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Stop.
STOP!
Gasping, I snapped my eyes open, my heart beating a violent tempo, sweat beading on my forehead, filling my nostrils with the scent of fear…and the realization that the shadow had been a real person.And he had done those things to me that I kept reliving in my nightmares.
Panting, I glanced around the hospital room for Jack.I needed Jack.He made the nightmares better.The shadows didn’t come when he held my hand while I slept.
The door began to open, and some of my fear receded.“Jack?”I whispered when no one immediately stepped inside.
But when the person standing outside my room finally entered, my fear returned tenfold.I clutched at my blanket and burrowed back into the bed, trying to make myself as small as possible as the large man strode forward.It took my brain a few seconds to realize he was wearing a police uniform and the word SHERIFF was embroidered on the left side of his shirt.He had a utility belt around his waist with a Taser, gun, and handcuffs, along with several other items.
He was gigantic, not just in height but in the muscle department as well.He had a silver wedding band on his left hand and a tattoo with the letters L-E-X-A across the knuckles of the same hand, while T-A-L-I was inked on his right hand’s knuckles.
As if he could sense my fear, the man stopped several feet inside the room and held up his hands in a “hold up” kind of signal.“Easy, Nishia.I’m not going to harm you.My name is Ben Davis.I’m the sheriff here in Trinity County.”
“Wh-where’s Jack?”I choked out through my wired-together teeth.
“He had to take a phone call, but that was about twenty minutes ago.I told him I would wait to speak to you until he returned, but it’s getting late.I didn’t want to take up any more of your time than necessary.”He glanced over his shoulder.“Fuck.Someone is going to bust my balls over this.”Turning his head to look at me again, he gave me a grim smile.“Would you feel more comfortable if I asked one of the nurses to come in while we have a conversation?”
“I-I want Jack.”
“Jack’s cousin is my wife,” he informed me.“That means we’re family, and in this family, we take care of one another.I swear on my life, I won’t let anyone hurt you.No matter the threat, I’ll put a bastard down before I allow them to touch you without your permission.”
“I just want Jack,” I whispered, sinking lower in the bed and pulling the covers up to my chin.“It’s safe with Jack.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod.“We’ll just wait for Jack, then.”
“Only Jack,” I said, trying to make my voice a little stronger.That seemed impossible when my fear felt like it was choking me.If I’d had food in my stomach, I might have puked.But I’d fallen back to sleep before the soup Jack had promised arrived.“C-could you…just go away?P-please.”
The door swung open again, and I yelped, lifting the blanket up to my nose as tears stung my eyes.I didn’t want to be scared, damn it.I didn’t want to feel so freaking helpless.My body began to tremble, and all I wanted was—
“Ben, I told you to wait for me.”
At the sound of Jack’s slightly raspy voice, everything inside me relaxed, and I was able to lower the blanket back to my chest while I sat up a little straighter.My eyes stayed glued to him as he walked around the sheriff and stomped toward me.Even without my glasses on, Jack wasn’t hard to miss.Every inch of him was impossible not to see.He was huge.A beautiful, giant teddy bear who scared away all the shadows, the nightmares, the reality of what had happened.
I released my grip on the cloth of the covers with one hand and lifted it, my eyes silently begging Jack to hold it.
To hold me.
His callused fingers caressing over my palm was all I needed to calm my pounding heart.Without releasing me, he sat in the chair beside the bed and turned a glare on the sheriff.“What was so important that you couldn’t wait a few more minutes to speak to her?”
“I have two sick kids at home, man.Lexa is dealing with a mess coming from both ends with Finn and Tali.I want to get home and help her out.”
His answer caused something to twist in my chest, but I didn’t focus on that sensation.Instead, I kept my gaze on the gentle grip of Jack’s fingers on my hand.
“Then you could have waited until the kids were feeling better to get a direct statement from Nishia.For fuck’s sake.Her heart rate is jumping all over the place.”
Frowning, I glanced up at one of the monitors.Through blurry eyes, I saw it had my heart rate, latest blood pressure reading, and oxygen level on the screen; the noise must have been turned off so I could rest easier instead of hearing the constant beep-beep-beep.
“I’m sorry, okay?Can we just forget that I fucked up?”Scrubbing a hand over his jaw, Ben shifted his gaze back to me.“I apologize for scaring and upsetting you, Nishia.But now that Jack has returned, can we go over the details of what you’ve been through?”
I shrank back into the bed again.“Wh-why?”
“I’m trying to find the bastards who did this to you.The more information I have, the easier that will be.Potentially,” he muttered the last word with a heavy sigh.“Sometimes, the smallest detail can help more than you realize.So if you’re up to it, let’s go over everything that you remember.”
I was already shaking my head, making it throb all the more.When a sharp pain sliced through my skull, I stopped and closed my eyes.“I-I don’t feel like it.I d-don’t remember anything.”
“What she means is she doesn’t want to talk to you, asshole.”Jack’s voice had lowered, becoming kind of growly.
