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He gave me a pat on the shoulder before taking his wife’s hand and heading down the hall. The two led the way with me following behind. Just like my parents, those two had a strong marriage. Seeing them interact, witnessing their ease around each other made me a little envious. One day...one day I hoped that would be me and Ginger. But I had to take it one day at a time, and for today I only wanted to find out why she ended up here.
When we got to the nurses’ station, they directed us to Ginger’s room. A nurse was helping to transfer her from the wheelchair to the bed when we walked in. The side of her face was swollen and showing discoloration. It’d be a nasty looking bruise by tomorrow.
Memories of seeing her in the hospital after that bastard had nearly killed her came barreling back with force. She’d had bruises on her neck where he’d choked her and a nasty bite mark on one side. Her arms had looked like she’d been on the losing end of a street fight. I’d been so filled with rage I couldn’t think straight. If he hadn’t already been dead, I would have killed him myself. I’d been thankful she’d been asleep when I’d first arrived, she didn’t need to see that from me. Anger had been the last thing she’d needed to be faced with regardless of the fact it wasn’t directed at her.
I let out a controlled exhale and pushed those thoughts away. She still didn’t need to see that from me.
Chapter 12
Calida
As soon as the nurse left, Mom started fussing over me. Fluffing up the pillows and continuously asking me how I felt. How I felt? Ridiculous, that’s how. I passed out from yet another panic attack. I went from going six months without one to having two major ones within a week. On top of that, I’d fallen down the damn stairs, and they were all here, expecting some explanation.
“Mom, I’m fine,” I said, taking hold of her hand.
She patted mine and gave me a smile. She wore that same worried look that she’d had when they’d arrived from Greece. At least she’d stopped crying.
“Really, I’m okay.”
Dad cast a quick glance over at Malcolm who was putting his phone back in his pocket, before gently pulling Mom away.
“Come on, Sandy, let’s go see if there’s anything decent to eat. Malcolm, you need anything?”
“No, sir, I’m good.”
Dad leaned over and gave me a kiss on the head before dragging Mom from the room, leaving me alone with Malcolm. Butterflies filled my stomach. I nearly called out for them to come back. Why was I nervous to be left alone with Malcolm? Could it be because of the look on his face when he’d walked in? He’d tried to hide it, but he’d looked pissed.
Mal pulled the chair up beside the bed, and I kept my eyes focused on the fuzz balls that had collected on the ugly green blanket from one too many washings. He placed his fingers on my chin and turned my head toward him. His thumb ran across my swollen cheek before leaning down to place a feather-light kiss on my lips.
“Baby, what happened?” he asked, taking a seat in the chair. His warm hand wrapped around mine as he waited on an answer.
I shrugged in response.
“How do you not know?”
“Because I don’t,” I snapped, pulling my hand free.
He leaned back in the chair, running his hands over his face as he let out a groan.
“Baby, I’m just trying to understand. You ended up passed out in a stairwell and you have no recollection of even going in there to begin with. It’s...troubling.”
Mal sat forward, resting his forearms on his thighs as he waited in vain for me to shed some light on the subject. I went back to picking at the fuzz balls on the blanket. The silence stretched on.
I thought back over what I’d said to Dr. Carr. How could I have let any of that slip? What a difference a week made, apparently. I’d worked hard keeping Mal at a distance, keeping myself protected from my emotions, as they were the enemy and couldn’t be trusted. However, seeing Malcolm almost daily for the past week, having him near me, shot my efforts to hell and brought all those feelings to the surface.
I swallowed hard. I would have to do a better job of locking them away. They brought nothing but trouble into my life. My current situation was further proof of that. One week of “dating” Malcolm and I almost opened the floodgates on the complete ugly truth of my life with Seth.
Malcolm leaned back in the chair and let out a loud, aggravated sigh. “Macy said she’ll be by later.”
I said a silent thank you for the change of topic. “Tell her that’s not necessary. I mean, it’s nothing serious. I don’t even understand why they’re forcing me to stay here tonight.”
I attempted to reposition myself only to be hit with a stabbing sensation in my ribs. I’d been through worse, I’d survived worse, but the pain still managed to take my breath away. Freaking concrete steps.
Mal was out of the chair, assisting me instantly. His hazel eyes met mine as he gently helped me sit up more. Again his fingers brushed across my cheek.
“When I got the call you were being taken to the hospital…” He stopped. He had a look I’d not seen before. Fear? He started to speak again, but there was a knock at the door, followed by the nurse entering with a wheelchair.
“Time for your MRI, Ms. Jokobi.”
