Protecting His Forever (2 page)

A scattered breath shakes my chest as I think about what happened to me yesterday, and a million different thoughts hit me at one time.

Who was the man who attacked me?

Why did he attack me?

Oh goodness, he could have raped me, kidnapped me, or worse—murdered me!

Will he come back for me?

Wiping the tears from my face, I wince as my hands rub over my broken and bruised skin. My hands fall to my lap, and I see blood. A sob escapes, and I place my hand over my lips to choke back the cries. A knot lodges in my throat, and it becomes harder and harder to breathe. Panicking, I grip my throat as black spots cloud my vision, smacking my hands against the hand rail.

Please someone help me!

I can’t breathe. I heave and wheeze as I suck air into my oxygen deprived body.

“Sydney!” Hands touch my face, and I hear voices yelling as they enter the room. The fog is too thick, too heavy to get through. I close my eyes, and then I feel myself fall.

~*~

“Sydney, can you hear me?”

“Hm?” I mumble while turning over and snuggling deeper into bed.

“Wake up for me, sweetheart. Let me see those beautiful eyes.”

Cracking one tired and sore eye open, Kane’s face is the first thing I see. His hands gently caress my face.

“How are you feeling?” He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear that has fallen on my face.

Hitching the blanket higher up under my neck before I answer, I say, “I’m okay.” It comes out as a raspy whisper.

“Your mom just left. You’ve been out two whole days. The doctor said your body must have fallen into complete shock because you wouldn’t wake up, and that it’s common for victims who have experienced trauma such as you have. Your brain kinda takes over and shuts everything down to let you rest. It scared us all. Hell…” He sighs and rubs a rough hand over his face while looking up at the ceiling.

Two days? I pull my exhausted and sore body up and look around the room. Shaking my head to clear it, I mutter, “I’m sorry. Everything must have hit me all at once. Have you been here this entire time?”

With a curt nod, he rests his hand on the bed. Taken aback by his presence all this time, I grasp his hand and give it a squeeze. He smiles broadly, and I immediately blush, diverting my eyes to his hand laid in mine. There are visible scars all along his rough and cracked skin which are marked with callouses.

“It’s understandable, you’ve been through a lot. But you’re safe now.” His hands curls around mine and our fingers intertwine. Giving him a small smile, I look up at him through my eyelashes. He doesn’t mention why he’s stayed with me since I’ve been in the hospital, but I figure he has his reasons and while I’d like to understand why, my brain is too cloudy to comprehend much more.

“Thank you for saving me. I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t show up. I was trying to go for help, but he was so close behind...” I trail off as a sob escapes. The emotions are just too thick to grasp.

“Sweetheart, it’s something
any
man would do. That fucker deserves hell of a lot more than jail,” he growls out the last part.

“I’m sorry you have been stuck here the past few days.”

“There is nowhere else I want to be,” he answers honestly as he strokes my cheek bone.

~*~

“Ouch!” I hiss out as the doctor probes all of my cuts and bruises.

“Watch it!” Kane growls and pushes the doctor’s hand away.

“Well, I see that you’re fine.” The doctor coughs nervously and backs away from Kane. “Change your bandages twice a day. I’m writing a prescription for some ointment to put on your cuts.”

I thank him and he leaves the room.

As soon as the door closes, I say, “Well that went well.”

Kane glares at me and paces the room.

“What are you still doing here? I’m sorry if this comes out rude but I’m curious.” I arch my eyebrow.

“Your mom wanted someone to be here in case you woke up, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He answers simply.

“So for the last forty-eight hours you’ve halted your life just to play chivalrous hero? Do that often, Kane?”

He shoots me a warning glare, so I probe no further. I am, however, growing frustrated with his overbearing protectiveness. Hell, I’m in the hospital with twenty-four-hour staff monitoring me. My attacker is in jail—or so Kane says. So why is he still here? My frustration mounts, but I keep my tongue in check and bite down on my lip to stop myself from saying something I probably don’t mean.
Do I?
Ugh, this damn fog! I just need to clear my head. I throw back the covers and place my feet on the ground. I need to get out of this bed, out of this room. It feels like the walls are closing in on me, and Kane’s pacing is doing nothing to help my frayed nerves.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kane stomps over to me and tries to settle me back against the bed.

