[h2]Esme[/h2]
Esme only had seconds to dwell on her words to Cason and how they had affected him before there was a knock on the door, followed by Duke’s voice. She almost smiled behind her hands at what he said but how she was feeling prevented her from doing so. She let his words echo in her mind for a moment, truly debating if she wanted company, other than Sarah, in the room with her. She was also surprised that he’d even want to be in the room with her after she scolded him not that long ago. This morning she had gone from being sweet and happy to a bitch to both Duke and Cason all in less than an hour. She wouldn’t blame either if they didn’t want to be around her, but surprisingly Duke did. She didn’t even acknowledge him after talking to Cason. She had gone straight to Sam, told him Cason was going to help them, then went to the room, all without even casting a glance his way. He was far too sweet a man and at that moment she felt she didn’t deserve him. That she didn’t deserve to have him at her side taking care of her injuries or even comforting her but she wanted him there with her. 

She needed to hear him say that it was alright, and he understood why his words had hit her so hard to have her react the way she did to them, even if she felt she didn’t deserve them. Sighing heavily, she lifted her face from her hands and ran both hands through her hair to push it from her face. “You can come in if you want to.” she finally called out to him, her tone holding a mixture of emotions. She didn’t even look at the door when she called out to him, she had looked down at Sarah and placed a hand on her head and gently rubbed it. “I really don’t deserve him.” she softly breathed to Sarah. When she heard the door open, she leaned back on the bed, letting her hand slide off Sarah’s head before bringing both her arms up and laying them across her face. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the hurt she knew was on his face. Though she was sure he’d end up coming over to the bed and then gently remove her arms from her face, asking her not to hide from him.