Taming the Beast
Chapter 33 (Caroline)

(Caroline's POV)

"Good, now you said there was a hospital downstairs right? Take me there and whatever doctor is on hand can look at me there. Sound like a plan?" I suggested. He swallowed as his nervousness started evaporating.

"Okay," he croaked out again. He scooped me up before quickly carrying me through the kitchen and down the stairs. His mom went ahead of us and got a room ready for me. The doctor came in only a few seconds after Keegan set me down in the examination chair. It was a middle-aged woman with slightly graying hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She was hefty. I guess with all of those guys to take care of, she had to be.

"What seems to be the problem?" she said, mostly to herself as she moved around to examine the back of my head. After a second, she came back around and smiled at me. "Good news, you're going to be fine. It's very small, barely noticeable. Put a little Tuff-Skin on that and it'll seal up by tomorrow. I think you may have a mild concussion as well, so just don't do anything strenuous for a few weeks, like no sports, being upside down, running, and no more wrestling," she said, winking at me. I thanked her gently and tried to keep down to oh-so-obvious blush that tinted my cheeks. Glancing over at Keegan, I noticed that he was still shaking his leg nervously.

"Why was there so much blood?" Keegan asked her. She turned and smiled at him.

"Any cut to the head is going to bleed a lot. There's more blood circulating in our heads and faces because of our brains," she answered sweetly. She grabbed a jar of something and put a swab in the honey colored liquid. It looked sticky. She held it up to me. "This is the Tuff-Skin. I'm not going to lie and say it will be painless. It's going to sting a lot. Afterwards, you can wash it out tomorrow night and you should be good as new," she said. I nodded weakly before I waited as she disappeared behind me. She wasn't lying. As the sticky liquid hit my scalp, I yelped and let out sharp breaths as my eyes watered. "Ow," I whined. It hurt a lot actually. It was over a little bit later. She gave me a few more instructions about eating and sleeping, and watching out for my concussion in general. I thanked the doctor before she left. Keegan just sat in the chair, staring at the floor and shaking his leg. He looked so worried. I reached out to touch him, but he shot up and out of the room before I could. My heart hurt a little at the rejection. "What are you doing?" I heard his mom right outside my door.

"I can't do this, mom. I can't put her in danger like this. I can't ask her to be a part of this. I forgot today. We were wrestling and I forgot that she... I forgot, mom. I went too far. I-I," he trailed off into a sob. It sounded like he was panicking again. A tear escaped my eye listening to him. He was scared for me, I got that much, but why?

"Honey, this was an accident. We all know that you would never hurt her on purpose. You would protect that girl with your own life... hell, we all would," his mom said. I smiled lightly at the thought. I eased off o the chair and made my way closer to the door.

"But I need to protect her from myself! Today when I saw her laying there... I don't know. It was like my brain just shut off or something. I couldn't take control. I couldn't think straight because all I could think about was that I couldn't lose her. Maybe... maybe this was a sign. Maybe we shouldn't push our luck with the council or even just being together," he said. I leaned against the doorframe as I eavesdropped. What did he mean?

"Stop it!" Lena snapped at him. I heard her take an exaggerated breath before she continued. "Keegan, she makes you happy... and she makes me happy. Hell, she even makes your friends happy. If you let her go now, you're never going to forgive yourself. You're worse off without her. You need her," Lena said, though it sounded more like she was begging.

"Maybe the council was right when pairing me up with Natasha. She's like us and she would be here, no questions asked," he said defeated. I covered my mouth with my hand to keep the loud gasp from escaping my lips. Tears pricked my eyes and slithered down my cheeks.

"She has an ugly attitude. You're my son, and I love you, but you're an idiot of you let Caroline go," Lena seethed.

"Maybe I should. I don't know. I just don't know what to do. This isn't easy," he sighed. I stepped out of my hiding place inside the room and glared at Keegan. I knew my eyes were probably puffy and red from crying but I didn't care.

"Let me make it easier for you," I choked out hoarsely before I stormed past him and up the stairs.

"Caroline!" I heard him call after me. I was dizzy and my head was spinning, but I didn't care. I gripped the counter when I reached the kitchen. I took deep breaths and closed my eyes. Once I regained myself, I walked into the living room to see the guys trying to clean my blood out of the carpet. They all looked at me curiously and worried when they saw my face.

"Someone... take me home, please?" I croaked. Gregg and Trevor stood immediately.

"We'll take you. Let me just... talk to Keegan-"

"No," I cut him off. They looked at me surprised. "He'll try to stop me, and I really don't want to talk to him right now," I said vaguely. Gregg nodded quietly. Him and Trevor washed the bleach off of their hands before they rushed me out to a car. I sat in the backseat with Trevor comforting me as Gregg drove. The ride was quiet mostly until we pulled up to my house. Gregg stopped the car but didn't let me out just yet.

"What happened?" he demanded. I sighed and looked at the ceiling before I closed my eyes.

"It's over. Keegan couldn't choose between me and Natasha, so I made the decision for him. Did he even really like me? Was this all a joke from the start?" I said, thinking out loud. Trevor immediately started shaking his head.

"Caroline, he-"

"Don't say that he cares or loves me because he doesn't. If he did, he wouldn't have even considered dating Natasha again. If he cared about me, he wouldn't have let me go so easily. If he loved me, he would've fought for me... but he didn't. Now what, I'm supposed to assume that the past four weeks weren't a complete joke to him?" I seethed, getting angrier and louder by the second. Trevor flinched as I rushed out of the car and slammed the door behind me as I entered the house. I had a feeling that Netflix and frozen yogurt were going to be my best friends tonight.000000