“That’s enough!”

Brendan stormed forward and snatched Deirdre’s hand away from its motion. The entire spectacle was just so grating to him that he gnashed his teeth and snarled, “Are you done playing the victim!? You’re so into it! So into trying to make yourself look like the most tragic woman in the world that nothing is below the belt, isn’t it? God. You keep proving me wrong when I think you can’t stoop lower!”

Playing the victim? How blind was this fellow to think this whole thing was an act to ‘play the victim’?

Her injury stung so much her arm was shaking despite herself. She had not finished the task Brendan had ordered her to do, so she simply muttered, despite her ashen expression, “Can you please let me go? I’m not done cleaning up…”

“To hell with cleaning up!” Brendan bellowed suddenly. He kicked the garbage bin so hard that every fragment from the broken bowl spilled back to the floor.

He glared at the nurse and thundered, “You clean this up! And I want you to do it