The waiting room smelled of antiseptic and something too sterile, too cold. The fluorescent lights buzzed faintly, an unrelenting hum that only made the silence between Domain and Kendric heavier.
Domain sat with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together, his head bowed. Kendric hadn’t spoken since they arrived, his fingers clenched so tightly around his own sleeves that his knuckles had turned white.
Footsteps.
Both brothers looked up as the doctor approached, his expression grim.
“Are you Ariana’s guardians?”
Domain didn’t even hesitate.
“Ariana Hastings and yes.”
The shift in the doctor’s expression was subtle, barely a flicker, but it was there.
Shock. Realization.
Ariana Hastings.
The name carried weight, power, and the kind of influence that could make people disappear with a single word. Everyone knows Leonardo, Marcus, Domain, Kendric.
But Ariana?
No one had known she existed.
And now, she was lying in the ICU, broken and bruised.
The doctor's expression barely flickered, but Domain caught it, the slightest widening of his eyes, the barely noticeable shift in his posture.
Still, the doctor recovered quickly, nodding.
"We’ve stabilized her condition for now, but she remains critical."
Domain felt Kendric stiffen beside him.
"Her injuries are severe."
The doctor continued.
"She suffered blunt force trauma to the ribs, resulting in multiple fractures. Some of them were…...old. Fractured a long time ago but left untreated. They had started to heal improperly on their own, which made them more vulnerable. Unfortunately, they’ve now been broken again. This kind of repeated injury suggests....”
"Abuse."
The words left the doctor’s mouth like a death sentence.
And with them, Domain’s last sliver of denial shattered.
He had already known, had already seen the bruises, the fear, the way she flinched.
But a part of him had hoped.
Hoped he was wrong.
Hoped that maybe, just maybe, the past she had endured wasn’t as horrific as he imagined.
But it was.
It was worse.
Kendric suddenly stood up so fast the chair scraped against the floor. He turned away, shoulders tense, his head bowed.
“Her injuries weren’t accidental.”
The doctor said gently, perhaps sensing the storm brewing between the two brothers.
“The bruising on her arms, wrists, and ribs indicate she was restrained or struck multiple times. The level of force required to break her ribs again suggests that this was not a one time occurrence, it was deliberate, repeated.”
Domain felt a crushing weight on his chest.
He had been in pain before. He had taken hits in fights, broken bones, and bled more times than he could count.
YOU ARE READING
Silent Scars
Teen FictionAfter enduring years of neglect and cruelty from her mother and stepfather, Ariana's life changes drastically when tragedy brings her under the guardianship of five brothers she's never met and they never even knew they had a sister. For her brother...
