my choices. I thought I was doing right by her, and in the end, she still ended up here.
There were victories, and there were defeats.
And if she didn’t wake up, there would be no victory in this. Nothing would matter anymore. Not my father or his entire empire as it came crashing to the ground. Not Richard or the punishment he would be given and the justice that came with it. Nothing mattered but this moment right here.
Gemma and I were destined to burn from the start, but it felt like I was the only one burning alive.