Trinity (Moonstone Book 1) (7 page)

The nurse at the counter gave me some forms to fill out and I took a seat. I had no insurance so I was just going to get them to check out my forehead and see if I needed stitches. Hopefully they could just tape it up. That was much cheaper.

“Miss Hallow?” the nurse called after about thirty minutes. “We can see you now.”

I followed her through the corridors and into an examination cubicle. She pulled the curtains to give me some privacy as the doctor came in flipping through my file. I winced at that. He would see all my “accidents” but I was too old to be questioned by children’s services now.

“Hello, Trinity,” he said, offering me a genuine smile, “hit your head I see.”

I nodded. “I tripped and hit it on the edge of the coffee table.” Only a half lie.

“Ouch,” he winced like it actually hurt him, “let’s take a look shall we.”

His name tag said his name was Dr. Kingston. I hadn’t seen him before but he seemed nice.

I sat still while he examined me.

“So how old are you, Trinity?”

“Eighteen.”

“And you live at home?”

“Uh-huh.”

“With your mom?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What about your dad?”

He was asking a lot of questions. “He’s not really around.”

“I see.”

He fell silent which I was grateful for. “Well, Trinity, you will need a few stitches unfortunately, and it might leave a tiny scar just under your hairline.” He paused. “Now do you want to tell me what
really
happened?”

I blinked at him. “I already did.”

“Why are you holding yourself together then like you’ve been snapped in half?” he asked, tilting his head towards me knowingly. “Let me check that shall I?”

I didn’t reply as his hands went to my side, carefully moving over my ribs. I winced. It hurt.

“No broken ribs,” he said after a moment of examining me, “just bruised. Will hurt. I’ll have the nurse give you some pain killers and make sure you take it easy for the next few days.”

I nodded.

“Trinity,” he began, “you know it is not alright for anyone to treat you like this. They might say they love you but if they hurt you like this then it is not love.”

I blinked up at him. Wait. What?

“What would your mother say if she knew someone was treating you like this?”

I didn’t say anything. What was he talking about?

“A man who would hit a girl is not a man worth keeping silent for.”

Suddenly I understood. He thought a guy—a boyfriend—had done this to me. I shook my head earnestly. “Oh no, you have the wrong idea. I don’t have a boyfriend. No one did this to me. I really did fall.”

Dr. Kingston frowned. “You fell?”

I nodded. I was eighteen now, he didn’t need to believe me, there was nothing he could do but somehow I wanted him to.

“If you ever need anyone to talk to, Trinity, there are people here that can help.”

“Thank you but I’m fine.” All I needed was somewhere to live. I wondered if someone here could find me somewhere to live.

He paused for a long while watching me before he nodded, deciding something that he didn’t share with me. “I’ll get the nurse to organize those stitches.”

Chapter Eight

Trinity

I woke up with a massive headache. And my side hurt. I winced, turning over in my car that was tight and cramped. I ached all over. It was only when I opened my eyes and looked around that I remembered the previous night.

My date.
Luke
. Kissing. My mother. My head. The hospital.

After getting my stitches done and packet of Tylenol I didn’t know where to go. By this stage it was well after midnight. I was tempted to go home but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. If I woke my mom and she was still annoyed with me for whatever she thought I’d done do Kent then I couldn’t afford to suffer any more blows. In the end I’d decided to park out the back of The Bean again. I had to work there in the morning anyhow.

Touching my head and sitting up, I grimaced as pain shot through me. I really needed to go to the bathroom and when I looked down I realized I was still wearing the same blood-stained dress. I had nothing in my car since I hadn’t planned on leaving immediately. I wondered if I could go home now.

God my life was a mess.

Switching on the car I drove through the streets toward home. I had to at least get some things, a change of clothes, and maybe I could grab a shower at Molly’s.

Turning into my street I was just in time to see the familiar Mercedes reverse out of the drive and take off.

I frowned. Kent had been here? He must have come by last night after I left, either that or had had come very early this morning. That was very weird. He normally didn’t visit for weeks on end. Something must have inspired him to come now. Something I hoped had nothing to do with me.

