Her Cowboy (Book One Of The Brave Series)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter 22

A.

"Black belt? Oh my gosh that's so crazy!" Riley yelled holding onto Madeline tighter.

"I'm glad you're okay Maddie." Axel said as he wrapped one arm around her. Daniel patted her on the back. I felt an inhumane growl surface and Anna-who was the only one close enough to hear it- jumped and looked at me weirdly.

"Down Simba, jeez." I glared at her and she rolled her eyes. "She is pretty awesome huh? Protected me and everything."

"Yeah she is." I nodded and followed behind as we all loaded up in the truck. I watched as Anna leaned on Madeline's side and caught the small wince and tightening of her face. Like she was in pain, but it was so small I barely took notice.

"Daniel you look like a kicked puppy now that Anna is laying on Madeline."

We all looked over to find Daniel nearly pouting in the back of the truck.

"No, I don't." he said and crossed his arms. We all laughed as we turned onto the road to Anna and I's house. We quickly unloaded and ran inside. Madeline was shaking, and it seemed Anna noticed too.

"Mad Mad, honey why don't you go shower, warm up, and then we can make more sweets!"

"No!" all the boys cried at the same time making both girls jump.

"Okay, jeepers." Anna muttered as Madeline chuckled and headed upstairs. I watched her until she disappeared around the corner. Then I turned to Anna.

"How do I fix this?" I asked her. The boys weren't paying any attention to us as they started loading the gaming console in the living room.

"It's actually quite easy." She said, and I waited for her to say it. And waited...and waited.

"What?!" I whisper/yelled and she started laughing.

"So easy to get you riled up. Anyways. All you need to do is get her somewhere she can't run away from you. And you tell her everything." She looked me in the eyes. A second went by. Two. Three.

"That's it?" I asked. She looked at me and nodded.

"That's basically it. All a girl needs is the truth. Especially Madeline. No whimpering or begging and pleading. Be honest and sincere about everything and she will forgive you."

I nodded as Anna turned and sat by Daniel on the couch.

"Okay. Honest. Sincere. I can do that." I said muttering words of encouragement to myself as I walked up the stairs.

I formed what I wanted to say in my head and kept repeating them as I walked to my bedroom. I opened the door and every single word in my mind was thrown in to the garbage disposal and set on fire. Standing there with her back turned to me was Madeline. She had on a pair of plain black boy short panties that shaped her rear perfectly and had just finished putting on a matching sports bra when her head turned at the noise.

Her mouth opened to form what I could only assume would be a "Get out!" but then my eyes caught something, and I saw red. On the front of her body towards the lower ribcage there was a big black and purple mark, as well as a slight raise to the skin.

"What is that?" I asked almost unable to recognize my own voice. She blinked at me almost frozen.

"What is it?!" I snapped, and she jumped making herself wince in pain. And that's when it registered in my head. Why she tightened up when Anna laid on her. Somewhere in the kicking and the bullying Chloe and her friend did, they messed up Madeline's ribcage.

"Axel, get the truck ready we're going to the hospital!"

"What?!" There were thudding footsteps as everyone tried to force their way up the stairs at once.

"Don't come up here, just get the truck ready!" I yelled. Like I was going to let anyone see Madeline almost naked. There was a pause and then more thundering footsteps as they went the opposite way and out the door.

"Why are you acting like this? Why do you care?" Madeline asked harshly, and I turned my head back to her.

"Because, unlike you think, I do care about you. You'll understand everything soon enough." I said, "Now let's get you ready to go."

"I can do it myself." She muttered as she reached for her t-shirt only to jerk her arm back and grimace in pain.

"Obviously." I said as she rolled her eyes. Walking up to her I grabbed my jacket from her suitcase and made her put her arms through, and then helped her to step into a pair of loose fitting sweatpants.

"Can you walk down the stairs?" She looked to the floor. Nodding I wrapped my arms around her back and under her knees and carefully lifted her up gently. She kept her head tucked down as we made our way through the house and out the door, grabbing her shoes along the way.

I set her in the back seat gently and scooted next to her as Anna got in on her other side.

"What's wrong?" Anna asked panicked as the other three loaded up and we headed out.

"Bruised rib cage." I said. Then I felt the weight as Madeline's body finally crashed on her and she passed out. I looked down at her and kissed the top of her head.

Please God, just let me fix this.

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EDITED VERSION

J. Vas