Protective Love (Hidden Secrets) (24 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-
TWO

~JASON~

It took everything out of me not to throw my phone across the room.  The only thing that kept me from doing that was the knowledge that it was the only way Kayla had to contact me.

If she’d even contact me. 

I could feel the tears burn my eyes.  Throwing my phone may be out of the question, but everything else
was fair game.  I threw my water pitcher, tray table, pillows, blankets, anything I could get my hands on was making contact with one of the walls or the door in the room.  When I’d run out of things to throw, I collapsed to the floor by the window breathing heavy. 

What the hell changed?  What fucking happened?

None of it made sense at all.  She was in my room, kissing and dancing and smiling, then the nurse kicks her out and she bails on me. 

There has to be something I’m missing, something I haven’t seen.

I had never felt so empty.  There were so many things in my life that I just brushed off when they were over or gone.  I couldn’t do that with her.  It felt like I was being gutted slowly.  My heart was breaking with each second she was gone.  Those tears I fought so hard against moments ago slowly started to fall down my cheeks.

Kayla was my everything. 

God, I love her.

My world was so much better when she was around.  How could she just turn
and run and not even look back?  I rested my head back against the wall and went over in my head everything that has happened.  Could I let her go?  Could I sit back and just let her push me away?

Hell NO!

There was no way I could let her go.  I loved her.  You don’t just give up on love because of a little fork in the road.  Tomorrow I was getting out of the hospital and going to her condo to tell her exactly why she needed to stay with me.

Just as I was getting up
, my door opened.  I was expecting a nurse or security, but was completely shocked to see Nate.

“Hey man, did they call you?” I grunted as I got up off the floor.

It wasn’t until I looked up at my friend that I saw the look on his face and my stomach dropped.  He was sad, scared, and pissed all at once.  Something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?  What happened to Kayla?” I immediately approach him.

“Sit down, Jay,” he said quietly.

“No, damn it! Tell me!” I demand
ed.

He sigh
ed.

“It’s Kayla.  She was raped tonight.”

My knees gave out and I fell to the floor.  Tears filled my eyes and my heart broke; the world seemed to be pulled out from under me. 

Please God
- let her be okay.

“Wh-what happened?” I choked out.

“From what the nurse tells me she was beaten up pretty badly.  She had been ripped open and sustained a three inch cut to her side.  She came into the hospital and was treated, then given a rape kit and a morning after pill.  He, uh, didn’t use protection.  They told her the police would be called and she rushed out of the hospital before I could get here.”

Staring at my friend, I could tell even through my tears there was more to the story.  Taking a deep breath, I prayed I could handle whatever was left.
 

“Tell me, Nate.  Please.” I pleaded.

“She’s taken off.  We don’t know where she is.  Her dad called her and she told him she couldn’t drag anyone else down.”

He told me the rest of the conversation between her and her dad. 
There was no question in my mind what I needed to do, and I didn’t give a shit who said what about it.  My life was out there running scared and, I’d be damned if she was going to be alone and without me!

Reaching up I yanked the I.V. out of my arm and moved to the clothes that Nate had brought me.  I went to the bathroom and got dressed.  When I got out, Nate
was standing in my way.

“Dude, where do you think you’re going?”

“You know damn well where I’m going!  Now you can either help me or I can beat the shit out you and do it anyway.  Option one is a little less painful for you,” I hissed.

Nate held his hands up and backed up.  I grabbed everything
that was mine and left the room.  Nurses were running after me, but none of it mattered.  I was going to find her.  When I got outside I realized that Kayla had my car.

“Shit!”

“You can use my car.”

I jumped when Mary spoke.  Where the hell had she come from? 
I shook my head; that wasn’t important right then, Finding the love of my life was the most important thing to me.

“Thanks.”

Taking the keys from her, I walked to where she told me she parked the car.  When I had the car started and ready to go, it hit me; I had no idea where she went.  Dropping my head to the steering wheel, I sat there for a moment.

I pulled out of the parking lot and drove toward the clinic.  She wasn’t home,
so maybe she was there.  She always said it was her sanctuary.  Half way to the clinic a sudden thought occurred to me.  I grabbed my phone and called Wayne Spets.

“Wayne, I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to cash in on my I
OU, please.”

“Sure man, what’s up?”

“I need you to track my car.”

“You need me to track your car?”

When I explained the whole situation to him, he quickly went to work and I ended the call to wait for him to call back.  Arriving at the clinic, all the lights were off.  I walked around checking all doors and looking in all windows.  She wasn’t in there.  My heart sank at the thought of her out there by herself. 

As a police officer and
a detective, I had seen some pretty horrific things that can happen to a woman out late at night, and worse when they were alone.  Kayla was beyond beautiful and had been through more of the horrific things than I cared to focus on, but what concerned me most was that she was attacked, and I had no idea how she was.  Not just physically, but emotionally as well. 

How am I going to find her?  I have Wayne trying to track down my car, but I wasn’t sure how long that would take for him to get back.  What if she
’s was in danger now?  What if whoever attacked her at the hospital had followed her?  What if…

I had to stop thinking like that.  I needed to keep with what I knew and figure it out from there.  She was seen at the hospital after the attack.  She was given the whole work up.  Did that offer me some kind of relief?  Yes, I guess it did.  I knew she wasn’t bleeding or
too badly injured.  Swallowing hard, I walked back to the car and sat in it.  I wished I knew where she would have gone.  The thing with Kayla was she would never go to a place she’s been before.  The thought made my chest tighten. 