Smacking his hands away, I hiss at him, “I have to pee!” With something to prove, I stand too quickly and my world sways as I tip to the side.

“See!” he grounds out between his teeth as he locks his hands around my waist and catches me before I hit the floor. He lifts me off the ground bridal style.

Sighing, I admit, “I just got out of bed too quick.”

Peeking up at him, I’m hit with how unbelievably gorgeous he is. He is rugged and has the look about him that is all man. He is over a foot taller than me. Little scars cover his neck and chest. He has two full sleeves and it’s sexier than hell. I may or may not have a thing for a guy that has that bad boy look. He catches me looking, and smirks, causing me to blush.

He shakes his head no and puts me back into bed, then presses the button to call the nurse. I huff and sit back in bed with my arms crossed across my chest while glaring at Kane. Who does he think he is? If I want to pee by myself, I will go pee!

“Did you need something, honey?” the nurse asks as she enters the room.

“A shower and to pee.”

“Of course! Follow me,” she says and waves me out of bed as she turns on her heels.

Kane’s husky voice stops her. “She needs assistance. She tried to get out of bed on her own and almost fell.”

“Oh, of course. I will help her.” She rubs her hands nervously. Her eyes dart between Kane and me as she makes her way to the bedside.

Rolling my eyes, I push my feet back over the side of the bed. My body protests with every movement. The nurse wraps her hand around my bicep and leads me to the bathroom. I can feel Kane’s gaze watching my every moment.

The nurse walks inside with me and shuts the door. I stand there awkwardly. I don’t need help. This may be her job to help people with things like this, but it makes me very uncomfortable. She turns on the shower and motions for me to step forward.

I push my hand toward her and with too much attitude that isn’t necessary, I bark out, “I can do this myself. That man out there is being too protective. I’m not even sure what he’s even doing here.”

She smiles knowingly and motions to the string next to the shower. “It’s okay, honey. I think he’s being kinda sweet, but I understand how you feel. If you need help, just pull that string and I’ll be right in, if he doesn’t rescue you first.” She winks with a bubbly grin.

As soon as she leaves, I all but rip the hospital gown off my body, not even checking the water before I jump into the shower. The cold water soon turns hot and kneads at my sore muscles. Grabbing some hospital soap, I scrub my body raw. Hoping to scrub the memories of yesterday away.

Once my body is scoured clean with rough, red patches of heat and the entire room is filled with steam, I turn off the shower then wrap a towel around my chest. I step out onto the ceramic gray floor, slipping on a mist of water and fall directly onto my ass. The steam has dampened the floor like it was sprayed with Pam. Groaning, I grab my ass.

“Great, add a broken tail bone on top of this,” I mutter to myself and push up to my feet.

A knock sounds at the door.

“You okay in there?” Kane asks.

“I’m just dandy, thank you!” I know I shouldn’t be snippy with him. Although he’s one of Ethan’s closest friends, and I’ve heard a lot about him, that doesn’t mean I know him from Adam.

I carefully step over to the bathroom mirror and take in my appearance. My lip is busted and swollen. Stitches knit the skin on my cheek together, little speckles of blood dotting the bruised flesh. There’s a knot on my forehead, and my head throbs persistently. Seeing myself, I realize the injuries aren’t nearly as bad as I expected. I’m banged up pretty good, but it could have been much worse. I’m lucky, that’s for sure.

I towel off, careful of the tender bruises on my body. Looking around the room I notice that I didn’t bring any clothes in with me. I peek my head out the door and look around the hospital room, no sight of Kane. Coast is clear. I step out of the bathroom and go to the small locker to see if by chance my mom may have left me some of my own clothes so I’m not dressing in one of those itchy gowns. A husky grunt from behind, startling me. I jump and turn around quickly, clutching the towel to my chest. My eyes trail up his hard and lean body, broad and tight chest, meeting flared nostrils and a pair of hooded, darkened eyes.

I cup my hand over my mouth with words caught in my throat. God only knows what kind of word vomit I may spew, and I’ve been edgy enough with this man today. I swallow back a gulp, “Kane?” my voice is barely a whisper.

