𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃

58 | broken skin

"Are you okay Sammy?" I ask and he responds by doing an 'OK' sign with his fingers.

"Been better." He mutters.

"Dyl, bring the bag of frozen vegetables and wrap it with a towel." Cassie commands.

"On it."

"Are you looking at me like that because my face is ugly now?" Sam jokes attempting to lighten the mood. "I know I look like shit Noxie, you're making me self-conscious." He laughs a little and that causes him discomfort, so he groans painfully.

"How about you stop worrying about looking pretty and breathe from your mouth before more blood pops out of your nostrils like magma?" Dylan suddenly throws and hands the items Cassie requested a moment ago over to her. Sam tries to make himself comfortable by shifting in his seat.

"Sit upright, don't lay down." I instruct Sam. "That way it reduces the blood pressure in the blood vessels in your nose. It will stop the bleeding. May I?" I gesture at the vegetable pack in Cassie's hands, and she gives it to me. I place it on the bridge of his nose, and he flinches. "Am I hurting you?"

"Well, my entire face feels like a giant bruise." He says lowly. "The vegetable pack is cold."

Half his face is swollen and bruised. His left eye has received the most damage as the skin around his eyeball has swelled up to the point that it's deformed. There are cuts on his lips and purple hues painting his cheekbones; they're the same color as the marks on Jimin's knuckles maybe a shade darker. I look at his jaw and I don't notice any deformations near the jawline area. The same applies for his nose. I have experience with facial injuries because there was a dark time in my life, I spent trying to cover it up in order to go out in public.

"We will take you to the hospital just to be safe once your nose stops bleeding." I say to him, and he shakes his head.

"You don't have to."

"Cut the brave act Sam." Dylan snaps. "You're going no questions asked."

"I-I don't deserve this..." he says in a whisper.

"Will you cut the dramatics?" Cassie says. "Half your face is busted, and for all we know you might have a concussion."

"You guys don't understand."

"We don't have to." I insist. "I don't know what happened in there between you and Jimin, but he went over the line and now we have to take care of you. You have severe facial injuries here Sam. The swelling might take five to seven days to go down and as for the bruising, I calculate approximately ten to fourteen days for it to fade. And like Cassie said, you might have a concussion, so you're going!"

"I don't give a shit because I fucked up Nox!" Sam exclaims. He grabs the bag of vegetables and tosses it on the coffee table adjacent the sofa before getting up abruptly. "I fucked things up big time and he's right for beating the shit out of me because I betrayed him!"

"Jesus, what did you do?"

"I fucking had sex with Evelyn while they were together!" He booms and I suck in a breath.

That's why he was hurt.

"You did what now?" Dylan mumbles. "Fucks' sake Sam-"

"I know! I'm the worst fucking human being in the world." Sam says his voice cracking. "He has every right to be angry at me. I don't blame him. I kept it from him for months and he figured it out just then, when he found the shirt, she left here. I should have told him-I should have fucking told him when I got the chance!"

His eyes are tearing up and I can't help but feel sorry for him. I'm don't take his side in all of this and I'm definitely not siding with Jimin violently lashing out on him. I can understand why Jimin was so aggravated; cheating is the worst thing that can happen to someone, especially when your significant other cheats on you with someone you trust. I would have been furious to say the least. If Taehyung cheated on me, I'd probably cut his balls off.

However, Sam isn't a bad person. He recognizes his faults, and he knows he made a big mistake. If anything, I consider that a redeeming quality.

If Jimin forgives him or not is totally up to him and whatever he chooses to do is completely justifiable.

"Come here," I tell him.

Sam looks at me, tears running down his face and I pull him into an embrace as he buries himself in my chest.

"It's okay Sam. You made a mistake." I coo. "We all fuck up."

"Apparently not that bad." Dylan adds and I glare daggers at him.

"Let's get you to the hospital, okay?" I finally pull away from him and he wipes his face clean.

"Thank you, Nox."