Creeping quietly into the house I found my mother sitting at the kitchen table.

“Come here.”

Her voice was quiet and authoritarian. I didn’t want to go there but wasn’t sure I had a choice. Why was I always such a coward when it came to her?

“What the hell happened to you?” she asked, her eyes daring me. She always did this. It was a game we’d played over the years. She would ask me what had happened, daring me to tell the truth. I never did.

“I fell and hurt myself.”

She cursed. “God you are so useless.”

I nodded. Nodding was way better than arguing and besides she was right. I was useless. I was eighteen, what happened to me now was my own fault.

“I just need a few things,” I mumbled as I escaped down the hall. Quickly I grabbed a bag and stuffed it with a few clothes and personal items. I was an expert five minute packer. When I emerged she was still sitting at the kitchen table, cradling her coffee like it was something precious. She looked lost, like she was caught in a daydream and I decided I had time to have a quick shower.

I locked the door, checking it carefully to make sure she couldn’t barge in before stripping and climbing under the water whilst it was still cold. Quickly I washed my hair, getting rid of all the dried blood and then scrubbed my body, carefully avoided my ribs. A dark purple splotch covered them that I knew would get angrier and darker as time went by.

Then I dressed in my clothes for work and evacuated.

She still hadn’t moved and didn’t even acknowledge me as I deftly made my way out, carefully shutting the door behind me once more.

I had to get out. I had my money and in just a few weeks I would have double what I’d already saved. I would be able to get a place on my own. I just needed, more than anything else right now, to be on my own.

****

Luke

Trinity was the first thing I thought of when I woke up. I’d dreamed of her all night, dreams that left me feeling very unsatisfied when I opened my eyes. God, it had been too long. Since Melissa and I had broken up there had been a few one night stands but they’d soon lost their appeal.

When I opened the door I was surprised to find Gwen there again. She was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and Toby was in the kitchen, making eggs.

I blinked at the scene in front of me. This was not something I was used to seeing. The same girl
twice
. And Toby cooking breakfast for the girl.

“Oh. Hey,” I said, feeling very awkward.

The two of them though seemed completely relaxed. “Oh hey, want some eggs.”

I shook my head. “Uh, no. I thought I’d go out and grab a coffee.”

Gwen looked up. “The Bean opens in about fifteen minutes.”

“Oh right.” I didn’t say anything. Did she know I’d been out with Trinity? Had she said something? I wanted to know but I didn’t want to ask.

I left the two of them alone, shutting the door behind me and shaking my head. Very weird. I would have to ask Toby about that. It didn’t look like he was trying to get rid of Gwen, it looked like he actually wanted her to stay.

Whistling to myself, I made my way down the stairs and out to my car. Then I paused. The Bean wasn’t that far away and I could probably walk. The sun was bright and the air brisk. It was a beautiful day and I’d missed my morning run.

Fuck
, I thought grinning to myself,
what did I sound like noticing the weather? Snow White?

Even still I didn’t stop smiling all the way to The Bean. Trinity. I would get to see Trinity again. Sure she would be working but I would still get to see her pretty face. And then tonight, in a mere twelve hours, I could see her properly. I’d take her out for dinner, and then maybe invite her back to mine…

My grin reached my ears by the time I pushed open the door.

Then I stopped, the blood immediately rushing to my feet.

What the fuck?

Trinity was behind the counter, pouring someone a coffee. She was dressed in the normal Bean attire of a black logo t-shirt and jeans. She was concentrating on what she was doing, her face puckered, and she hadn’t tucked her hair behind her ears but instead let it fall freely, covering some of her face.

And I could see why.

A dark, purple welt traced up her pale skin into her forehead. And there was a bandage on her forehead.

Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck
.

I was so enraged by what I saw that I just stood there, the bloody pulsing hot through my body. I pinched the bridge of my nose to get a grip because I felt as if I could kill someone right now, the only thing being, I didn’t know who to kill. Who was doing this to her? And I was pretty sure that
someone
was doing this because she couldn’t possibly have hurt herself twice in just a few days.

