The Bruises She Hides

Chapter 13

Fin's POV

I wave goodbye to Dani as I pull out of her driveway and make my way to work. I love her, I really do.I just have to build up the courage and find the right time to tell her. I feel a smile make its way onto my face and the thought of it. And the thought of her being mine. Her beautiful...

A beep sounding from behind me snaps me out of my trance as I didn't realise I had completely zoned out at a red light. I finally and safely reach my work, the auto shop. I've been working here as a mechanic for about two years now and after everything with my dad I feel like I've not only been working harder but even longer hours than ever before.

"Hey Fin, there's a guy out back I need you to help out, needs some help with his Audi. It's bright red won't be hard to miss," says Sal, my boss. I nod in agreement as I chuck on a pair of petrol smeared overalls and head into the garage. I spot the car in no time especially since its cherry red exterior clashes with all the dull coloured cars parked around it.

I see the back of a guy, presumably the owner, leaning on the car most likely passing time on his phone. "Hi I'm Fin, what's the problem with her," I say gesturing to the car even though he can't see me.

"It's just the engine it's..." both me and the guy or should I say Edgar freeze as we notice who we're both really talking to right now. I can see his neutral face contort into one of worry as a result of the glare I'm unconsciously shooting his way.

"You find an excuse yet about Dani or what," my voice is stern and foreign to my own ears.

He opens and closes his mouth a few times, visibling struggling to come up with a lie. "what do you even get out of lying about sleeping with her, I mean..."

"I wasn't lying alright! I fucked her. And not just that night, no heaps of nights before that. I had sex with her in more ways that you can even imagine. I've seen her..." and this time he was cut off by my fist connecting with his jaw that made a sickening as he stumbled backwards. While he attempted to steady himself I threw another punch aimed at his nose knocking him completely off balance.

I continued punching him not even thinking about if I was hitting him or not. My mind wasn't registering the sounds of my fists bashing into his skin, or even the intensifying pain in my wrists neither did it notice the disgusting smear of this pigs blood over my knuckles.

Before I knew it I was on the ground after a solid blow to my eye. Now we were both attacking each other, hitting each other wherever possible. I could feel my brain slowly switching on again as my hearing returned along with the stabbing feeling in my left eye.

In a flash Edgar was being held back as I could feel hands wrap around me arms restricting me from injuring the bastard any further. "What the fuck is going on here," I hear Sal's voice boom from behind me, his Italian accent thickening as a result of his anger. Though I could hear several voices around me attempting to explain what just went down all I could do was sinisterly smirk at Edgar's face. Bruises of varying levels of disgust spread across it, blood smeared over his cheeks and his nose clearly broken at the sickening angle it currently stood at.

I should have felt some sort of guilt at the damage I had caused but all I could feel was satisfied. I was still celebrating when I felt a calloused hand yank me by the arm into a room, Edgar's beaten face no longer in view. Instead I could see Sal, fury evident on his face. "What the fuck were you thinking?" My brain was still in overdrive as I scoured it for words but found myself unable to verbally respond.

"Do you have any fucking idea... why would you... better than this...," I tried to focus on Sal's lecture but the throbbing in my head was doing anything but helping. "Go home, calm yourself, if anything like that ever happens again your fired understand?" I nodded slowly feeling slightly woozy as the I was becoming increasingly aware of my pain with each passing second.

. . .

"Hey Fin I... oh my god!" before I could even turn my head my head to see the owner of the voice which I had failed to recognise in my almost drunken state, a girl was in front of me. Her eyes wide in fear probably taking in my bruised state. I barely registered her small hands grabbing my arms and leading me inside. This stranger sat me down as she ran into a nearby room mumbling something about a "first aid kit".

She came back with a white box in her hands as well as a tissue box. She quickly began working on my face cautiously wiping the blood from my throbbing wounds. Her hands gentle on my face trying not to add to my existing pain. She was talking I think, her mouth was moving but her words were too fast for me to currently understand. She seemed really familiar, something about her just... "Dani?" I questioned cutting off whatever she was rambling on about.

Her eyes immediately met mine with a look of surprise evident on her face. "shit he couldn't even recog..." Suddenly her melodic voice which I had desperately wanted to listen to faded away as I felt my vision begin to darken at the edges. "Fin," was the last thing I heard before everything around me went black.