Braun?” She pressed her hand between her breasts, just above the horrible incision. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know, Bodie,” he said gently, brushing his lips over her forehead. “Right now, that’s not my primary concern. Getting you strong enough to take you home is my only priority. We can assess our options once you’re back on your feet. That’s not gonna happen if you don’t listen to the doctors and trust them to do what’s best.”
With a sob, she threw her good arm around his neck. His hands moved off her shoulders, gripped the edge of the bed so he could lower himself down to her. She pressed her face into his neck, hissing as her cheek protested, then just held on.
“I should’ve listened to you.” She closed her eyes, feeling exhaustion tug at her. “If I’d listened to you, we wouldn’t even be here.”
“No, darlin’. We’re not thinking like that, now or ever. They were gunning for you, regardless. Alicia told the police everything. Your parents couldn’t get enough money out of you to make keeping you around worthwhile. If they hadn’t gotten you this time, there’d have been another.”
“I...Alicia?” she slurred the name drowsily, memories flitting over the darkness behind her closed eyes. Laughter and tears, shouting and recriminations.
“Go to sleep, little one. We’ll talk more when you’ve rested. I love you, Bodie.” The comforting presence of his body floated away, and she barely felt him set her arm down gently. “We’ll figure everything out.”
But she was already back in her safe place, where the pain couldn’t reach.
*
Things didn’t seem much brighter when she surfaced again.
The lights were dimmed, the blinds drawn tightly shut, and Braun wasn’t beside her. Her heart hitched at the thought she might have chased him away with her reaction to the news she wouldn’t dance again.
She whimpered pitifully, clawing at the sheet for the call button just out of reach. Her fingers brushed the edge of the plastic box, but she couldn’t quite get a hold on it. She stretched, her abdominal muscles weeping as they shifted.
“Shouldn’t be doing that,” a gruff voice chastised from the doorway.
Alarmed, her eyes shot to the door and the enormous man filling it. Light from the corridor behind the huge form turned him into a seething black shadow. He took a step forward, and the low light of the room caught his features.
Dressed all in black, Atticus looked more dangerous than ever. He wasn’t a man to be toyed with when he was like this, because he wasn’t the big gentle giant from Avalon she’d come to know. Dominant, yes, but this persona was another level. “Do you need something, little miss?”
Bodie shook her head slowly, unsure how to deal with this side of him.
“Mind if I pull up a chair? Braun won’t be long. Made him go clean up and change his clothes, get something to eat. Not gonna do you any good if he ends up in a bed next to you, is he?” Atticus pulled the chair around so it faced her, then dropped into it. His gaze studied her, his full mouth turning down at the corners to match his scowl. “Don’t guess they’ve told you a lot about what’s been going on while you’ve been doped up on morphine.”
Another head shake was all she could manage.
“Understandable. The world’s a lot different to how you left it, Bodie. Braun thinks you’ve got the balls to deal with it, and it happens I agree with him.” Atticus propped his boot on his knee, rubbed his finger over his lip. “Do you think you’ve got the balls to handle what I’ve got to tell you?”
Bodie swallowed. “Yes.”
“You sure? Braun will have my head if he comes back and you’re having a mental breakdown.” Green eyes locked on hers, assessing every emotion running through her head.
God knew what he read there because she couldn’t identify them.
“I can take it.” Her voice was quiet, thick. Sleep and nerves clogged her throat. “I’m not weak.”
“Known that for a long time, sweetheart. Understand the reasons why you feel you have to be strong all the time now I know the family you come from. Do you know it was your parents who did this?” He gestured to her broken form with a firm hand.
She nodded.
“Good. Braun mentioned you haven’t said anything about the attack, so I had to wonder. I don’t know if this will distress you or bring a sense of relief, Boadicea,