He took hold of the towel but didn’t move it from her. He glanced at me, his expression pensive. “Boss, may I? With your permission, I need to see how bad it is.”
My hands fisted to the side. I hated the thought of another man seeing her body, but what choice did I have?
Sam waited for my permission. I felt the urge to yell and carve his eyes out but instead stood frozen.
When I felt someone touch my arm, I swiveled around to see Viktor holding a towel. “Tie it around your wound. It’ll stop the bleeding for now.”
I bent down and quickly tied it around the bleeding area. After making sure it was in place and wouldn’t spill blood everywhere, I walked to the other side of the bed.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Viktor and Nikolay quietly leaving the room, giving us privacy. Lena stood beside Sam, looking just as worried as before. Her tears were long gone, but her face showed her sorrow and fatigue.
There was Maddie. And then there was Ayla. How much more could she take?
I climbed in bed beside Ayla. Moving closer, I molded my body around hers. I held her to me for a second, breathing in her fresh scent.
I sent Sam a fierce stare and then nodded. Lena settled at Ayla’s feet, her hands knotted on her lap. Turning my attention back to Ayla, I saw Sam carefully pulling the comforter and then the towel away from Ayla’s body.
I heard him suck in a breath and glanced up to see his frown as he took in the bruises that marred Ayla’s pale skin.
I had avoided looking at the bruises too, fearing I would snap from seeing the evidence of what she had been through.
Deep, purple bruises covered her arms and legs. Some were faded, but others looked fairly new. Maybe a few days. Her knees and elbows were scraped. Probably from the hard ground. The skin looked ragged in some places.
As I continued to look at her body, my breath became erratic and my lungs tightened. The side of her left leg was nearly black, and one of her arms was starting to turn an ugly shade of green. This bruise was probably less than a week old.
There were other small cuts all over her body. Her face was slightly bruised but looked much better than the rest of her.
One thing that took me by surprise was her stomach. The skin from her chest to the fullness of her stomach was pale and clear of any bruises. Not even a single one. It appeared as though her front was left unaffected and untouched.
I had no idea how Ayla protected herself in this state—all I knew was that I found her alive. She was breathing, and I would do anything to keep it that way.
With my face buried in her neck, I closed my eyes. I couldn’t lose her now. I lost her once, and that was it. Never again.
“She is badly bruised, Boss,” Sam finally muttered after inspecting Ayla’s body.
I lifted my head up just enough to look at Sam. “I can see that,” I snarled. “I want to know what you can do.”
If he was useless to me, I would have to find someone else to look after Ayla. I wanted to know if she was okay or not. If she would be okay.
“I can treat her wounds, of course,” Sam started. He paused, his eyes going to Ayla’s stomach. “She is pregnant, and I don’t know much about pregnancy.”
I clenched my jaw tight, grinding my teeth together. The words I didn’t want to acknowledge.
She is pregnant.
Fuck! I knew that, but hearing those words made it more real. It was real. This was real. My Angel was pregnant.
And I didn’t even know if the baby was mine.
My eyes moved to her round stomach again. I stared at the roundness for a few seconds before my gaze snapped up at Sam’s voice.
“During her captivity, we don’t know the trauma her mind and body took. And how that could affect her pregnancy and the baby,” he continued.
I hated being reminded of her captivity and how close I had been to losing her. I thought getting her out of that hellhole would be the end. As long as she was in my arms, everything would be okay.
But nothing looked okay.
Sam laid a hand on Ayla’s chest. “Her breathing isn’t laboured. So that’s a good sign. She’s probably just in a deep sleep. A lot of time, people who go through trauma, they tend to shut down. Sleep is one way to do so. Ayla would likely sleep through the day and night. It is best she rests. But you will need to keep checking on her.”
“I will. I won’t leave her alone,” I said, placing a kiss next to her ear. “I will be with her.”