1
TALAN
“I
swear to God, Bitty.” My voice thundered inside her sterile hospital room.
Angry. At the sound, Maya paused mid-step with her hand shakily holding onto
the IV machine. She faced the bathroom—only a few feet away from her final
goal, stubborn fucking woman. “Get back in that bed—right now.”
The
hospital gown she’d been forced to wear opened a bit with the trembling of her
exhausted limbs. Purple, discolored flesh stared back at me, and my ire grew. I
knew she was miserable—hated the fact that she, for an undetermined amount of
time, depended on her family and friends for the most mundane of things. Tough
shit.
“But—”
“Now!”
Her slender body shook, shoulders sagging while she gripped the IV machine
tighter. Her knuckles turned white as she leaned a bit of her weight on her
left leg. “You have three minutes to get your ass back in that bed before I
make you.”
Turning
her tired face toward me, her eyes met mine. Those lips I loved to kiss
trembled. “Help me.”
My
feet carried me toward her before the last syllable passed her lips. Wrapping
my arms around her waist, I pulled most of her weight on me. The relief was
palpable as she sagged against me.
Exhausted.
Drained.
“What
were you thinking, Bitty? You could’ve hurt yourself.” Kissing the top of her
head, I breathed her in and once again reminded myself that she was okay and in
my arms. Safe. “Why didn’t you call the nurse?”
A
tired sigh passed through her pursed lips. “All I wanted was a fucking shower.
I feel utterly disgusting, Talan.” Maya took in a deep breath and let it out
slowly. “And no one that works here came to help.”
With
utmost care, I pulled her against me. Closer. Holding her. Trying to give her
just a tiny bit of the comfort my girl needed. After a few seconds and a gentle
kiss on her lips, I helped her toward the bed and sat her down on the edge.
Slowly, keeping in mind that her ribs were very bruised and the gentlest of bumps
could bring her enormous amounts of pain, I let her go and stood over her.
With
all the love I possessed for this tiny woman, I caged her face in my hands and
opened my mouth to rip her a new one. Her watery eyes met mine—my mouth opened
and closed several time, but nothing came out.
How
could I admonish her with the amount of pure sadness and frustration that
seeped out of her every pore? This, her being here, was Janice’s fault and she
should be the only person to receive my ire.
“I know I shouldn’t have,
but...” A lone tear fell from her eye and she looked away—turned her face
toward the wall to my left. My heart
broke for her. “All I wanted to do was to clean up. Get some of that night’s
smell off me.”
Maya was very
independent. Prided herself on being able to take care of herself, and before
me, she did it all by herself. But now...
“Hey,” I called out
softly, tipping those sad grey eyes back toward my own. “I get it. I’m not mad,
baby; I just wish you would’ve called the nurse in to help. You could have been
hurt. The doctor told you you’d feel a little dizziness—”
Another tired sigh, but
this time her posture turned stiff. Her frustration was mounting. “Did that,
but she told me I had to wait until tonight. ‘Doctor’s orders,’” she hissed from between clenched teeth. “Not even a wet rag to wipe my face!”
“Why do you have to
wait?” Maya had been awake for two days now. Her last scan had come back clean,
just some minor swelling at the site, which was to be expected. She was awake
and had responded well to all the testing they’d put her through. This bullshit
made no sense.
“Don’t know. Nothing’s
being explained to me anymore. Fuck the patient.” Ah. Her anger. Since she’d
awoken, it had been a roller coaster ride of emotion: sadness, fear,
frustration, and then extreme anger.
“Maya, it’s not like
that.”
Her eyes narrowed and
her lips thinned out. “Then how the hell is it? Explain it to me?”
“Bitty, I’m sorry…” And
just like that, those hard eyes lost their edge and the woman who stood before
me crumbled.
“Please.”
“Fuck, baby.” Pulling
her into my body, I cradled her shaking form and gave her what she needed.
Understanding. Love. Answers.
“When Janice,” I began, only to stop. Saying her
filthy fucking name created a reaction within us that was anything but
beneficial to her well-being and my mental state. Maya burrowed her head into
my neck, hiding from me.
It didn’t work; I heard
her sniffle. Felt the small ripple of fear that coursed through her battered
body. Everything she was living through broke me in two; we were one. Her pain
was my own.
