Beyond Her Beauty

CHAPTER 15 (Clinic √)

Then, in a disconnected voice, Selena mumbled to her magazine as we continued to argue, “Got what she deserved. Whore.”

Whore? Is she really thinking that kind of way?

Selena looked over her shoulder just in time to see me lunge at her. She screamed as I landed on her, knocking us both into a coffee table. I heard something, probably a cup of tea, smash onto the floor.

I’d closed my eyes midjump, and when I opened them, Selena was underneath me, trying to grab at my wrists. I pulled back my right arm and slapped her as hard as I could across her face. The burning sensation in my hand was nearly overwhelming, but it was worth it to hear the satisfying smack that erupted when it made contact.

Selena immediately let out a shriek and started at me. For the first time I regretted not keeping my nails long like the other girls did. Since it annoyed me having long nails. She made a few cuts on my arm, which only angered me more, and I struck her again. This time I cut her lip. In response to the pain, she reached for something—the saucer from her cup of tea—and slammed it against the side of my head.

Thrown off, I tried to grab at her again, but people were pulling us apart. I was so consumed, I hadn’t noticed someone calling for the guards.

“Did you see what she did to me?” Selena cried.

“You keep your mouth shut!” I screamed.

“Don’t you ever talk about Liezel again!”

“She’s crazy! She's like her sister! Don’t you hear her? Did you see what she did?”

“Let me go!” I said, struggling against the guard.

“You’re psychotic! I’m going to tell Kaden right now. You can kiss the palace good-bye!” she threatened.

“No one’s seeing Kaden right now,” the queen Anastasia said sternly. She looked into Selena’s eyes and then into mine. Her disappointment was clear. I hung my head.

“You’re both going to the hospital .”

The hospital was a long, pristine corridor with beds against the walls. Pinned by the head of each bed was a curtain to wrap around for privacy. Cabinets of medical supplies were scattered throughout.

Wisely, Selena and I were placed at opposite ends of the Hospital, with Selena being closer to the entrance and me near a window in the back. She’d pulled her curtain partially around her bed almost immediately so she wouldn’t have to see me. I couldn’t blame her. I did have a rather smug look on my face. Even while the nurse tended to the sore spot behind my hairline where Selena had hit me, I couldn’t bring myself to grimace.

“Now, hold this ice here, and that will help keep the swelling down,” she offered.

“Thanks,” I replied.

The nurse looked up and down the clinic quickly, seeming to check that no one could hear us. “Good for you,” she whispered. “Most everyone’s been waiting for something like this to happen.”

“Really?” I asked, my voice as low as hers. I probably shouldn’t have been smiling this much.

“I can’t begin to count the horror stories I’ve heard about that one,” she said, nodding her head toward Selena’s curtained bed.

“Horror stories?”

“Well, she provoked that one girl who hit her.”

“Anna? How do you know?”

“Kaden’s a good man,” she said simply. “He made sure she was checked out here before she went home. She told us what Selena said about her parents. It was so filthy, I can’t repeat it.” The look on her face conveyed her disgust.

“Poor Anna. I knew it had to be something like that.”

“One girl came in with her feet bleeding after someone slipped glass in her shoes in the night. We can’t prove it was Selena, but who else would do something so mean?”

“I never heard about that.” I gasped.

“She looked terrified that she might get worse. I suppose she chose to keep her mouth shut. And Selena hits her maids. Not with anything more than her hands, but they come in for ice from time to time.”

“No!” All the maids I’d encountered were sweet girls. I couldn’t imagine any of them doing something that would provoke getting hit at all, let alone regularly.

“Suffice to say, your antics are making the rounds already. You’re a hero around here,” the nurse said with a wink.

I didn’t feel like a hero.

“Wait,” I said suddenly. “You said Kaden had Anna checked out before he sent her home?”

“Yes, miss. He’s very concerned that you’re all taken care of.”

“What about Liezel? Did she come here? How was she when she left?”

Before the nurse could answer, I heard Selena’s pouty voice pierce the room.

“Kaden, sweetheart!” she called as he marched through the doorway.

We shared a brief moment of eye contact before he approached Selena’s bed. The nurse walked away, leaving me alone and aching to know if she’d actually seen Liezel.

The sound of Selena’s whiny voice was almost too irritating to bear. I heard Kaden murmur his condolences, comforting the poor thing before extricating himself. He made his way around her curtain and focused his eyes on me, seeming exhausted as he walked down the clinic.

“You’re lucky my father had the caKittyas barred from the palace, otherwise there’d be hell to pay for your actions.” He ran his hand through his hair, exasperated. “How am I supposed to defend this, Lily?”

“Are you going to kick me out, then?” I played with a piece of my dress while I waited for his answer.

“Of course not.”

“What about her?” I asked, nodding my head toward Selena’s bed.

“No. You’re all stressed after yesterday, and I can’t hold that against you. I’m not sure my father will accept that excuse, but that’s what I’m going to say.”

I paused. “Maybe you should tell him it was my fault. Maybe you should just send me home.”

“Lily, you’re overreacting.”

“Look at me, Kaden,” I urged. I felt the lump rising in my throat and fought to speak past it. “I’ve known from the beginning I don’t have what it takes, and I thought that I could—I don’t know—change, or somehow make it work; but I can’t stay here. I can’t.”

Kaden moved to sit on the edge of my bed. “Lily, you might hate the Selection, and you might be mad about what happened to Liezel; but I know that you care about me enough not to just abandon me in this.”

I reached for his hand. “I also care enough about you to tell you you’re making a mistake.”

I could see the pain in Kaden’s face as he held my hand tighter, as if he could hold me there and keep me from disappearing. Hesitantly, he leMaried in and whispered, “It’s not always so difficult. And I want to show that to you, but you have to give me time. I can prove that there are good things to this, but you have to wait.”

I inhaled to contradict him, but he cut me off. “For weeks, Lily, you’ve asked me for time, and I gave it to you without question because I had faith in you. Please, I need you to have a little bit of faith in me, too.”

I didn’t know what Kaden could possibly show me that might change my mind, but how could I not give him more time when he’d done that for me?

I sighed. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” The relief in his voice was obvious. “I have to get back, but I’ll come see you soon.”

I nodded. Kaden stood and left, stopping briefly to tell Selena good-bye. I watched him go and wondered if trusting him was a bad idea.

Both Selena’S and my injuries were minimal, so we were sent back to our rooms within an hour. They staggered our release times so we didn’t have to leave together, and thank goodness for that.

As I turned the corner at the top of the stairs, I saw a guard coming toward me. Bridger. Even though he was bigger after being bulked up from training, I knew his walk and his shadow and a thousand other things that were ingrained in my heart.

As he approached, he stopped to give me an unnecessary bow.

“Jar,” he whispered, and rose again, continuing on his path.

I stood there for a split second, confused, and then realized what he meant. Fighting the urge to run, I moved down the hall eagerly.

I opened the door and was both surprised and relieved to find that all three of my maids were out.

I went over to the jar on my bedside table and found that the one little penny in there had company. I opened the lid and pulled out the folded sheet of paper. How clever of him. My maids probably wouldn’t have noticed it; and if they had, they never would have intruded on my privacy.

I unfolded the note and read a very clear list of instructions. It seemed Bridger and I had a date tonight.