“Yeah.” She pulled him onto her shoulder and stood. She smiled at her grandfather. “He’ll probably sleep like a rock. Sorry to wake you all.”
“It’s no trouble,” Bud assured her. “We’ll see you in the morning.” He stood with Dee as Gillian took a few steps to take Justin to her bed.
Blake moved back to let her pass. Dee gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Bud’s eyes went wide with shock and his face paled with anguish. Blake followed their gazes to Gillian’s backside. Blake had been right. She’d been hiding a lot more under her clothes.
A six-inch stitched cut ran down the back of her thigh. Another peeked out the bottom of her shorts on the same leg. The leg she had in the brace also had three or four smaller jagged cuts that were either sewn closed or scabbed over. Nasty-looking bruises spotted her creamy skin. Cuts and scrapes marred the backs of her arms and shoulders. He could only imagine what the rest of her back looked like.
The ominous quiet alerted Gillian. What did they expect? She’d gone through a window. Her back felt like one big bruise and looked much the same. She gently laid Justin in her bed and tucked him in, kissing his forehead. His eyes drooped as he fell into sleep again. “I’ll be back in a second,” she whispered. “I just have to get your blanket.”
She limped back into Justin’s room. Of course, everyone waited for her. She closed the connecting door and turned to face them. Dee’s sad face almost did her in, but their sympathy sparked her anger, and she was only going to explain once. She didn’t want their pity.
“Listen. The glass window cut me up pretty bad, but they sewed me up and the stitches come out in a week. As for the bruises . . .” She shrugged them away. “Some of them are from him hitting me and the rest are from hitting the car. The impact from the fall broke my arm and messed up my wrist and knee. Everything will heal in time and no one will ever know I was hurt. Justin will forget, but not if you keep gasping every time you see me. So, to get it out in the open and to assuage your curiosity, I’ll only do this once.”
She turned around, draped her long hair over her shoulder, and pulled the tank top up so they could see her back. Once she was sure they got a good look, she pulled her shirt back down.
“Any questions?” She faced them again but couldn’t bring herself to look at Blake’s face.
“Does that hurt? Are you in pain?” Dee asked the ridiculous question, unable to imagine herself in Gillian’s shoes. Gillian wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Blake’s steady gaze bore into her.
She gave them the truth. “The most colorful bruises go all the way into my muscles and make them spasm and cause excruciating pain. My broken arm aches all the time, and my knee at the moment feels like it wants to explode. I still get some nasty headaches, especially when I’m tired, like I am tonight.”
“But you’ve been picking up Justin and carrying him. How can you do that?” Worry and concern filled Dee’s soft voice.
“Because she doesn’t want Justin to see that she’s in pain,” Blake answered for her. “And she wouldn’t be in this much pain if I hadn’t tossed her meds into the fireplace.”
Bud stepped toward Blake. “Why the hell would you do that? She needs them.”
Gillian stepped in between the two men. “He didn’t know they were in my jacket pocket. Justin got upset. Even though I’d washed the coat, it still smelled like our dad. Justin didn’t like me wearing it, and I happened to say that I’d like to burn the thing. Blake accommodated me.”
Blake wondered if she realized she was standing not a foot in front of him, blocking him from her own grandfather, who wouldn’t lay a hand on him no matter how angry he got. They were friends. They barked at each other once in a while, but they respected each other and didn’t have any reason to come to blows.
Bud stared down at Gillian, with her hands planted on her hips, then looked up at Blake over Gillian’s head. Blake gave him an, I know, she’s actually standing close to us look.
“All right, Gillian. We’ll get you some more pain medication tomorrow. We’ll try not to make a fuss about your injuries in front of Justin,” Bud qualified. “But if you aren’t feeling well and need something, you have to let us know.”
“I’ll do my best. Asking for anything isn’t my way.”
Blake bent close to her ear. “Make it your way,” he ordered. At her dirty look, he added, “We aren’t asking you to surrender. We’re asking that you bend. Just a little,” he softened.