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Ugh.What the fuck was I even doing thinking about the kind man who had spent every moment of his time helping me, like I had the right?I wasn’t even sure what I was feeling.Was he my security blanket, and I just needed him to hold my hand until my mental health was more stable?Were we friends?
Did I want something more?
No, Nishia.Just…no.
Those fucking shadows had done terrible things to me.The mere thought of someone touching me…like that… I didn’t think it was possible to move past the trauma of what those bastards had done to me.
Yet, I couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling of jealousy every time the woman knocked on my door and gave Jack a sweet smile.She never looked past his shoulder, never met my gaze.At least, that was what it seemed like.Without my glasses on, I couldn’t tell.But she only ever spoke softly to him, and I couldn’t hear their conversations while she handed over a fresh duffel bag of clothes and toiletries before leaving again.
As if I wasn’t even there.
As if all she saw was Jack.
Disgusted with myself for feeling territorial, I shifted, trying to scratch my leg with the straw that had come with my lunch earlier.The severe concussion I had, along with the fractured skull, must have warped my brain in some way.I was all fucked up in the head where Jack was concerned.
Was this some kind of Florence Nightingale Syndrome?Where a person caught feelings for the one who selflessly took care of them?Shit, that was so fucked up.Jack was a great guy, and I didn’t want to mess up the friendship we’d developed.I didn’t want to have those kinds of feelings for my beautiful, gigantic teddy bear who saved me repeatedly from the shadows who haunted me.
With a half grunt, half sigh, I angled the flimsy straw, but it couldn’t reach the spot that itched the most.My entire body ached, yet I was determined to relieve the—
“Easy, little fairy.”Jack’s voice stopped me mid-scratch, and I glanced up to find him coming out of the bathroom, hair damp and in fresh clothes from his shower.“You’re going to hurt yourself if you aren’t careful.”
“It itches so bad,” I whined.I’d found it was easier to speak through my wired jaw now.It wasn’t comfortable, but at least my words didn’t sound slurred or garbled.Each day, the nurses and doctors understood me more and more.
Dropping the duffel bag on the floor that the woman had brought him only an hour before, he crossed to the bed and examined my elevated leg.“Where?Here?”He touched the top of my cast, and I cringed.
I’d always hated having hair on my body.Other than what was on my head, I usually kept everything else shaved.My face filled with embarrassed heat as he scratched around the top of the cast.
“No.Underneath,” I told him as I averted my gaze.
“Ah,” he murmured and took the straw from me.Carefully, he angled the long plastic cylinder beneath the cast and maneuvered it around until I moaned in relief when he finally found the right spot.“There?”
With a nod, I closed my eyes, sighing my pleasure as he kept stroking the straw over the frustratingly itchy spot.For someone as big as he was, he had a soft touch.
My gentle, beautiful, gigantic bear.
But it only lasted a few moments before he stopped, and my lashes lifted in disappointment.
“I don’t want to irritate the skin too much and damage the area,” he said with what sounded like genuine regret in his voice.“You might get an infection.”
“Okay,” I muttered through my closed teeth, shifting so I was a little more comfortable.
That was a difficult feat when I was in a hospital bed with a pillow that went flat every five seconds and covers that scratched my exposed skin.My head constantly throbbed, but at least I didn’t go blind if I moved my head too quickly now.I still had a concussion, according to the neurologist, but at least they hadn’t needed to do surgery to stop the brain bleed they informed me I’d had when I first arrived.But I had no bra or underwear on, so I felt exposed even with the sheet and blanket tucked up under my arms.My only reprieve from full-on humiliation was that the nurse helped me shower every other day and supplied me with little sample-sized deodorants and other toiletries, so the room didn’t smell like bad BO.
A light tap on the door had Jack crossing the room to pull the door open slightly.“I know, I know,” I heard a feminine voice say from out in the corridor.“It’s been a hell of a week, Jack.I’m sorry.”
“She’s been without for a week now, River,” he grumbled.“Mila or one of the assistants could have come if you were so fucking busy.”
“Currently, only Mila and I are working at the shop,” River sighed.“Avery quit—which we can thank Kingston for, by the way—and we’ve been swamped.Rocco and all four of Mila’s kids have been sick with whatever is going around at school.And I figured you wouldn’t want us to spread those germs to the poor girl.”
“Then you should have told me.I could have asked Lexa or one of the aunts.”His voice held no tenderness.He was agitated, and that made me tense.“Instead, she’s had to go without clothes.”
“I said I’m sorry,” River snapped.“Do you want my help now, or should I take this shit and let Lexa come back later?”
“Don’t get pissy, River.”
“You were pissy first, Jack.”
He muttered something I couldn’t hear but then stepped back, holding the door open for a blond woman.She was holding several bags with a logo on them that I could make out read WomanLand as she came closer to the bed.As soon as I saw her eyes, I knew she must have been related to Jack in some way, and that helped me relax a little as she crossed the room to my bed and dropped the many bags into the recliner where Jack slept.
