Divine Phoenix Read Online Free PDF Page A

of the gown. “When I saw this bruising on your sternum, I wondered if they should’ve waited. My main concern then was stopping the bleeding.”
    “I left my husband yesterday. I’m filing for divorce as soon as I can see a lawyer.”
    As he checked the dressing over the incision in her abdomen, she paled even further. Doctor Burns and the nurses who had taken care of her had undoubtedly seen JT’s mark, which was permanently tattooed on her lower abdomen, above her mound. Imagining the revulsion in their eyes at the sight of it made her heart burn with shame. What must they be thinking of her?
    Doctor Burns replaced her gown and the bedcovers and nodded to the nurse as she went about her work. They had a brief talk once the nurse left the room about domestic abuse, and he told her he was proud of her for getting out of a bad situation.
    He suggested that she document her current condition, including the fresh bruise on her breastbone and the old, numerous bruises and scars on her body. She agreed, knowing she needed the official documentation and hoping it wouldn’t be necessary to show those photos to anyone.
    He promised to have the sheriff contacted so the situation could be handled appropriately, if JT showed up. She doubted he’d just let it be. She’d hoped to fade into the woodwork in Divine and he’d never hear from her again, unless it was to serve him divorce papers.
    “I’d like to keep you for observation for a couple of days. You’ll want to set a follow-up appointment. Do you have a doctor here yet?”
    “No.”
    “Then I’ll refer you to Doctor Emma Guthrie. I have a feeling you’ll like her a lot. Once you’re released, do you have anyone you can stay with, to help you?”
    Desolation crept in on her again. “No. I—”
    “Yes, she does,” an unfamiliar, deep voice said from the doorway.
    She heard the scuff of footsteps as a tall man stepped into her room. A man she remembered as a little boy. Her heart pounded and tears clouded her eyes as she took in the sight of him. She was vaguely aware of Doctor Burns asking for his name and then patting her hand and telling her he’d see her the following morning.
    Clay Cook stood there in all his full-grown glory, as handsome as she’d always fantasized he’d be. He’d grown tall just like his father, who had been at least six foot five inches, and Clay was every bit as powerful looking, too. When he smiled at her with that little crooked grin of his, the tears overflowed her eyes. She remembered that smile, too. He sat in the chair beside the bed, took her right hand in his and squeezed gently. His moss-green eyes were also the same, so unusual with their gold coronas ringing the pupils. At that moment, they flickered with concern.
    “I’ve missed you, Lily. We all missed you.”
    Lily’s lip trembled, and suddenly the dam she’d held back so long burst open. Clay listened quietly as she told him everything, just blurted it all out. It occurred to her that she’d had no one to talk to since her early days of college, before she’d met JT. Like when she was little, she told Clay everything. Well, almost everything. Some parts were just too humiliating to share.
    “So you left the no-good bastard?”
    “Yes. Yesterday. I’m in here because of what he did to me.”
    “What happened?” he asked as the nurse returned and administered pain medication into her IV before quietly leaving.
    She explained the ectopic pregnancy and JT’s actions that had caused the accident, and Clay’s jaw set in a rigid line. The surgeon had told her that the damage from the rupture had been too severe and she’d lost the use of that Fallopian tube. That cut her chances of having a baby by half, not that she’d ever wanted to bring a baby into the situation she’d been in.
    “And now?” he asked, seeming to want to give her the opportunity to let it all out.
    “Now? I rebuild my life. I find my parents’ old house, and just…live my life. I’m