It'll Come Naturally
Chapter 720 Duke, Help (Part Two)

Duke made the bathwater hotter than usual. He also added some essential oils in the water to help Belinda relax. He walked out of the bathroom when everything was ready for her bath but then halted upon returning to their bedroom and seeing Belinda. Her injuries

astonished

him.

"How many more injuries like this do you have?" Duke crouched and lifted her feet. His brows were in knots. He hadn't seen these bloodstained injuries in the dark suburb. Nor had he examined her body when they got home. Now that he saw them, he couldn't help but panic.

"No more. Just these on my feet. I got them when I fell. I'm going to have a bath." Belinda withdrew her feet nervously. She got up and started to walk toward the bathroom. She tried but the pain on her feet caused her to stagger. "Wait a minute. You shouldn't have a bath right now with those injuries. Let me attend to them first." Duke stepped up and attempted to hold her by the arm but Belinda closed the door to the bathroom and locked it from the inside. Duke frowned. She was stubborn. It seemed that he had to wait until she finished her bath. He went downstairs to fetch the first-aid kit.

In the bathroom, Belinda took off the coat. She bit her lips upon looking at her injuries in the mirror and then walked to the bath. The cuts stung terribly the minute they got wet, but they stopped hurting much anymore after a while.

Belinda kept rubbing her body with a towel. She rubbed so hard that some cuts were reopened and started bleeding again but she didn't stop. She rubbed every inch the drunken man had touched. Her skin was torn and the water had become red, but she was still rubbing. It seemed as if she couldn't feel the pain anymore. She must get clean. She couldn't accept herself as a dirty person.

She couldn't unleash her emotions in front of Duke but she cried in the bathroom where nobody could see her. She didn't blame anyone but herself for what had happened. She had brought it on herself. She had been too willful. Now she had to suffer alone. Belinda's feet had been covered with dust. Thus Duke hadn't seen how badly her feet had been hurt. He checked the time and paced back and forth in the room. It had been half an hour and Belinda was still in there.

He sighed, walked to the door, and knocked. "Belinda, is everything okay? Don't stay in the tub for too long. It's bad for the cuts."

As if Belinda didn't hear Duke's words, she applied more body wash to her body, and started the process all over again. She was rubbing and rubbing. The shower head kept spraying water towards her. Water mixed with blood overflew onto the floor. Duke waited at the door but got no answer. He was worried. He went downstairs again and grabbed a spare key to the bathroom door. He almost fainted when he opened the door and saw the blood in the tub.

"Belinda, what are you doing?" Ignoring the spraying water, Duke bent over and got Belinda out of the tub.

"Leave me alone. I'm not done yet." Belinda murmured and struggled.

"You are done. You are very clean now." Duke felt guilty while looking at the cuts on her body. He should have thought of that. How could he not know that there were other cuts on her after that asshole's rough treatment?

"No, I'm not. It's gross. I'm dirty." Belinda didn't look right. She tried to go back to the tub. Duke couldn't exert too much strength on her considering her injuries. He was worried that he might hurt her.

"I say you are done!" This was the first time Duke had raised his voice to her after the incident at the beach. It was killing him to watch her hurt herself like this.

Belinda raised her head and looked at him sadly, completely forgetting that she was naked. Duke bowed his head and kissed her on the lips all of a sudden.

It was the only way he could come up with to take her mind off the horrible scene at the beach. He had to drive away her sense of shame before treating her injuries.

He was kissing her so gently as if she was a delicate treasure. Yet the expression on his face was all remorse and sadness.

Belinda was surprised by his kiss. This was the first time he had kissed her so softly. Actually, she hadn't known at all that Duke could be so gentle. She still hadn't recovered from the surprise when he stopped.

Duke grabbed a towel to cover her body. He was afraid that he might not be able to control himself later. "Let's get out of here." He bent over and carried her out of the bathroom quickly.

He put her on the bed carefully and tucked her in. Then he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello. Why are you calling me in the middle of the night? I was asleep." Tom had been doing operations all day. He had been exhausted and went to bed early. Woken up in the middle of the sleep, naturally he was not happy about it. "Come to my house now. Belinda is injured. It looks bad. Take whatever you think might be useful." Duke said coldly and briefly. Sensing that Duke was serious, Tom got out of bed immediately and hurried into the bathroom.

"What's the cause of injury? Be specific. I need to know what medicine to take with me." Tom washed his face quickly with the phone between his head and shoulder.

"Scrapes. I am afraid there is a lot of sand in the cuts. Come as fast as you can. She's bleeding. I'll give her first aid for now. See you later." Duke hung the phone up and took the first-aid kit to the bed. He was sure Tom would be here soon. "I'm fine. I just need some ointment. You shouldn't have troubled Tom." Belinda gazed at him. She didn't think her injuries were serious.

Duke just looked at her silently. He knew how bad her injuries were. He lifted the quilt to treat the cuts but Belinda pulled it down again quickly.

"Stay still. I must stop the bleeding before Tom gets here," Duke comforted her and tried lifting the quilt again slowly.

"But... I am naked. Could you get me a nightgown?" Belinda grabbed the corner of the quilt tightly. She was too shy to lie naked before him.

"Can I stop the bleeding first and bring you your nightgown later?" Duke was extremely patient today. He even had never been so patient with Leena.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