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Sadie Sorento and Brandon Avenetti were destined to be together. Their families were already planning the wedding of the Italian mafia prince and princess long before the pair had even star...
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"Okay." Dr. Bennett pulls my shirt back down and over the bandages he just applied. "The ribs will take the longest to heal, and unfortunately there's not much more we can do. I'll get you something for the pain but rest is going to be your best medicine for the next few weeks."
I know everything that he's telling me, but I don't say it. I've been an ER for long enough now that I knew what I was dealing with days ago, but Brandon wouldn't listen. Not that I blame him. I brought this mess on myself so I let Dr. Bennett tell me what I need to do. "Okay."
"You may feel like you can move around like normal but if we're not careful you can hurt them more. And if they splinter, they can puncture your other organs and then we'll really have a problem." He gives me a sympathetic smile. "So do us both a favor and go easy on yourself."
He stands up, collecting his things and setting a prescription pill bottle on the nightstand. "Lots of ice on those bruises, and be careful when you stand up too quickly. Your concussion can make you dizzy or even cause you to black out. You can take two pills every six hours for the pain. Have Brandon call me if anything gets worse, but you should be good as new in no time."
"Thank you, Dr. Bennett."
A few broken ribs, a concussion, two stitches to the cut above my eye. Herrera's man left me with quite a few injuries, but it could have been a lot worse and I'm relatively lucky. I can definitely get behind the pain pills, though. My ribs have made me so uncomfortable that I haven't been able to sleep the last few nights. Tonight, at least it won't be the pain keeping me up. It will be the insurmountable guilt I feel.
Worst of all is that he thinks that the other night was a lie. That was happened between us was just part of my plan. It makes me sick to think about, and I hate that he thinks I would do something like that. But how can I blame him? I made such a mess of things, and I feel so stupid for falling for Herrera's bullshit. I should have come to Brandon from the beginning and it's something I'll regret for the rest of my life.
There's no path for us to rebuild after this. Not after he had to find out from Adam. I was hopeful when I was going to come clean to him, but then he got the call about the raid and had to leave and I never had the chance. Maybe things could have been different.
As much as I hate the idea of leaving Brandon a second time, Adam and I going back to Colorado is probably best for everyone. I can't protect Adam from everything and it's time we both face the consequences. Maybe I can make a plea deal and avoid jail time. I'll probably lose my nursing license, but in the scheme of things, I can live with that. Now, I just have to convince Brandon that it's the right thing for all of us.
He hasn't been back and I have no idea where he went. He told me to stay here, and there's no way I'm going to risk making him even more angry by wandering around.
My body is still sore, even more so now that Dr. Bennett poked and prodded at it, so I decide to take a nice, hot bath. I strip down and go into the bathroom, starting the water up.