“I love you,” I cooed
into her hair before placing a tiny kiss at the crown. More than anything, she
needed to know that we would get through this. “Look at me, Bitty.” She shook
her head. “Please.”
Still nothing.
“I...”
Pulling back enough so
I could see her face, I waited patiently for her to gather herself. Just a few
minutes at the most before I touched her again. Before I tried to finish having
the conversation we needed to have.
With the tip of my finger,
I caressed her cheek before tipping her sad face toward mine.
“Please don’t hide from me.” Leaning forward, I
rested my forehead against hers—breathed in her every exhale. “I love you,” I
repeated once again, this time against her lips. Lips that now pressed
themselves against my own with fervor.
“Love you too,” she
mumbled, mouth tightly pressed against mine.
“Better?”
“Yeah.” Another kiss.
“I’m better, I promise.”
With a brow raised, I
stared her down. “Don’t bullshit me.”
This time I got an eye
roll and an annoyed huff. At the very least, her sass was still there.
“Promise, I am. Now, quit being a pain in my injured ass and talk.”
Women. I bit her lip for
the smart-ass remark before talking.
“Baby, when you were
brought in, it was bad. We didn’t know anything, just that you were attacked
and had lost a lot of blood at the scene.” I had to pause there and rein in my
emotions. The resentment I held for the bitch and the piece of shit rich kid
that helped her. Irritation with the lack of answers at that point—the fear I
dealt with nearly bowled me over.
Maya didn’t need to see
that.
“Please continue.”
Running the tips of my
fingers through her loose curls, I found my center again. “It was bad, baby,” I
whispered, voice thick with emotion. “You received a hairline fracture on the
temporal bone after being hit repeatedly with a wooden—”
“Baseball bat,” she
finished for me. “I remember that. I’d been at my car, on my phone with a
friend when…”
Nodding, I reached up
and, with the gentlest of touches, caressed her bandages. “Seeing you lying in
that bed, unconscious, was one of the worst moments of my life. Pure fucking
torture, not knowing when you’d wake up or what shape you’d be in. Head trauma,
no matter how tiny, is dangerous. And you…fuck, Bitty.”
“Hey,” Maya breathed,
wrapping her arms around my neck. The movement caused her to let out a low
hiss, but before I could pull her off and check her out, she spoke. “I’m okay.”
It had the opposite effect. I hated those
words with a passion.
“Stop. Don’t fucking
placate me.”
“I’m not, Talan. Look
at me.” Our eyes connected for a few seconds before I looked away and over
toward the opposite wall. “I’m not broken. Hurt, yes, but not broken.”
Ignoring her words, I continued to talk as if on
auto pilot. “Then, when you opened those beautiful grey eyes and with fear told
me it was Janice, I...I want her blood on my hands for what she’s done to you.”
“That’s not a past-tense
threat.”
“For as long as my
heart beats inside my chest, I will protect you with every single breath I
take.”
“I’ve never doubted
that, but please, let the cops handle it. She’s not worth you dirtying your
hands, baby.” While her pleading broke down my resolve for the briefest of
seconds, looking at our surroundings brought it back. I wanted those two
assholes dead. “I can see it on your face...no, Talan. Let them handle it.”
“I will.”
“Promise.”
“I do.” For now.
“Love you.”
“I know,” I replied cockily. “Now…” She let out
a tiny giggle when I leaned in close and nipped her chin. “How about that
shower?”
“Are we interrupting something?” A tall man
dressed in a stained dress shirt addressed us. Next to him stood another man,
dressed just the same, but this one had a badge around his neck. No emotions on
their face. Stoic. Almost looked bored.
Beside me, Maya fisted my shirt and held on.
“Who are they?” she whispered low enough so only I heard. With a subtle shake
of my head, I answered her before turning my attention back to the two silent
observers in the room.
After laying a kiss on my girl’s forehead, I
stood to my full height and appraised them. “Who the hell are you? And why are
you in this room?”
“Sorry,” the Hispanic male began, only to be cut
off by his partner’s huff.
“Does he have an issue?” Two against one
wouldn’t be hard to handle. Fuck that. They were both older than I was, and I
had at least a foot on the white male.
