Rescuing Jenna - Anna Blakely Page 0,89

up on his mood, Nate stopped him just before he made his escape.

“Seriously, man. You doing okay?”

“Yeah.” At least he would be if they’d leave him the fuck alone and let him leave. “Why?”

“I don’t know. You just seem…different.”

“Just tired,” he told the other man.

It was the truth. He was tired.

Tired of innocent people getting caught up in the crossfire he always seemed to be a part of.

“I know our situations are different, and lord knows I never thought I’d offer this to you, but”—Nate shrugged—“you ever want to talk. I can be a pretty good listener.”

One corner of Adrian’s lips curled slightly. “Thanks, Carter. Appreciate it.”

“No problem. Hey, when you get back from the bathroom, you wanna hit the cafeteria for some mediocre coffee?”

“Sure,” he lied smoothly.

And then he walked away.

Chapter 18

The smell of bleach was the first thing Jenna noticed when she regained consciousness. There were muffled voices in the background from a TV show she didn’t recognize, and every so often, someone would turn the page of what she assumed was a book.

Her head pounded, and there was a pain in her right side. Not sharp and burning like before. More of a dull, tight ache like she’d pulled every single muscle there.

But she hadn’t simply pulled a muscle. She’d been shot.

This wasn’t like the last time she’d woken up in the hospital. This time, Jenna remembered every single minute of what had happened. Right up to the point where she’d blacked out.

She’d been kidnapped and held in a dark and musty basement. Was nearly starved and had been given the bare minimum of the water her body had desperately craved.

Adrian had come for her, and she’d been shot.

Even in her medically altered state, Jenna could remember the inferno ripping through her body as the bullet from Matais Ortiz’s gun tore through her flesh. And she remembered the rage and fear in eyes belonging to a man who feared nothing.

Adrian had begged her to keep her eyes open. To stay with him. And she’d tried so damn hard to hold on.

Everything after that was a blur, but if she was in a hospital, that meant he’d gotten them out. She was finally away from that monster, and she was safe.

I love you, too, Jenna. I love you so much!

She smiled, remembering Adrian saying those sweet, sweet words. Of course, he could’ve only said them because she’d said it first, and he’d thought she was dying.

But she didn’t think so.

Adrian Walker loved her. He loved her. And she couldn’t wait to hear him say it again.

Peeling her eyes open, her lids rose and fell in an unhurried pace as her eyes adjusted to the bright light.

The first thing Jenna saw was the clock on the wall at the foot of the bed. That and the small whiteboard informing her nursing staff she was NPO, which meant she couldn’t consume solid or liquid foods yet.

Figures. I go from one place that won’t let me eat or drink to another.

Smiling at her own dark humor, Jenna opened her eyes again. This time, she kept them open.

Turning to her right, she found machines that beeped and tubes that ran from the machines to her body. Swallowing against the worst case of cotton mouth she’d ever had, Jenna turned her head to the left and found a set of wide, hopeful eyes staring back into hers.

“Hey, stranger.” Elle smiled at her from the white, plastic chair.

Not the eyes I was hoping to see.

“Hey.” Jenna’s voice was rough and hoarse. She hoped Elle couldn’t sense the disappointment she felt that Adrian wasn’t here.

Setting the book in her hands onto a nearby tray, Elle scooted forward in the chair. Her large, round belly making the move less graceful than it normally would’ve been.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been shot. What about you?” She motioned weakly toward Elle’s growing baby bump. “You look like you’re about to pop.”

Her friend also had dark circles under her eyes and looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

“Is that a fat joke?” Elle raised a playful brow. “Because pregnant women are extremely hormonal, and I’d hate to have to hurt you after you just had surgery.”

Jenna smiled, then realized there were tears swimming in her friend’s eyes. “Hey.” She tried to push herself up in the bed, but a sharp pain in her side kept her from going very far. “Don’t cry. I was only kidding. Your belly isn’t big. In fact, you barely look pregnant at all.”

Through her