Loving Him ✔️(#2 Loving Series)

Chapter 19

Tyra's POV

"Something is wrong, the blood flow should have reduced right Tyra?" Ryan asks from the backseat with a slight panic evident in his voice.

I look at them from the rearview mirror. Austen looks much paler and the blood is already dripping from the cloth pressed to the wound. It isn't supposed to be a deep wound and the blood is indeed worrying.

"Can you remove the cloth a bit and show me the wound," I ask, alternating my gaze between the road and the rearview mirror. I was really glad there was no traffic at this point at night.

As Ryan slightly moves the cloth to show to me the wound, I take a sharp intake of breath as I see the raised edges around the wound.

"Shit!" I curse out loud and even Austen opens his eyes to look at me in question.

"The idiot had laced his knuckle brass with Etam, it doesn't allow the body to self heal the wound," I explain, fighting a sense of dread as it tried to settle within me. I feel my hands get clammy but force myself to stay focused.

"Fuck! Are you sure?" Ryan asks as panic sets within him as well.

"I interned for my first aid training at the hospital in the ER, it was a common injury for those admitted after local fights," I supply with my explanation.

"Shit! We need to go to the hospital, questions be damned," he curses and replies and I finally feel relief knowing someone was thinking straight now.

"No," Austen growls out and I hit the steering wheel in frustration.

"Listen Austen.." Ryan starts but a glare from him shuts him up.

"If they could be treated in the ER that means it wasn't so life threatening, right?" Austen pointedly asks me while looking at me through the rear view mirror.

I go to cook up a lie as I knew it only needed proper and regular cleaning but his glare speaks it all. I deflate in defeat. I promptly dial each of them with a task to bring all the needed essentials as we drive to my house.

...

As soon as we reach, Ryan helps Austen to my room. Once I have everything I need, I get to work.

"It's going to hurt a bit more as I don't have anything to numb the area," I warned him before I started. He just grumbles to me to get started.

I had seen the doctors and nurses work on these cases, the pain is unbearable for the patients but not a groan or flicker of emotion passes his face. Although I do notice that his fingers are curled in a tight fist and muscles coiled with tension.

I soon realize he is holding it all in and the reason is also very obvious.

"Can you all wait downstairs, it will help me concentrate better?" I create an excuse to get everyone to clear the room and without any complaints they follow.

"You can relax now," I tell as I get to work again and he raises his eyebrow in question.

"I know you were holding in your pain so that they wouldn't worry, but now they are gone, you don't need to hide," I softly say as a brief look of surprise crosses his face.

The tension in his muscles has relaxed now but I hear a sharp intake of breath and a tine whimper the next instance when I dab the special concentrated antiseptic. My gaze immediately goes to his face and I see his face contorted into pain. Tiny beads of sweat are already lining his forehead and the groans of pain get more frequent with each swap to get the edge of the wound clean.

I kept murmuring soothing words of encouragement but eyes had their own plans. Tears streaked down my face and I kept rigorously wiping them with my arms as my hands were busy. In this instance I was glad that his eyes were closed.

"Done" I say when I am finished but my voice comes out all groggy.

There is no movement from his end and I guess he may have passed out from pain at some point. I decided to get one of the boys to come and help clean him and get him into fresh clothes.

On going downstairs, there was a flurry of questions from everyone. I gave them as near of an update I could and while everyone wanted to stay the night, I succeeded in convincing them not everyone was needed. In the end Violet and Ryan decided to stay over and rest home.

...

"Have you been crying?" A rough voice breaks my daydream and I get more aware of my surroundings.

It was late morning the next day and I had been sitting in the chair in my room, waiting for Austen to wake up. I had volunteered to stay back citing recovering from my bout of sickness, which got a suspicious look from Violet as only yesterday I was all hyped up to get back. Luckily she doesn't question much and promises to be back after school.

"How are you feeling?" I ignore his original question and go to help him get in a semi reclined position while being careful of the wound on his side.

Once done, as I go to bring him a glass of water, he pulls my hand and makes me sit on the bed next to him.

"Answer me," he insists and I guess he picks up from my expression that I was trying to cook up a lie,

"Don't even bother lying," he adds with a glare.

"If you think that seeing you like that yesterday was all a party for us, then let you tell you are wrong," I say in a huff, letting the sadness turn into anger for putting himself in that position.

Although I knew the truth was far from it. Yesterday, each swipe, each whimper and each feature of his face contorting in pain was piercing my heart into pieces. And since I couldn't say that out loud, I stuck to this friendly version.

He doesn't question me anymore, seemingly accepting my answer. Now that he was more conscious and not in acute pain, thanks to over the counter painkillers, he needed very little help getting fresh. As he was getting ready, I busied myself in getting some study done.

"How come you aren;t at school today?" he questions next and a sigh leaves my mouth.

No doubt he wasn't done.

"Because..."

"I mean you were so persistent that you wanted to go today, I am surprised you decided to stay back," he continued without giving me a chance to speak. The guilt from yesterday bubbles under the surface, its weight too heavy.

"Why did the princess stay back? Anyone else could have..."

"But anyone else wasn't responsible for your state yesterday!" I blurted out, unable to take the burden anymore and a few tears left my eyes.

With all the crying I did yesterday, I was surprised there weren't any more tears left, I guess I was wrong.

"Princess, why would.." Austen starts but stops mid sentence, apparently at loss of words. I feel his hands on my cheek as the pads of his thumb wipe the stream of water on my face.

"Angel heard your conversation with your father," I start and I hear a sharp intake of breath from him, "she said he was angry because you haven't been home last few nights, which I know was because you were taking care of me." I replied.

I see a flicker of multiple emotions in his eyes and I know he would try to refute this, cause that's who Austen was, always taking care of others. But not this time.

I turn my face away from his so that my resolve doesn't melt before I continue,

"Don't deny it. If I hadn't had a secret to keep, you wouldn't have to stay the nights here to take care of me and you.." My rumbling stops when Austen pulls my face towards him and forces me to look at him.

"Stop!" his one word command effectively drowns the voice in my head that was still guilt tripping me.

"Angel didn't hear the whole conversation," he says earnestly.

"Still.."

"No, there are things that nobody knows, but the one thing I can tell you is that.. You will never be the reason for any trouble," he sincerely answers and leans his forehead on mine.

"And even if you were, you are worth all the trouble princess," he slowly breathes out.