are you?” he asked. He took a measuring look at her. “Your face has a little more color. Your eyes are bright and clear. Fever must be down.”
“I’m a little groggy, and I hurt everywhere. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is lying down by the fire in the cabin. After that, bits and pieces. A stinging pain on my back, something poking my thigh over and over again . . . you talking to me. I don’t really remember what you said, but I heard your voice.” She paused to gather her emotions. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
“Let’s start at the cabin.” He leaned forward and laid his forearms on his knees, his big feet planted firmly on the floor. “My sister pounded on the door, but you wouldn’t wake up. She came to cut your hair, which at first seemed kind of strange considering your condition. But then, when she took the towel off your head and revealed the mess someone made of your hair, well, it became clear.” Eyes boring into hers, fear flashed and turned to fury in an instant. Not sure she’d seen the first, she didn’t miss the second. “You scared her half to death, so she called me.”
Anger laced his voice and every word. Tightly controlled, but underneath his icy gaze and matter-of-fact tone, he was livid. Familiar alarms went off in her head and the recognizable tingling feeling crept up her spine.
“I used my key to get in. That’s when we saw the blood down your back and leg, not to mention the fact you were unresponsive and unconscious.”
“I hadn’t slept much over the past four days.”
“Yeah, I got that. How you sat in a car and drove for four days in your condition is another matter entirely. Anyway, the short version is, I called Ben. He said not to take you to a hospital, that it would just make matters worse. So I brought you here and fixed you up.” His tight control slipped.
“You’re angry. I’ll go. I promise. As soon as I can, I’ll go.”
He couldn’t stand to hear her pleading with him. Her voice changed to that of a child begging. He got up and stood over her. He spoke before he could control the tone of his voice and it sounded harsh even to him. “You’re not going anywhere. Do you hear me?”
It happened so fast; he couldn’t believe she could move that fast in her condition. She rolled onto her left side and pulled her knees up to her chest into the fetal position. She threw both arms over and around her head to protect herself the only way she could. A bright red bloom of blood spread across the sheet where she tore the stitches in her thigh.
Everything inside him shattered, crushed under the weight of his guilt. He never meant to sound so harsh. He just wanted her to know she didn’t have to go. Now he’d scared her half to death and made her tear the stitches. He caused this. He didn’t know if he could live with himself at that moment.
Sally came around to Jack’s side and blocked him from Jenna, growling low and menacing.
He spoke softly, hoping to reassure Jenna and gain back what little trust he managed to forge over the last two days. “Jenna, please listen to me. You’re bleeding again.”
“I’ll go. I promise. You won’t ever see me again. I’ll go.”
Slowly, he managed to move Sally from between them and kneeled next to the bed. “Listen to me, Jenna. I don’t want you to go. I’m sorry I yelled. I’m not angry with you. I’m not. I’m angry this happened to you. I’m angry with the scum who did this to you. Not with you, never with you. Stay here with me, I’ll keep you safe.”
Jenna peeked out from between her arms. “Do you mean that? It’s okay for me to stay?” She hadn’t known how much she wanted him to ask her to stay until he asked. Overwhelming hope bloomed inside her. The kind of hope she hadn’t felt in a long time. The kind of hope that was dangerous, because it left her open to more disappointment and hurt. She didn’t know if she could take any more.
“I want you to stay.”
She stared into those eyes, staring back at her and filled with so much warmth. She remembered the way he enveloped her and held her while she cried. Something unspoken