Sophia’s Point of View.
There are some moments in life that seem too cruel to be true.
This was one of those moments.
That day at our anniversary celebration when I had waited giddily for him to join me at the party, I would have given anything for him to walk in and kiss me. To validate the night we had spent together.
But now that I no longer wanted him, of course, Jerry Baxter wanted me. Men like him always preferred what they couldn’t have anyway.
Jerry’s lips were firm and consistent upon mine. But he didn’t know I was done being a victim of anyone.
I parted my lips like I had accepted his kiss and the moment he moved to deepen our kiss, I bit down on his lower lip so hard that I tasted blood.
Jerry ended the kiss with a muffled curse.
I shoved him away for good measure and did the one thing I had been dying to do. I slapped him hard across his face.
Jerry stared at me wide eyed with a bloody lower lip but I had nothing more to say to him. I turned to leave only to see…
“Mr Prescott?” His name escaped my lips without a second thought.
But Mr Prescott didn’t even seem to hear me, no, his steel gaze was focused on Jerry and the moment before he moved I knew what was going to happen.
But knowing didn’t mean I could prevent it.
Mr Prescott launched himself at Jerry hitting him in the gut. Jerry was stunned but only for a moment before he retaliated with a punch at Mr Prescott’s face.
The noise from the chaos had the doors of the examination rooms opening, doctors, nurses and patients stepping out to see what was going on.
Kate was one of the patients who stepped out. She took one look at the fighting brothers and her gaze found mine unerringly, her anger evident.
I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that she blamed me for what was going on. It was alright. I was blaming myself too even though there was nothing I could have done to prevent this outcome.
Jerry tried to throw another punch at Mr Prescott but the punch he had landed on Mr Prescott’s face was the only hit of his that landed.
Mr Prescott had him on his back in seconds, straddling him as he dealt punch after punch on Jerry that terrifyingly cold expression on his face with no signs he was going to stop despite the fact that Jerry was no longer fighting back.
Although I could hear a doctor calling security, fear gripped my heart. What if it was too late when they got here?
I closed the distance between Mr Prescott and I, going to my knees next to him as I caught his arm stopping him from delivering his next punch.
“Reid, please stop,” I begged. “Please.”
Mr Prescott’s jaw clenched and unclenched then he shrugged off my hold on him, standing you and leaving an unconscious Jerry on the ground as he walked away without even looking at me once.
I stood up going after Mr Prescott and this seemed to jolt the people around into action. Two doctors and Kate breaking off from the rest of the crowd to rush to Jerry.
“Jerry!” Kate exclaimed once she reached him before yelling at me. “We are going to fucking sue you and your husband!”
I didn’t pay her any mind as I walked out of the ward, my steps fast hoping to catch up with Mr Prescott.
When I got out of the hospital, he was entering the car and I followed entering through the other door.
“Mr Prescott.” I turned to him the moment I was seated but he didn’t respond to me.
Mr Prescott might not have said a word to me but his anger hung heavy in the air. But why was he angry at me?
I stared at him, the blood from the cut on his forehead from Jerry’s punch and Mr Prescott’s bloody knuckles, his pristine white shirt stained with flecks of blood.
Mr Prescott didn’t speak to me until we reached home and even then he simply stepped out of the car leaving me behind.
“Mr Prescott.” I called out attempting to talk to him but he didn’t respond as he headed towards the staircase leading to our room.
I let out a confused sigh. Today had been going so well, why did Jerry have to show up at the hospital?
None of that mattered. Even if Mr Prescott was angry at me for whatever reason, he was still hurt. I didn’t have the number for his doctor but I knew where the first aid kit was.
I got the first aid kit and a cool compress then I headed up to our room.
When I entered the room, Mr Prescott was yanking off his tie and tossing it to the bed, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbow
Just seeing his bare veiny forearms was enough to distract me for a second before I reoriented myself.
I dropped the first aid box and compress on the countertop before walking up to Mr Prescott slowly as though that would make him less angry.
“You are bleeding, Mr Prescott.” I said softly once I was in front of him. “You don’t need to talk to me. Just let me clean your wound or we could call a doctor and-”
My words were cut off abruptly by Mr Prescott’s harsh voice and even harsher words.
“You couldn’t wait one minute for me to leave before getting together with Jerry?”
My jaw dropped in surprise. What was Mr Prescott saying?
“What?” I managed to get out. “What are you talking about? He was trying to force himself on me and you saw it.”
Mr Prescott’s expression was even colder than it had been when he had been laying into Jerry as he looked at me.
“Did I?” He lifted an eyebrow.”For all I know both of you could have been putting on a show after being caught red handed.”