Just at that moment she looked up and saw me. She somehow managed a small smile and I could have kissed her for it. It was a smile for me, to make me know that she was okay. Only she wasn’t. She wasn’t okay and I wanted to fix it.

Snapping a lid on a coffee she’d just made she pushed it across to the customer and then wiped her hands on a towel. Turning she spoke to the other guy behind the counter with her who looked my way, nodded, and then kept working. Trinity let herself out and came over to me.

I hadn’t moved a muscle, although I had stopped pinching the bridge of my nose. Now my hands were curled into tight fists by my side.

“Hey,” she said, smiling and keeping her voice light. “How are you?”

“How am I?” I growled out. “How are you? What the fuck happened to your head?” Every time I swore she seemed to bounce a little but I was too wound up to even find that remotely adorable.

“Oh,” she waved her hand dismissively, “just a minor accident that’s all. I’m a bit clumsy.”

“Trinity—”

“I’m actually glad you came in here this morning,” she began, swallowing hard and dropping her eyes, “I was going to call you later anyhow.”

“You were?”

“Yes,” she paused and licked her lips. I watched, wanting to do the same even though I knew it wasn’t the right moment to be thinking about kissing her. “You see, well, I had a really nice time last night.”

I didn’t say anything. She was jostling between her feet and avoiding direct eye contact. I had a feeling I knew where she was going with this and I didn’t want to make it easy for her. I didn’t want her to say it and I wasn’t going to make it easy.

“Well, it’s just that I forgot we have rehearsal tonight.”

“You told me about rehearsal,” I reminded her, “and we’d go out after.”

“It’s a long rehearsal. We have to learn a whole pile of new songs for the gig we have in a few weeks—they want Mariah and Celine and stuff and well, I don’t really know that music and I really need to learn the lyrics.”

I shook my head.
No
.
Don’t do this
. I pleaded with her with my eyes, but she wasn’t looking. There was something way more interesting than me on the floor apparently.

“So I’m sorry but I won’t be able to see you tonight,” she concluded, still not looking at me.

“Okay,” I said my eyes searching her face. Why was she doing this? Was it because of the bandage on her head? Was it because I had said something about it? Was it because of whoever had done that to her? Was there another guy? “Well, what about tomorrow?”

She kept her eyes on the floor. “Luke, you are a really nice guy—”

“Don’t do that Trinity,” I whispered, “don’t say it.”

“But I don’t think that we should see each other again,” she finished in a rush.

I felt as if she had punched me. That this tiny creature, the one that was hurt and so fragile, had actually punched me in the gut. Figuratively.

“You don’t mean that.”

She nodded. “I do. I just think that, well, I am so busy with the band and work right now.”

“You have no time for a boyfriend.”

She shook her head. “Look you are a really—”

“Nice guy,” I finished for her, “save it. I know I’m a nice guy. I don’t need a rehearsed speech from you to tell me that. What I need is the truth. Why won’t you see me? And who the fuck is hurting you?”

“No one is hurting me,” she hissed, dropping her voice, “that is not what this is about. I just don’t think we should see each other again. Last night was fun but I’m sorry.”

Oh hell no, she was
not
turning this around on me.

I stared at her hard and she met my steady gaze this time. The purple cradled her face and I hated,
hated
whoever had done this to her. And I hated that she didn’t trust me enough to share with me what was going on. Was there another guy? I doubted it. Was it her dad? Who the hell was hitting her?

And why wouldn’t she let me protect her? I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and hold her and have her trust me implicitly. Then I wanted to find out who was putting their hands on her face and tear them apart. But if she wasn’t going to trust me, if she didn’t want to see me then what could I do? I was powerless. Trinity didn’t want me, as much as I wanted her, she didn’t want me.

Eventually I nodded, conceding for the moment. “Right,” I said, my voice tight, “well. Thanks and bye.”

I turned on my heel and walked out.

She might think that this is over but there was no way, no way was I giving up on her that easy.