“I have to get this fucker!” I screamed to the empty car.

I closed my eyes for a moment to try and calm my anger.  At some point, I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes again the sun was up and the parking lot was full of cars.  I looked down at the clock in the car and saw that it was already nine in the morning.

“FUCK!”

Digging out my phone, I dialed Wayne not paying any attention to the missed calls and texts.  It felt like the phone was ringing for hours before he finally answered the phone.

“About fucking time!” I growled.

“Well, good mornin’ to you too,” he replied sarcastically.

“Sorry. I just
-”

“Look, I understand.  I do have some news.  The car has been located at some dive hotel.  The problem is—and this is what is worrying me—the car hasn’t been started since it stopped last night.  I don’t know if she ditched the car or what.  Just prepare yourself for it.”

“Address,” I stated.

Before he could even finish with the address, I was already on the road to find her.  Wayne was right
; I needed to prepare myself for the possibility that she may not be with the car anymore.  My stomach was rolling around.  I didn’t like not knowing where things were going and what was about to happen.  All my life, I needed control over everything.  But the urge to control everything became noticeable to others before I became a detective.  Those events in my life will never be forgotten and have dictated my life until now.  Kayla changed everything.  Yes, I still wanted to control everything, but for a whole different reason.

The time seemed to drag on and I felt like I was never going to make it there.  It was the panic that kept me going with no pit stops or delays.  Panic for her safety and her peace of mind.
 

Hell, my
peace of mind!

Finally pulling into the hotel parking lot, I spotted my car and pulled up next to it.  There were so many doors that I wasn’t sure what one she’d be in.  Instead of bothering any of the other guests there.  I decided to walk in and pull my detective rank.

I walked into the office and the girl behind the counter looked up and her mouth dropped open. 
This might just be easier than I thought.

“Hello, I’m Detective Gold.  You have a Kayla Williams staying here.  I need her key and room number
,” I said, flashing my badge as I spoke.

It
was the first time I’d ever tried anything like this.  Hell, I wasn’t even sure how to play it.  My only hope was that she didn’t know the procedure, or would get caught up in her serious gawking session and give me what I desperately need.  I held my breath while I waited for her response waiting trying to keep my face unreadable.

“Y-
yes, Sir.  She’s in room twelve.  Here’s her key.”

I smiled at her and thanked her and headed out of the office.  I was trying not to run until I was out of sight
, then I bolted down the twelve doors to where only a door separated me from my love. I took a couple deep breaths before using the key and going inside.

I quietly closed the door behind me and walked over to the bed where she
lay face down in a robe.  Her head was facing away from me.  Carefully I laid down on the bed and pulled her against me.  She screamed, and was up and out of the bed faster than I could blink.

“Sunshine, I’m sorry.  There was no way I was letting you walk away.  I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Her eyes wide and breathing heavy, she dropped down to the bed.  Moving to lay on my back, I saw what the prick did to her.  I saw the cuts and scrapes on her head.  She stared at me for a moment longer before she crawled over to me and laid her head on my chest.  Kayla’s body began to shake with her silent sobs and I felt like a complete ass for having scared her like that.

“I’m sorry Kay.  I’m so sorry.”

She looked up at me.  Her mouth opened like she was going to say something, but she didn’t.  Instead, she laid her head back down on my chest and whispered, ”Thank you.”

“Have you eaten?” I asked after a few moments of silence.

“No, I’m not much in the mood to eat,” she murmured.

“Sunshine, you need to eat.  Do you want me to go get something?”

There was a long silence and I was getting ready to ask again when she finally spoke.

“No, can you just hold me for a while?  Please.  That’s what I need right now.”

I wrapped my arm around her and held her tightly, moving my arm in the sling as far as I could without it hurting too much.  I held her and just breathed her in.  I had been scared she wouldn’t take me back - that she wouldn’t want me there.  The question kept spinning in my head and finally I had to ask her.

“Sunshine?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you tell me we were done?”

“I… you… Jason, I’m broken. I’m trash.  Why would you want to be with me?  You need to walk away and find the girl that can give you everything that you deserve.  As much as I want that girl to be me, I can’t right now.  That’s why I left.  That’s why I told you what I did.”

“It had nothing to do with you being attacked outside the hospital?”

I could feel her stiffen and her breathing stopped. 

“How
…?”

“Nate was the detective going to the hospital on a rape report, but when he got to the hospital
you had run out.  He came up to me after the nurses told him everything about your condition.  He said he was going to judge my mood, but I had already smashed the room to shits.  When I looked at him, I knew that something was wrong.  Kay, you can talk to me about anything.  I just want to be with you.  Whatever you want to give me, I will take it. I—”

“Can you just hold me please?  I’m really tired.  I didn’t sleep well.”

“Sure, sunshine.  I’m here, I have you.”

I ran my hand up and down her back and stroked her hair.  I felt her fall asleep.  Her body went limp and her breathing leveled out.  Moving my lips to her head, I kissed her
hair for a moment before resting my cheek on her head.

“I love you, Kayla.  One day, I will be ab
le to tell you that.  When you’re ready to believe me, I will scream it from the roof tops. I love you so much. There is nothing that will make me stop loving you. Nothing.”