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A woman in dark-green scrubs walked in, and I felt heat fill my face that I’d freaked out.
“She needs something for her headache,” he said without taking his gaze off me, while his fingers soothingly stroked over my palm again.His touch was so gentle, so calming, that my fear began to ease almost immediately.“How is the rest of your pain?”
“Everything hurts,” I gritted out through my teeth.
“Of course it does,” he soothed, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.“Dr.Sandoval has you on plenty of pain meds for—”
“No.”I quickly spoke up and was rewarded with my entire face throbbing.“Just ibuprofen or Tylenol.”
His brows lifted.“But you’re in too much pain.”
“I refuse to take anything stronger.”Looking at the nurse who stood there with her lips pursed, I repeated myself.“Ibuprofen or Tylenol.I don’t want anything else.”
“Jack?”the nurse said with a sigh.
“Why the fuck are you asking me?”he demanded, and I was glad to finally know his name without having to ask.“Nishia is the patient.”
With a huff, the nurse turned and walked out of the room.
“You’re Jack.”
He nodded.“And you’re Nishia…?”
“Cohen,” I gave him my last name and then realized I had no idea where I was.“So, um… Where is this place?”
“Creswell Springs.”
“I’m gonna pretend to know where that is.”
I got another quick lip tilt before it disappeared yet again.“Northern California, sweetheart.”
Suddenly, I saw spots again.“Wh-what?”I cried.
His fingers tightened around mine.“Where are you from, Nishia?”
“N-New York,” I gasped out, feeling panic pressing down on me.“H-how did I get to California?”
All I remembered was being tossed into the back of a gross van that smelled even worse than the men who had taken me.It would have taken days of driving to get from New York to California.
“Two men in a van dropped you off outside the gates of Sanctuary,” Jack informed me.“They seemed to know what they were doing, where they had brought you.The question is, why?”
“I-I don’t know!”
“Easy, sweetheart.We’ll find the answers.”His thumb shifted, and he stroked over my wrist, right over my pulse.“Don’t be scared.No one is going to hurt you again.”
“But…” I closed my eyes.“I have classes.And work.And—”
“High school?”
“College,” I corrected.“I got a few scholarships and was able to pay for everything but a dorm room, so I was still living with my…” Inhaling slowly, I focused on Jack’s long, thick fingers on my smaller hand.“My boss probably thinks I quit.And my scholarships have a strict attendance policy.I’ve lost everything.”
“Shh, don’t worry about that right now.We’ll get school figured out.”He drifted his fingers up my forearm to my elbow and back again.
It wasn’t like I was starved for physical contact.The shadows had given me plenty of that shit while I was trapped in the darkness.But the tender caress of Jack’s fingers was something I feared I might quickly come to crave.The gentle brush of rough fingertips over my flesh was so…loving.
And I was definitely starved for that.
“Tell me about your life back in New York.I have a cousin who lives there now, but I’ve only been there a few times.”
