Forbidden

12| Guilty

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Guilty

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Chapter 12: Guilty (Ronan's POV)

I was sitting on the two-seater couch at the foot of Grace's bed, getting my hand stitched and bandaged up. I sighed, resting my elbow on my knee, and looked at her. She was standing by the door, one arm folded across her chest and the elbow of the other resting on it while she bit her cuticles, watching me nervously. 

The doctor cut the bandage with a pair of scissors and then taped it down. "All done. Try to keep that out of water for at least forty-eight hours. I'll come back in a week to take those out." 

I held up the bandaged hand. "I need to have this on for a week?" 

Both the doctor and Grace stared at me in disbelief. "Um, I'm afraid so," the doctor nodded, chuckling awkwardly. "Don't do any heavy lifting or anything that could open the stitches." He turned to Grace. "I'll be off then." 

"Thank you so much," she smiled. "Ms. Bella will show you out." 

He bowed his head once and then she held the door open, revealing Ms. Bella, who was still waiting, ready to sneak the doctor back out of the palace before anybody noticed. Grace shut the door with a sigh at the same time I stood up and grabbed my coat. 

"I'll be outside." 

She didn't move, still blocking the door. I grabbed the handle with my uninjured hand and she knocked it off. 

"Okay," I said slowly, trying with my injured hand. She pushed my arm away. I rolled my eyes, looking at the ceiling before turning my attention to her. "What?" 

"Are you stupid?" 

"It's my job, Princess." 

"To slice your hand open?" 

"To keep you safe, even if that's at the cost of my life. In this case," I held my injured hand up, waving it. "The cost of my hand." 

She smacked my arm roughly. "Couldn't we just move out of the way? Leave?" 

"If we left, he wouldn't be caught. He could come up here too then." 

"He could. But then at least you could do something about it away from the crowd. We put so many people in danger." 

"My job isn't to protect all those people, it's to protect you." I stepped forward and she sunk further into her door, her back hitting it while she looked up at me, blinking. "You're getting confused. I was hired for you, I get paid to protect you, not the guests. Keep that in mind. I'm a bodyguard, not a palace guard." I grabbed the doorknob but she threw my arm off again. I closed my eyes and let out a frustrated sigh, putting my hand up on the door beside her head. 

She stopped breathing before putting a hand on my chest and trying to push me off. I grabbed her wrist, pinning her hand to the door. "I'm talking to you," she gritted out. 

"And I'm warning you," I replied. "My patience is wearing pretty thin, I now have stitches and a sliced open hand, all for you. I don't get paid anywhere near how much I should. And I have no idea how long I have to do this for you. You're safe, you're alive, just be grateful for that and let me do things my way. It's none of your business how I do these things as long as it keeps you safe. Understood?"