But this changed everything she thought she knew and tipped her world upside down.
Until Micah had told her, she had never known he’d actually been there in person that night. She’d assumed he’d heard what happened to her, possibly from his dad since his father was a cop, and decided she was damaged goods and dumped her.
Knowing he’d seen her like that, that he’d had the power to do something to help her but hadn't, hurt more than she would have guessed if the idea had ever occurred to her. It would have been too late to prevent her from being hurt, but it would have ended it sooner. Knowing that the first thought in his mind when he saw her being raped was that she was cheating made their entire relationship feel like a lie.
Had he ever loved her?
If he didn't know she loved him, respected him, and would have spent the rest of her life with him, then she didn't think he could have.
Notreallyloved her.
Not the way she had loved him.
They hadn't spoken after his apology. If she didn't know better, she would have believed the apology was sincere. There was devastation in his eyes, and he’d actually cried as he toldher how sorry he was for abandoning her, for not finding out the truth before ruthlessly cutting her out of his life.
What else was there to say?
Was he sorry?
Maybe.
Did it change anything?
No.
Not at all.
Well …
Maybe a little bit?
Honestly, right now, Teresa felt too raw to figure out if she cared that he felt bad now that he knew the truth. From the looks of things, he felt more than bad, he felt gutted, and it probably made her a terrible person to feel an ounce of satisfaction at that.
Gutted was exactly how she felt when Micah didn't answer her calls or texts, and she then realized he’d blocked her.
When the door to their shared room opened once again, she glanced in that direction, tensing when she realized it was the doctor from earlier, the one she’d bitten. They hadn't seen him since he’d stormed out, but the nurse had been in a few times. Micah had tried talking to her, but she refused to respond. She was scared, Teresa got that, but she hadn't had the energy to try to calm the woman or convince her to help them.
“Good news, Ms. Dash, we do indeed have a match, so you’re heading off to surgery,” the doctor told her, a wicked gleam in his eyes. No doubt he had something planned to punish her for hurting him.
Still, Teresa couldn’t find it in her to care when she saw the bandage covering his finger and most of his hand. She’d done that. She might be their prisoner, but she’d fought back and that brought her immense satisfaction.
“Don’t take her,” Micah said. His voice didn't come out strong and confident, it wasn't an order, and if you weren'taware of his training and experience, you wouldn't guess he was a special forces operator.
He sounded terrified.
He was begging.
Like if he pleaded hard enough, he could change what was going to happen.
One thing Teresa had learned early on in life was that you couldn’t change the hand you were dealt. It was what it was. You had to make the best of it, work with what you had, and find a way to accept it.
It seemed like it was time for Micah to learn that same lesson.
There was no changing this. No going back in time to the night of her assault and erasing it. No way for him to change how he’d blocked her from his life. No changing the fact that they were both going to be cut open and taken apart. No changing that her fate was now going to become his as well. Just because they were there for her didn't mean that they wouldn't soon be coming for him, too.
“Please,” Micah continued even as the doctor ignored him. “Take me instead.”
The doctor snorted. “Doesn’t work that way, Mr. Hart. Certain people match other people, there are no substitutes.”
