Chapter Four

Athena

Luckily, I had the good fortune to see Dr. Gabrielle Sawyer instead of the stern nurse. Dr. Sawyer was the kindest person I’d ever met, and I often spent my lunch breaks in the infirmary whenever she was around.

“Oh my, what happened to you?” She stood up from her desk as I stepped into her office.

"Um... something heavy fell on my hand. I think my fingers might be broken." I fought back tears, though my trembling voice betrayed how close I was to crying.

"Alright, let's get you to radiology and see what's going on. The scan will tell us for sure if it's broken." She gently draped her arm around my shoulders and guided me out of the office.

Emerald Crest’s infirmary was impressively equipped, almost like a full hospital, minus large machines like MRI or CT scanners.

She opened a door, leading me into the radiology room and passed me over to the technician for the scan. In just a few minutes, it was done, and I was sent back to Dr. Sawyer’s office to wait for the results.

Dr. Gabrielle walked in about ten minutes later, placed the scan on a lightbox, and flicked it on. Seeing the image of my fractured fingers made the lump in my throat grow, and I fought back the urge to cry.

"Well, you're in luck, Athena," she said with a smile. "You won’t need surgery. It's a non-displaced fracture—your bones are broken, but they’re still in alignment. Right now, all you need is to keep them in a splint."

"Just a splint?" I asked, trying to process what that meant.

"Yes, the splint will stabilize your fingers so they can heal properly, and it’ll prevent you from moving them and causing further injury," Dr. Gabrielle explained.

I hesitated, feeling my anxiety spike. "Okay... but I’m left-handed," I blurted out, feeling the panic set in. "I write, eat, and do almost everything with my left hand."

"It’s going to be okay, Athena," Dr. Gabrielle reassured me, her voice calm. "It’ll only be for three to four weeks. After that, you'll come back for another X-ray to check if everything's healing as it should."

This time, the tears spilled over, and I couldn’t hold them back. The thought of weeks without using my left hand felt impossible. Beatrix would never allow me to slack off, even with an injury—she’d probably prefer I amputate it before using it as an excuse.

"Don’t cry, everything will be fine," Dr. Gabrielle said softly, pulling me into a comforting hug as she stroked my hair.

Dr. Sawyer was a wonderful person, but she could never truly grasp what I was going through. No one seemed to care about my pain—no one except her. After she put my fingers in a splint and prescribed pain relief medication, I left the infirmary.

I decided against attending history class, fearing I might get into trouble again if Eros played the knight to my damsel in distress for the second time. Besides, I also dreaded facing Mr. Stavros, the intimidating, bald, and muscular Greek history teacher.

Instead, I hid in a stall in the girls' restroom until the lunch bell rang. Then, I quickly made my way to the cafeteria for a sandwich and yogurt before hurrying to the library.

In my rush to avoid unwanted encounters with my classmates, I accidentally bumped into something hard. Just as I was about to fall, a hand wrapped around my waist, steadying me and pulling me against a solid chest.

Walls don’t have hands or hard chests. The touch felt familiar, sending a shiver up my spine. The scent of sandalwood filled my nostrils, and I struggled to resist the urge to press my nose against that chest and inhale deeply.

"This is the second time, Athena. A third would be asking too much, don't you think?" The wall I thought I had bumped into spoke, a mix of irritation and amusement in his voice.

I looked up slowly, wishing I could wake from this dream, hoping I hadn’t actually collided with Eros Belmonte in real life. But when my gaze met his gray eyes, it felt like an electric shock coursed through me, making me stumble backward in panic.

"I'm so sorry," I blurted out. "I didn’t see you. I’m really sorry." A cold sweat trickled down my back as I silently prayed he wouldn’t yell at me.

“It’s fine,” he replied.

To me, it was far from fine. I quickly glanced over my shoulder to check for any onlookers, but the hallway was empty. I let out a sigh of relief, though I still felt tense.

"Hey. Are you okay?" he asked, his gaze focused on my left hand. "Why didn’t you say you were hurt when Charlie tripped you?"

"This isn’t… Um… This is all my fault," I reassured him with a shaky voice. "Charlie didn’t… I’m really sorry for bumping into you, but I have to go." I sidestepped him and practically sprinted away.

Maybe running wasn’t the best choice, but that cold look in his eyes made me fear he was just moments away from “helping” me again. I had been at this school for three years without him ever noticing me—something for which I was eternally grateful—but now, it felt as if I were the only thing in his line of sight, and that was downright crazy.

Eros Belmonte embodied every girl's dream boy, featuring captivating gray eyes, dark brown hair, and a lean, muscular model physique. His chiseled jawline and perfectly shaped lips complemented his flawless face, leaving absolutely nothing out of place.

Meanwhile, I was just me. There was absolutely nothing special about me. Some might describe me as pretty or even beautiful, but I felt too thin, too olive-skinned, and too hairy. I had cut my hair several times, but it always grew back faster than I could blink, so I eventually gave up.

I wasn’t claiming that just because Eros knew my name and had helped me earlier, we would become friends—that would be like saying hell should freeze over. It all felt ridiculous to me. I had always been invisible to him, and I wanted it to stay that way forever.

Even if I wanted to be friends with anyone at this school, it definitely wouldn’t be Eros Belmonte, especially since I knew who he truly belonged to, whether he realized it or not.

Scarlett Granville might seem like a pretty girl with an innocent face, but she was anything but. The last person foolish enough to incur her wrath by setting their sights on Eros had to transfer to another school in another state.

Despite the hostility I faced in Emerald Crest, I loved it here. I hoped to graduate in a year and a half, and to achieve that, I needed to stay far away from Eros Belmonte.