Shot in the Dark

House full of Doctors

I had shut myself off from everyone, staying in my room all the time except from when I went to school. One thing good that came out of this is that my grades have gone up, seeing as I don't really have much to do other than studying. Alec was due to come back next week as he finished University for the summer. I had missed Alec's presence in the house. He brought a bit of normality here.

Tyler was consuming my mind, I couldn't help but think of every conversation we had. How he would encourage me to let out my feelings to him, making me feel so comfortable that I felt like I could share my deepest and darkest secrets. Those weren't exactly secrets anymore. He had betrayed my trust, and to me that is worse than everything that James had ever done to me. I had trusted Tyler to no end, and he threw it away as if it was nothing. The worse part was that if James and Alec hadn't stopped him who knows what mess I would be in right now. I felt betrayed and alone. My confidant, the one I could always rely on was in secret my worst enemy. Part of me wanted to confront Tyler, feeling like I deserved answers to this confusing puzzle of deceit. The other thought that not hearing the truth from his mouth would give a minuscule possibility that this another one of James' games.

I made my decision. I had ignored ever single phone call and text from Tyler. I subconsciously think I had avoided the confrontation. I was in denial. The denial still couldn't get rid of the hurt I was feeling. I knew that soon I would have to step up and face him, but today wasn't that day. Instead I decided to wallow is self-pity, alone in the comfort of my own home.

I was walking through the hallway as James stumbled through the door, clutching his hand. I first noticed how his face was seriously swollen, not the blood that was dripping from his hands and his lip. You'd think that seeing that Mum and Will were both doctors that I would be fine with blood, but I'm not. James grabbed onto the banister and attempted to walk up the stairs. Grabbing the back of his top, I stopped him moving forward, grabbing his arm in my hand.

"What the hell happened?" I asked.

"It's nothing, just let me go." He tried to shove my hand off him. Instead I gripped it harder and pulled him away from the stairs. He stumbled slightly before I wrapped my arm around his waist. Carrying his entire weight wasn't the easiest, but I somehow managed to drag him to the kitchen. Leaving James on the stool I rushed upstairs to go get the medical kit. My stomach was turning, the image of blood clouding my mind.

When I came down stairs James was leaning against the island with his head slumped, his body slightly swaying from holding up his own body weight. Deciding that I would ask questions later I took a deep breath before touching his hand. The antiseptic wipe was causing James to wince every so often, his face screwing up in pain. Surprisingly he made no effort to try to make me stop. However, when the blood was removed the severity of his injury was visible. His knuckles were all ripped, open cut wounds covered the entirety of his fist. I could feel my head slowly lighten as I held the blood-filled wipe in my hand, until James reached and removed it out of my sight. I carefully managed to wrap his hands in a bandage, that was starting to reveal blotches where the wounds were starting to bleed again.

I took a deep breath, attempting to calm my quickening heartbeat. Times like this I really wish Mum was here, because she would be able to do this without a batter of an eyelid, me on the other hand was close to passing out. I grabbed another wipe before sitting on the chair next to James. Looking up at James I whispered, "Can I?" He understood exactly what I meant, so with a single nod of approval I took the wipe to his face, gently rubbing away the blood that came from his lip. It took longer than I thought it would till James' face was blood free. I had attempted to avoid eye contact through all of it, but that didn't seem to work as planned.