Broken

Part 30

Three Weeks Later

Sophia's Point of View

I groaned as I stared at the massive amounts of paper in front of me. I hadn't really made a decision about medical school but I figured I should at least start filling out some applications. When I was in pre-med my grades were impeccable and the guidance counsellor said that I could get into any medical school of my choice on a partial scholarship. The guidance counsellor hand-picked several different applications for me and she really left me with a lot to think about. As I stared down at the application for Harvard School of Medicine I heard the van squeal into the parking lot.

"Oh shit," I mumbled to myself, "That can't be good."

Just as I was grabbing the first aid kit from behind the bar, the door burst open. Coco and EZ were on each side of a hunched over Angel. There was blood soaking through the lower half of his shirt and my heart began to race.

"Jesus...what happened?" I cried, trying not to panic, "Put him on the couch."

"Someone brought a knife to a gun fight," Angel grunted as EZ and Coco tried to sit him down gently.

"Well it looks like the guy with the knife still got the upper hand," I replied as I walked over to him and knelt down in front of him.

He tried to laugh but it came out as more of a pained whimper. All I wanted to do was pull him into my arms, but I knew that would just confuse us both.

"Soph, I called Laura," Coco said from behind me, "It's a deep cut and I figured you could use some backup just in case."

"Thank you for calling her," I replied, "I'll take a look and try to clean it up a bit, but I would prefer her to look at it as well. Can you or EZ grab me a cold compress?"

I turned back to Angel after Coco ran off to do as asked and without thinking I reached up and began undoing his brown and black plaid button down. His eyes burned into mine as I pushed the shirt off of his shoulders.

"Hey," he whispered with a pained smile.

"Hey," I whispered back as I reached for the hem of his white undershirt and quickly pulled my hands away, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be doing this..."

"Actually, it might be easier and less painful if you do it," he mumbled, "If you don't mind."

I sucked in my bottom lip and averted my eyes as I grabbed the hem of his undershirt, again, and slowly and carefully pulled it over Angel's head. As much as I tried not to stare at his defined chest, I failed miserably. No matter what the status of our relationship was, he was no less beautiful than he was when we were together.

"Lay down," I said quietly, "I'll take a look at your wound and clean it up before Laura gets here."

He held onto my wrist as I helped him lie down on the couch. I moved my eyes away from his and down his body to the stab wound on his lower right side, right above the waistband of his jeans. I could tell just by looking at it that whoever stabbed him didn't hit any organs, but it did look like he lost a lot of blood. I grabbed some anti-septic and a cotton swap and gently began to dab at the wound and Angel jumped out of his skin.

"Fuck..." he hissed.

"Shit...I'm sorry," I said quietly, "I should have warned you."

He groaned as he laid his head back down against the arm of the couch and closed his eyes. As I continued to clean him up I watched as his stomach rippled slightly as the pain travelled through him. I had a sudden desire to run my fingers over his chest and trace his tattoos like I always used to do when we were together. I let out a heavy sigh as I fought with everything in me to not give into the desire.