The blow cracked across my cheek, splitting my lip and making my ears ring. I bit my tongue so hard I tasted blood. But I didn’t care. All I could see was the calf—trembling, scared, hurt. I did what I’d done before. With practiced ease, I opened another wound on my wrist, letting the blood flow.
“Don’t cry, baby,” I whispered as the calf nuzzled closer. “Drink this and everything will be alright…”
“Oh my God!”
Gasps rang out around me. Ginny stared at me like she’d just been struck by lightning.
“Tom—what are you doing?!”
“All I did was send you and the baby here for a one-month break. Was it really that unbearable?” Her voice cracked with a mix of rage and disbelief. “Did it hurt you that much—to the point where you can’t even tell humans and animals apart? You’d go so far as to harm yourself, just to disgust me?”
Furious, she lunged and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking it hard. The pain shot through my scalp and something cracked sharply in my neck. But I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t feel a thing.
I just sat there, cradling the little calf, gently feeding it my blood while stroking its back.
“It’s okay, baby,” I murmured. “Daddy’s here. Don’t be scared.”