Book of Secrets

I don't Mate with Jerks (Alternate Ending)

Chapter 44 ~ Scarred Heart

KC’s P.O.V.

The next time I opened my eyes, it was sometime in the evening, the sky through the window a pinkish hue.

            “Good evening, Sleeping Beauty,” Dan mused, looking down at me with a cheeky grin. I couldn’t help, but laugh, surprised by the pain it brought to my chest. I knew right then that it would be awhile until they would stop hurting.

            “Dan,” I greeted blandly before glancing around the room and almost feeling disheartened to see how empty it was. “Where’s Amber?” I asked.

            “Uh, not here,” Dan replied. I raised an eyebrow at him.

            “No shit, Sherlock,” I scoffed. Dan forced out a fake gasp as he put on a look of false offense.

            “Hey, no using Sherlock Holmes’s name in vain!” he exclaimed, forcing a chuckle out of me. Slowly, I tried to sit up right then, but Dan gently pressed down on my shoulders.

            “No, no, no,” he said. “Janna said you should just rest for a little while longer before you’re up and about,” he told me, talking professionally and trying to sound like a doctor. That would be a dark day if Dan ever decided he wanted to become a doctor.

            “Ugh! I’ve been strapped to this bed for several days and now I can’t even go for a run? Maybe it would’ve been better if Nomad had finished me off,” I joked, but looked up at Dan who stared at me with utter confusion. “Never mind.”

            “Doctor’s orders, not mine,” he dismissed, raising his hands in defense.

            “And if you plan on keeping those useful little lungs of yours you’ll follow them,” Janna said as she walked into the room, giving me a pointed look. I moaned dramatically, getting her to raise her eyebrows at me.

            “Eh, who needs lungs anyway,” I shrugged sarcastically. Janna rolled her eyes as she exited the room, Dan snickering beside me.

            “I think you’ve been spending way too much time with me,” Dan laughed.

            “You think? I’m actually a little worried,” I smirked, afraid to chuckle. Slowly, Dan’s smile faded and he looked at me with something I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look; serious. Very serious.

            “Damon was terrified,” he claimed, my hands clenching the sheets. “He’s really changed for the better,” he continued, not breaking his seriousness.

            “I know,” I muttered, unable to hide my uncomfortable distaste for this new situation. Dan’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he rested his elbows on his knees awkwardly.

            “I’m sorry, is there something I’m missing?” he questioned, actually baffled.

            “I don’t know,” I hummed, taking on a sarcastic tone. “Maybe the fact that an apology and a life-threatening situation isn’t what it takes to make me forgive him. If it was his life on the line, his ass that was beaten to a pulp, then maybe I would find the heart to forgive him.” I grumbled, slowly gathering myself into an upright position. Dan, not daring to gently push me back down, stared at me with a blank expression, now void of confusion, which admittedly brought a smile to my face.

            “You still haven’t forgiven him,” he didn’t question but stated subtly.

            “Nope,” I half-smirked, rolling my head from side to side. “It takes a lot more than my life hanging on the balance. Could’ve saved me the extra week of torture if he had just apologized months ago. Or better yet, never bullied me to begin,” I shrugged, finding the whole situation rather comical.