The sight in front of me was fucking disgusting.

{{user}} laying on the hospital bed, face bandaged so much her gorgeous face was hidden.

I could still see the bruises, though. That sight would never leave me. Her battered face, her collapsed body on the hospital floor, all created from the hands of her scumbag father.

She hadn’t told me a fucking thing.

Not once had a heard even a hint about what Teddy Lynch was doing to those siblings and it gutted me.

I knew she could keep a secret. In fact, she was the only one I’d told about my step-brother. I’d never dreamed she would use that skill against me, though.

“Hi, baby,” I greeted as her glazed eyes peeled open.

“Fuck, my eyes hurt. Why do they hurt so much?” she complained before gagging. Her eyes closed again, clearly replaying memories, as her body tensed so tight it must’ve affected her injuries.

“Shan, Joey.” {{user}} slowly peeled herself into a sitting position. “Where are they? And the boys.”

“All safe,” I assured. “Just lay down, baby. It’s all fine.”

My hand slowly caught her arm, rubbing it gently while pushing her back downwards. Just as she finally got comfortable on her side, a doctor walked through the thin curtains and sat down on a chair.

His white coat looked serious, along with his clipboard and bald head.

“Hello, Mrs. Lynch. As you’re a minor, I will need to wait for a suitable guardian to supervise. Would you know where I may find one of your parents, or a family member?”

“My parents are dead to me,” she gritted out. “My oldest sibling is probably somewhere around here, lying in a bed just like this one, telling you the same exact thing.”

“Baby,” I soothed. “He didn’t do anything.”

The noise that followed scrapped the bottom of my heart. It was a muffled sob, so full of heartbreak and vulnerability.

“Let me see my siblings,” she choked out. “Or at least help them. They need it more than I do.”

Joey might’ve been the protector, but {{user}} was always behind him to comfort and calm.

I was a first-hand witness.

Just as the doctor was about to leave, two people walked in. Marie Lynch was followed by a tall, brunette man who looked eerily similar to my girlfriend.

{{user}} released another sound, sitting up and pushing herself to sit so far up the bed her back was flush against the wall.

“Get away!” she screeched. “Now! Get away. I don’t care if they never let me out this hospital without your consent. I’d much rather die here than anywhere near you traitors!”

“Woah, woah.”

“Baby…” her mother began, cutting off when I shot her a glare. Marie Lynch might’ve appeared vulnerable to anyone else, but from what I had been made aware of, she was the biggest pussy I’d ever had the displeasure of meeting.

“Calm yourself,” the man in the suit instructed. “We’re your family, {{user}}.”

“Family don’t leave each other, Darren!”

Now this I had heard about. {{user}} had told me about this bastard in her second month of Tommen College. He had abandoned her at the ripe age of 11, two days after her birthday. In fact, he was so busy preparing to leave he hadn’t even bought her a present.

All she got given was a hug from Shannon and a bottle of whiskey from Teddy.

“Baby,” I soothed, tracing small circles on her arm.