“Yeah, sweetheart, you do. How can I help you get into the truck? I don’t want to hurt you.” It was a helpless feeling. Picking her up in my arms was what I wanted to do. And tuck her against my chest so no one could touch her. But I knew from the odd angle of her arm that touching her wasn’t a good idea.
She inhaled sharply and held her breath a minute.
“Just stand . . . behind me in ca-case I lose my balance. I think my legs”—she paused and winced, then whispered—“are the only things that aren’t broken.”
“Shit, Trisha. Goddamn” was all I could say. I wanted to ask her who had done this, but it hurt her to talk. I would find that out later.
I opened the passenger side of the truck and watched as she limped, and listened to her whimpers. I had thought her rejection was hell. This was so much worse. I hated seeing her in pain. I would take her healthy and rejecting me any damn day over this nightmare.
When she started to lift a leg, she lost her balance and I dropped to my haunches and held her h*ps steady. “Can I lift you if I hold you here? Will this hurt?” I asked.
“That’s not too bad,” she said in another whisper.
I took her lower h*ps firmly and lifted her slowly until she was sitting safely in the seat. I moved her legs around to face her forward. “I’ll drive slow and safe. The seat belt might be too much.”
She nodded and mouthed, “Thanks.”
I closed her door and ran back around to get in on my side.
If she was walking by herself, then Krit had to be somewhere safe. I didn’t want to make her talk, but I also didn’t want that kid left alone with whoever had done this to her.
“Where’s Krit?” I asked as I pulled out slowly onto the road.
“Green’s. I promised him,” she said almost too quietly. “If he r-ran to Green’s and stayed there . . . I’d call Davey to take . . . m-me to the hospital.”
Instead she’d tried to walk the five miles from her house to the hospital. Stubborn female. But at least the kid was safe. “I’ll get in touch with him as soon as we get to the hospital and let him know I’m with you and you’re getting fixed up,” I assured her.
“Thanks,” she managed to say before wincing.
I wasn’t going to make her say anything else.
We drove in silence while I pictured the many ways I was going to kill whoever had put their hands on her.
It took only seven minutes to get to the local hospital, but it felt like forever. Hearing her whimper and sniffle was doing me in. I hated this. I hated her being hurt. I hated not being able to stop this shit. Why couldn’t she have let me be there for her? Why had she pushed me away?
I pulled up to the entrance and looked at her. “I’m getting you a wheelchair and helping you out. Stay put.”
She gave me a little nod and a tight smile.
Never f**king again. She wouldn’t get hurt again. I swore to God I’d make sure of it. I wanted to promise her that right then, but I didn’t. She would just worry about how I intended to keep that from happening. I was going to show her.
Trisha
Two fractured ribs, but then, I’d already known that. Luckily, my lungs weren’t punctured. A dislocated elbow and a fracture in my radius bone, which meant that my wrist was broken. When Fandora’s new boyfriend had grabbed my hand and slung me across the room, I’d heard the crack. So I already knew that too.
My nose wasn’t broken, thank goodness. It had bled so badly I wasn’t sure. I was just thankful Fandora had stood in front of Krit and kept him back. He had gotten slapped around a little, but she had put a stop to it fast. Krit had gone ballistic trying to get to me, but Fandora had stayed between him and her boyfriend, screaming at the guy not to touch her baby.
All of this because her disgusting boyfriend had grabbed my butt. I’d told him to stop, and then he had pinned me up against the wall and started telling me he wanted a taste of my pu**y. Krit had walked in on it and gone apeshit. He’d started attacking the guy, and the man had used his weight to throw Krit off him and onto the floor.
Fandora had come running out of her bedroom and seen the mess in the living room, and of course blamed me. I had fought back, but when I kicked the greasy jerk in the nuts as hard as I could, he began to beat me instead of grope me.
When Gary Holmes, the older man who lived in the trailer beside ours, showed up at the door, Fandora and her sorry excuse for a man left. I had hidden in the bedroom, where Krit had followed me. The last thing I needed was for Mr. Holmes to call the police. I’d heard Fandora tell him that they were just having an argument. I had begged Krit to stay quiet.
In the end Krit had agreed to go to Green’s if I went to the hospital. I told him if he didn’t leave right then, I wouldn’t call Davey and we would stay there all night. He’d battled with leaving me, but every time I breathed I whimpered in pain. So he finally left, making me swear to go to the hospital and call him as soon as I was there.
I couldn’t let Davey or Riley know about this. They would want me to tell the cops. But I wasn’t getting separated from Krit. He was safe here. Fandora had proved tonight that she didn’t want anyone hurting him. I could survive.
Rock coming out of the darkness had made me want to weep with relief. I had decided I was never going to make it to the hospital. Then he’d been there. And saved me.