A Beast Sees No Beauty

Chapter Eighteen

When dawn broke the next day, Serena had already fallen asleep in an extra chair brought into the room. Jeremiah was still downstairs, having been the one to talk with the police over-night about the attack. The officers left about an hour ago now but would send someone once they found Jones.

Vincent wanted nothing more than to pace around the room, but the simple thought of disturbing the fragile woman in bed was incentive enough to stop him. Instead, he remained seated beside her, fixing the covers every once in a while - not because they needed it, but because he wanted them to be as perfect as she had been.

Juliet's left eye was swollen shut, and her entire face was a mirage of reds, purples, and blues. There was a large number of bandages going around her head to cover the large gash from the brick wall. The doctor said she also had a fractured rib, but there was little to be done. It would have to heal on its own.

It wasn't good enough. Vincent wanted Harris in prison. He wanted Juliet to be in perfect health. He wanted Serena and Jeremiah to be in bed with no worries. He wanted Rosaline to go back to whatever hell she crawled out of.

He wanted everything to be justified.

As he thought of all the things he wanted to get done, and all the things he should have done differently, Juliet opened her one good eye. She stared at the ceiling, feeling all the pain wash over her like an ocean of sorrows.

She was alive, but she couldn't remember much after Harris showed up. Did he have her? Had he done anything to her? Was he going to force her to marry him as soon as he knew she was awake?

Her breathing became ragged and her heartbeat erratic as she thought of all the terrible things about to happen to her. Just as she inhaled deeply to calm herself, an aching pain bloomed, causing her to cough harder than she ever had before.

"God Juliet! You're not supposed to be awake for another few hours!" Her hand was grasped by Vincent, who leaned over her in the most protective manner she had ever seen. "Serena, you should see if the doctor is available, he may want to come to see her while she's conscious."

Serena was wide awake already, having been startled by Juliet's cough attack. Upon hearing Vincent's request, she woke up further, knowing her lack of sleep was for the betterment of a friend - one who was lucky to be alive.

Once she was out the door, Vincent turned all of his attention back to Juliet, who seemed more than confused by everything. He watched her one eye water as she tried to make sense of everything.

"But-but Harris was - he was going to-"

"It's okay Juliet, he can't get to you here. The police are searching for him, a couple of them even stayed behind to keep an eye on the building. You're safe," for the second time in the past couple of days, Juliet began to sob, which only made her cough harder than before. It was a pitiful mess of pain and suffering.

Vincent wanted to hold her, but she was forbidden from sitting up for the next day or so. Instead, he stretched himself out to lay beside her and wrapped his arms around her slender frame. There was no other comfort he could give besides himself.

Her tears soon stilled into small sniffles, leaving her cheeks wet. Vincent was too afraid to brush away her tears. He didn't want to hurt her still tender cheeks. It was hard enough for him to hold her. The last thing he wanted was to brush against her ribs wrong.

"How... how bad is it?" He could feel her gulping as she asked. She was afraid to know the answer. No doubt she noticed her eyesight was half of what it normally is. By now she must have known how badly damaged she is.

"You-you have a cracked rib, and a large gash on the back of your head, and-" Vincent couldn't even bring himself to say the rest. How could he say that she won't return to her natural beauty for weeks? Months even? The possibility of never? "He did his harm. He did a lot of harm to you."