“My god, I’m so sorry, Julie. I shouldn’t have intruded. Jesus… it’s bleeding a lot. Does it hurt?”
Her eyes were a little glassy. Shock? Something else?
“Julie?” She blinked, a slow heavy blink, and frowned a little. “I… I’m fine. It’s fine. Let me do this. I need you to leave.”
I was crouched in front of her, so close to her wet, naked body, and I couldn’t believe she was telling me to leave.
“Julie, please. Let me help you. This is my fault.”
She literally shoved me, and caught off guard, I toppled back onto my ass. And that’s when I saw what had caught my attention before. Blood on her thigh. On both thighs. Before she could move, I sat up again, my hands pressing her thighs apart. What the ever living fuck?
“Julie?”
She gasped, pushing my hands away. “Please, Adam. Go. Leave. I need you to go NOW.”
“Did you do this to yourself? Talk to me, Julie. Did you do this, or has someone else hurt you?” There were so many narrow scars. On the insides of her thighs. Tidy, parallel lines, too many to count, on both sides. Some were new. Bleeding. I stared at her.
“You hurt yourself?”
Her eyes were full of tears again, as she pushed me once more.
“Stop, Adam. Go. It’s none of your business.”
Fuck that. “Julie… you need to stop this. This is dangerous.”
She stood up, flailing her arms at me, and I backed off, because the last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.
“Is this because of something I did to you?”
She shook her head. “It’s… it’s not your problem. Please, Adam. Go. I need to get ready for work. Please.”
I backed off. What else could I do? I had no right to make any demands. I had no right to push her to get help, because I didn’t know what the catalyst was, for what she’d done to herself. All I did know, was that it wasn’t just me. It wasn’t just now. Most of those scars were old. Some of them probably a year old or more.
“Julie, I’ll go, but please, promise me. No more cutting. You… my god… you could bleed out.”
She groaned. “Leave.”
Fuck it. I left. Pushing her right now might make her send me away for good. I grabbed my clothes, and walked downstairs, stopping to dress at the bottom of the stairs. I cast a last look up the stairs, before I left, wishing she’d appear and stop me. She didn’t.