He snaps out of it his fog-filled daze and thrusts a handful of clothes toward me without so much as a word. I take the clothes and look down at my old granny panties resting on top of the stack. Hundreds of Pooh Bears hugging honey pots cover the panties, and they’re folded perfectly to reveal a visible hole on one of the butt cheeks.
Fuck my life.

Palming my face, I groan out loud. Kane looks down at me with a mischievous smirk playing at the corner of his mouth, a low chuckle rumbling through his chest as his shoulders visibly shake. Giving him a death glare, I clutch the clothes to my chest and step around him to make my way back to the bathroom.

“Nice panties
,” he calls over his shoulder.

"Ha-ha-ha, laugh it up." Turning around I flip him the bird over my shoulder and slam the door closed.

Holy shit. I'm going to murder my mom. Why did she bring my old panties from middle school?
I toss the clothes on the counter and drop the towel to the floor. Searching through the pile for my bra, I find that she hid my regular panties under my shirt.
Thanks, Mom.

~*~

An hour later, she shows her cheeky face. Crossing my arms over my chest, I give her a death glare. Kane chuckles at me, so I turn my glare toward him instead.

“Honey, I’m glad to see you’re awake,” she gushes and walks over to give me a hug. Closing my eyes, I hug her back tightly, basking in her loving hug.

She lets go and touches my face gently, smoothing my hair back. Her kind face is etched in concern. Tears come to her eyes. “You scared me,” she whispers.

“I’m sorry, Mom.” I rub her hand.

“I know, honey. Some deranged man tried to hurt my little baby.” Her bottom lip trembles as her eyes fill with tears. She blinks and one falls down her cheek. My heart breaks that she had to go through this. Lifting my arms, I motion her over for a hug.

Looking over her shoulder at Kane, he gives me a sad smile. Ethan and Chase stand by the door.

“Mom, I’m fine. That man is in jail and seems like he will be for a while.” Kane told me earlier that the man had multiple warrants. One charge had me ready to throw up: rape and murder of a young woman about my age. That could have been me. Oddly enough, the girl’s description matched mine: dark green eyes, long brown hair, short curvy figure.

One Month Later

Waking up to the sound of knocking at the front door, I panic and fall down onto the floor clasping my pounding heart. My eyes shoot to the clock on the nightstand 10:00 AM. Letting out a deep breath I climb to my feet. My first thought when I hear the knocking is that the man has found me.
Come on, Sydney, if it was him, he sure as heck wouldn’t knock on the door and he is in jail.
Before I reach the front door, the loud banging begins again.

Peeking out the peep hole, I see just the top of red hair.
Weird, who could this be?
Taser at the ready, I open the door. Something hard collides with my body and makes me a take a couple steps back.

Pushing the person off of me, I look to see who it is.

Gasping, I squeak, “Brae?”

“In the flesh,” she answers guiltily.

“Where the hell have you been?” I can’t contain my temper. Brae was my best friend. Since the first day of college we had been inseparable. We went to a party after finals our senior year because we wanted to celebrate. I was busy dodging my stalker. Stalker may have been too strong of a word, but it seemed like he was always there every time I went somewhere outside of my apartment. Braelyn was talking to a guy, and when I left the room I never saw her again. I searched for her everywhere. I haven’t seen her since.

“I, uhh. It’s a long story.” Tears rush to her eyes. The Braelyn I know is tough and doesn’t cry. Something horrible has happened. Braelyn had a horrible life growing up at the hands of her stepfather. He was abusive and her mom sat there and watched, but that only seemed to make her stronger. This girl standing in front of me with her eyes overflowing with tears has been broken by something much worse.

“We have plenty of time. Let’s get you fed.” I lead her into the kitchen, her small, fragile hand in mine. Her wrist is really small, smaller than what would be considered normal.

I watch as she lifts her small frame onto the stool, her hands shaking as she pushes her hair out of her face. Her cheeks are sunken in, her lips chapped, stains are covering her clothes and her hair needs a good wash. Bones are sticking out of her chest. She is starving.

Turning around, I don’t want her to see my tears. Braelyn doesn’t deserve this shitty hand that has been dealt to her. Taking a glass out of the cabinet, I fill it to the top with water and hand her a banana.