Find me

Chapter 20

Henry POV

To say that I was pissed off would be an understatement.

I wasn’t pissed off. I felt rage like never before. I felt pain like never before. I felt sadness like never before. I felt like punching them so fucking hard that my punch would kill them. But then again, I also felt like keeping them alive and torturing them. I was a fucking surgeon. If anyone knew how to keep someone alive while hurting them at the same time, it was me.

“Can I see your injury, love?” I asked, trying to keep anger out of my voice.

I didn’t want to scare her. I didn’t want her to think that I was angry at her.

She looked up at me, and her eyes widened.

“No.” she said, shaking her head. “It’s okay. It will heal.”

As if I would have let her suffer longer than it was necessary. I was going to help her.

“Aria, please, let dad help.” Gabriel said, his voice shaking. “He is a doctor. He will help you.”

She looked at him and shook her head again.

Why didn’t she want me to help? What kind of injury did she have? Was it so bad that she didn’t want me to see it?

I placed a finger under her chin and turned her head back. I looked in her eyes and caressed her cheek. How could someone hit her? How could someone hurt her?

“I don’t want you to be in pain, love.” I said softly. “I want the injury to heal faster. I want you to get healthy faster.”

Her bottom lip trembled, and a tear fell on her cheek. My heart kept breaking into smaller and smaller pieces.

“It’s ugly.” she said quietly, looking down at her hands. “I don’t want you to see that.”

Gabriel sobbed, and I immediately took his hand in mine.

“I don’t care about that, baby.” I said, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. “I just care about you.”

She looked up at me, and I leaned in to kiss her cheek.

How could someone fucking hurt her?!

“Please, Aria.” Gabriel said. “Let us help you.”

She took a deep breath and nodded.

I was so fucking proud of her. We were strangers to her, but she decided to trust us. She gave us her trust, and I would never break it. I would make sure that she knew that she could always trust me.

“Okay, baby.” I said softly. “Where is the injury?”

She furrowed her eyebrows and glanced at Gabriel.

“Um...” she mumbled. “Everywhere.”

My heart stopped beating.

I could feel my body freezing.

“What do you mean everywhere?” Gabriel asked her, and I could hear anger in his voice.

It was getting harder and harder to keep the anger inside.

“All over my body.” Aria said quietly, looking from me to Gabriel.

What the fuck?!

I was having a really hard time trying to think of something to say. I was having a really hard time understanding how someone could have injuries all over their body and not be screaming in pain. How wasn’t she unconscious when the police arrived?

What the fuck was going on?!

“Show them to me, love.” I said, my voice cold and raspy.

She looked at me, and her eyes widened. I guess the anger was out and nothing could fucking keep it inside any longer.

“I am not angry at you, baby.” I said, trying to stay calm. “I am angry at the people who hurt you.”

She nodded, but the fear in her eyes didn’t disappear completely.

Aria reached out and took Gabriel’s hand in hers. My heart fucking melted. Gabriel lifted her hand and pressed it against his lips.

“I’m here.” he mumbled. “It’s okay.”

She took a deep breath and reached for the bottom of her hoodie with her other hand.

I held my breath, preparing for what I was about to see.

She lifted the hoodie slowly, and my vision blackened.

Nothing could prepare me for what I saw.

“Oh, my God.” Gabriel sobbed. “Oh, my God.”

Her belly was black and blue. Some of the bruises were older, and some were new. There were cuts, burns, and old scars littered all over her skin.

I reached out with shaking hands and lifted her hoodie a little bit higher.

Something between a scream and a cry escaped my mouth.

I could see her ribs. They were visible. The fuckers were starving her. The injuries were all over them as well.

I’ve worked as a doctor for years. I’ve worked at the ER for years. I saw many cases of domestic abuse, but I never saw something like this.

This wasn’t abuse. This was her whole fucking life. She lived like this. This wasn’t random. They didn’t hit her a few times. This was a daily occurrence. I was sure of it. The old scars and the almost healed bruises were proof enough.

“Oh, my baby.” I cried out desperately.

Gabriel was full-on sobbing.

“I am sorry.” Aria said, her voice breaking.

My eyes snapped to her.

“No, no, no, no.” I said, letting go of her hoodie and wrapping my arms around her. “Don’t apologize. Never apologize. This wasn’t your fault, love.”

She grabbed the front of my shirt in her small hand and sobbed into my neck.

I looked at my son and placed my hand at the back of his neck, pulling him to me. He was broken. I’ve never seen him like that.

Gabriel buried his nose in her hair and wrapped his arms around her and me.

“I love you, Aria.” he said, sobbing. “Nothing like this will ever happen to you again. I promise.”

I tried to pull myself together a little.

I needed to clean her cuts or they would get infected. I needed to take her to the hospital and do an x-ray. Her ribs could be broken. I needed to give her an IV and some antibiotics, just in case.

“Are you in pain now, love?” I asked her, taking a deep breath.

“A little.” she said quietly. “But it’s not bad. I’ve been in worse pain before.”

A hot knife pierced through my heart.

“Gabriel, go get my bag, please.” I said as I kissed the top of her head. “I will do what I can here, but we will need to take her to the hospital.”

I felt her tense up.

“Why?” she asked. “I don’t need a hospital. It will heal. It always heals.”

Gabriel mumbled a curse under his breath. It was very clear that this wasn’t the first time she had been hurt like this.

“I need you to heal properly, baby.” I said, running my fingers through her hair. “I need to make sure that the wounds won’t get infected and that you don’t have any broken bones.”

Gabriel unwrapped his hands from us, wiped his cheeks, and stood up. I watched him as he walked to my study to get my bag.

I lifted Aria from my lap, placing her down on the couch next to me.

“Do you have your bra on, love?” I asked her.

She shook her head, and I nodded.

“Okay.” I said. “I will go get you a towel so that you can place it over your breasts. I will need you to take the hoodie off completely. Are there injuries on your legs as well?”

She nodded, and I clenched my fists.

“Okay, baby.” I said as I kissed the top of her head again. “I will be right back.”

I stood up and walked to the bathroom. I grabbed two towels and stopped to take a deep breath. My insides were shaking. My whole body was in pain. I wanted to kill them, but I needed to focus on my daughter. She needed me.

When I came back into the living room, I saw Gabriel sitting on the couch next to her, holding her in his arms and kissing the top of her head repeatedly.

“Aria, baby, take off your clothes and place the towels over your breasts and your middle, okay?” I said handing her the towels. “Lay on your back first. I will clean and examine the front before we move to the back.”

She nodded and took the towels from me. She was shaking, and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“Hey, love, nothing to be scared about, okay?” I said softly. “I will be gentle. I won’t do anything to hurt you.”

“Okay.” she mumbled quietly.

Gabriel let her go, and we left the living room so that she could take her clothes off.

As soon as I closed the door, Gabriel threw himself into my arms and sobbed.

“I know, bud.” I mumbled, kissing his temple. “I know.”

“How could they do this to her?” he cried out. “She is so small. She is so gentle. How could they hurt her? Why?”

I was asking myself the same questions.

“I don’t know, buddy.” I said, tightening my arms around him. “But we will find out. We will make them pay.”

Oh, I would fucking make sure that they paid for what they did.

They’ve messed with the wrong fucking father.