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“Thank you for letting me know, Mr. Ducane,” she uttered as she picked up the phone. “Is there anything else you need?”
“No, that’s all.” Shaking my head, I turned and headed to the waiting room at the end of the corridor. There was a small balcony there that I would head to when I needed to be alone. Now that my Tiny Dancer was awake, I could finally start to mend the bridges properly. There was so much I needed to say to her, I didn’t know where to start.
Taking out my phone, I shot off a quick message to Damon and Jonah to let them know she had woken up. I didn’t want to be away too long, but I needed some time alone to gather my own thoughts and feelings. I needed to figure out how to tell her everything I had discovered, without her resenting me even more than she already did.
Chapter Thirteen – Phoenix
“Fuck I’ve missed you, Firecracker.” Turning my head, I saw Stryker staring at me. He looked tired, but there was something else there in his eyes. Relief and anger all rolled into one. “How are you feeling? Any pain? Don’t worry; the nurses will be here soon with something to help with that.”
As soon as Logan had left the room, I’d started to relax a little. Leaning over, Stryker kissed me on the forehead. He hadn’t moved from where he was sitting on the bed. He just sat there silently as I tried to come to terms with everything.
“Did they catch him?” I asked, my voice quiet and low. I had so many questions that needed answers. But this one was the most important to me. As soon as I asked it, I noticed the slight change in Stryker. He stiffened, and wouldn’t look me in the eyes. What was he hiding?
Jonah’s voice pulled my gaze to the door. There he stood, a relieved smile on his face. He looked good with a speckling of facial hair, although it could do with a light trim. He didn’t look as bad as the other two, but he still looked tired. “There’s my Angel; I’m so glad you’re awake. You had us all going there for a bit. We thought you’d never wake up.”
As he walked over to the bed, the girl from before was back, but she wasn’t looking at me; this time, she appeared to be having a conversation with someone that was just out of view. “That’s my cousin, Paige,” Stryker informed me as he followed my gaze. Shifting from the bed, he took a seat beside me to allow Jonah to get closer. “I’ll introduce you two soon.”
“How are you feeling?” Jonah asked, as he took the seat opposite Stryker. Placing a chaste kiss on my hand, he studied me.
“I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus.” I hoped he would leave it at that. My brain was still trying to process everything. I didn’t feel like talking to them about it, but I knew sooner or later I would have to talk. If I didn’t, they would make me.
My throat felt dry as the room fell into an uncomfortable silence. I knew they were waiting for me to talk, I just didn’t know how to tell them. It was all still too raw. I didn’t want to go back there at the moment, just the thought of it made my chest constrict. Cringing as I sat myself up on the bed, I had both guys up on their feet as they tried to help.
“I can do this myself,” I snapped at them. I didn’t mean to, but I had a feeling that if I didn’t set boundaries now, it would only get worse. I didn’t want to burden them, nor did I want to be babied. With a small smile, I tried to apologize. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Phee. It’s us who should apologize,” Jonah said as he took his seat, and Stryker started to pace the room.
“Ah, Miss Brooks, it’s good to see you awake finally,” Doctor Summers said, her smile friendly as she broke the tension that had been building and slowly walked into the room. I watched as she read over the clipboard she had been holding. “Do you boys think you could give Miss Brooks and I a few minutes, just while I check her over?”
I could see the moment that Stryker wanted to argue with the good doctor, but Jonah grabbed his arm as he slightly shook his head and pushed him towards the door.
“We’ll be just outside this door, okay Firecracker?” Stryker tried to reassure me as he looked deep into my eyes. “If you need me, you yell out.”
Waiting for everyone to leave the room, Doctor Summers quietly shut the door. It was hard to get a read on her as she looked back at the chart again. She gave nothing away as she checked the monitors.
“You’re one lucky girl to have guys like that. They have all been here day and night keeping an eye on you. They have caused quite the fuss at the nurses’ station,” she giggled while she fussed with the little clip thingy on my finger. But concern quickly hung heavy in her tone as her features became serious. “How are you feeling, Miss Brooks?”
“Like I’ve been trampled by a pack of animals.” Every part of my body was hurting. There were cuts and bruises all over my arms, and I could feel something wrapped around my middle.
“That’s not surprising, considering how those boys brought you in. Just look straight ahead at my finger for me.” Leaning forward, she shone a light into one eye, then the other. “Good. The blows to the head don’t look like they’ve done any permanent damage.”
“May I have some water, please?” I asked the doctor, gesturing to the cup that sat on the small table beside the bed—the need to drink something had overcome the need for answers.
“You should start slowly. Small, slow sips, don’t go gulping it down; it will make you sick, okay,” she instructed as she passed me the cup.
Cautiously, I took small sips. The coolness of the water calmed the burning in my throat. God, it felt good. “Thank you.” I tried to offer her a small smile, but stopped when pain shot across my face.
“I have some questions I need to ask you, Phoenix. Do you feel up to answering?” There was a calm, friendly undertone as she spoke. Like she was trying to connect with me on some level, trying to let me know without saying it directly that I could trust her. Little did she know, I didn’t really trust anyone .
“Umm, do you think I could have someone in here with me as you ask?” As much as I didn’t want to answer anything, I knew sooner or later that I would need to. My senses were still a little off, and I wanted some sort of support.
“Of course, you can have someone here, but as you’re seventeen, you don’t have to if it makes it easier for you,” she said as she walked to the door. I sighed with relief. Just the thought of having any of the guys with me made my heart beat wildly. I didn’t want them to look at me any differently. Just thinking about what had happened made me feel dirty. All I wanted to do was stand under a burning hot shower and scrub all traces of the monster off me.
Nodding at me, she walked back over to the bed and took a seat in the chair that had been vacated by Jonah only moments before. She gave me a small smile. “I want you to know that we can take our time. If you need to take a break, you tell me, and we can stop. Okay?”
“I just want to get this over with,” I mumbled as I nervously picked at the blanket. It was hard to meet her eyes. It wasn’t stress that I was feeling then. Shame had quickly started to seep in, and I quickly pulled the blanket up around me further. I couldn’t help but feel Kyle’s hands touching me again. I could feel the heat of his fingers as they trailed up the inside of my leg. I swallowed the bile that threatened to spill over as the feeling played on repeat across my skin and inside my brain.
“When you were brought in, you’d been beaten pretty badly.” She reached over and gently took my hand. A small, sad smile crossed over her face. “You had bruises, cuts, scrapes all over. Your ribs were broken. You required stitches to gashes on your neck, shoulder, and just above your eye. Some of the injuries were old, but most of them looked as though they had just happened. Do you remember how they happened?”
