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“Where is she?” I asked.
Hollis’ eyes widened as he turned his body toward me.
“How the hell are you—?”
“I said, where is she?” I asked.
I watched him open his mouth like he was about to say something before he closed it quickly. My eyes bore into his. I took a step toward him, and he bucked up to me. I was ready to throw down every card in my fucking arsenal to get him to cough up where she was.
“Room 402. Down the hallway, third door on the right.”
I took off in a dead sprint down the hallway. I counted the doors before I gripped the side and swung myself through the doorway. My eyes fell to the hospital bed shoved into the corner, and I felt myself grow cold.
Theresa looked so fragile lying in that bed.
She was staring out the window, but not for long. Her face tilted toward me and a small smile managed to grace her cheeks. I walked over to her as her smile grew and I sat on the bed next to her. I looked down into her face and felt her lightly lean into my body.
“You’re here,” she said.
“Of course I am. I’d never be anywhere else,” I said.
I wanted to take her hand, but my eyes wouldn’t pull away to find it. I was staring at the bruising around her throat and the redness of her cheeks. My blood was boiling, and my fists clenched in my lap. Her nose was a little swollen, and her forehead had this very angry red spot right in the middle of it.
That motherfucker was dead if I had a chance to get at him.
“How are you here so soon?” she asked.
“I was coming to surprise you.”
I watched Theresa’s lip tremble, and she leaned into me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my lap, wiggling myself into her hospital bed. I spread my leg and felt her entire body shift into place as her cheek pressed into my chest, and her sobs became audible.
I stroked her arms and held her as close as I could without hurting her further.
“I was so scared. I thought he was going to – to --,” she couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
“Ssshhh,” I said. “You’re safe now. No one will ever hurt you again while you’re with me.”
“I’m so glad you’re here,?
?? she said into my chest.
“And I’m never leaving you again.”
I stroked my fingers through her hair as she cried in my arms. Her tears soaked my shirt and my insides raged. The idea that Ike could put his hands on her at all made me sick. Punching him repeatedly in the face until his bones shattered underneath my fists sounded like a pretty good idea. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and she nuzzled underneath my chin.
I drew in a deep breath before the words slipped from my lips.
“You do need someone worrying about you,” I said. “But it doesn’t make you weak. Every powerful woman in history had someone who worried about her.”
But she only cried harder.
“That bastard’s never going to touch you again,” I said. “I’m here, and I’m not leaving you vulnerable like that again.”
Her face tilted up to mine and she sniffled. I lifted my thumb up to her cheek and dried her tears. I wanted to heal her hurt and make sure that she never hurt again. And I’d meant every word. I wasn’t leaving her again. I didn’t know how I was going to work it out or how the hell it was all going to play out, but I was going to protect her from here on out.
Like she deserved.
My lips fell to her face, and I kissed away her tears. I placed a kiss on each of her eyes before I trailed to her nose. I pressed one to the tip of it and watched as a small grin crossed her cheeks. I thumbed my finger over her bottom lip and felt her sigh against me, then I pressed my lips to hers and allowed the love I had for her to pour into our kiss.