Buddy didn’t like my tone and took another step
into the room. “Watch the tone.” He glared, but I was unaffected by his type.
Yeah, they were cops. Detectives, if I wasn’t wrong. And while I’ve never had
an issue with Miami’s finest before, I took offense to his lack of
professionalism.
“Baby, please get them out.” At her whispered
plea, I turned to look at her. Her face was ashen. The hands fisted in my shirt
were trembling and her knuckles white under the exertion.
With one hand, I ran my fingertips through her
long hair, caressing her scalp. This kind of bullshit wasn’t healthy for her.
What kind of asshole shows up at the victim’s hospital room and scares them?
They eyed our interaction, one with
understanding while the other fumed.
“Get the fuck out, and don’t come back until
your partner has learned some fucking manners.”
“Sir, let’s try this again. I’m Detective
Martinez, and this…” he pointed toward his unhappy friend “…is my partner
Detective Gulver. I—”
“We spoke the day of my girlfriend’s attack.”
While he hadn’t been a dick to me or us, I wasn’t about to pull out the welcome
wagon for either of the two. “Now, mind explaining why the two of you barged
in, no knock on the door? Were less than empathetic to what she’s suffered, and
how uncomfortable she might feel around people she doesn’t know?”
“Talan, right?” I nodded at Martinez. “We never
meant to make the victim uncomfortable. What she’s been through is something
every woman fears, and the last thing I want is to hinder her in any way. All
we wanted to do is talk to her about the night in question.”
Kneeling down, I became eye level with Bitty.
“You up to talking, babe? Or would you rather shower, eat, and then deal with
those two? Up to you.”
“That’s not how this works,” Gulver snapped,
making my girl squeak.
“Get the fuck out.”
“Talan, Ms. Owens…please, forgive my partner. It’s
been a very long day—”
“Get him out.” This time it was Maya that spoke,
her voice strong and unwavering. “You, Detective Martinez, are welcomed to come
back, but not him. In fact, get someone else to work with you, because I refuse
to deal with his kind.”
An annoyed Martinez ran a hand through his short
black hair. “Ms. Owens, it isn’t that simple, ma’am. We aren’t the enemy.”
“Yet, you come into my room without permission,
and he,” she spat while pointing a dainty finger at a now uncomfortable-looking
Gulver, “acts as if we are the criminals. And don’t for a moment think that I
haven’t noticed the way he looks at my boyfriend.” At the end of her rant,
Bitty was clutching her side, her face showing the distress she was in.
“Enough!” I growled, body partially covering
hers from their line of sight. “You’ve upset her.”
“How do you know he isn’t involved? I’ve seen
what his type can do,” Gulver mumbled low, just not low enough to not be heard
by the two of us.
“How do I know you aren’t a crooked cop?” Maya retorted
while trying to stand up. This shit was getting out of hand, and quick.
“Detective Martinez,” I called his name, drawing
away his attention from my glaring girlfriend. “Come back in an hour. She needs
to shower and eat. Once she is settled, I will call you at whatever number you
leave with me.”
“Done. We—”
“No.” Martinez was taken aback by the animosity
in my tone. Enough of this bullshit. “He isn’t allowed back until he learns a
modicum of professionalism. What he is doing is called both antagonizing and
profiling…I know my rights.” Nodding, Martinez walked up to me and handed me a
small card with his information on it.
Then, he turned toward my Bitty and smiled down
at her. “I’m truly sorry that this is how our first meeting went. I know that I
speak for both my partner and myself when I say we are very happy to see you
awake and doing well.”
“I’ll call you once she is done.”
Nodding, he turned toward his partner and waved
him forward. Just as Gulver had put his hand on the handle, it was pushed open
by Maya’s flustered daytime nurse, Miranda. She’d been amazing in her care for
my girl. Easily in her fifties and with a bit of grey hair, she was a little
plump and sassy—funny and a hard-ass at once. Perfect to handle my Bitty.
“What’s going on in here?” Her eyes traveled
from my girl’s angry red face, to mine, and then finally toward the cops who
stood to her left. Angry, and with her hand on her hip, she spoke again. “Why’s
my patient’s blood pressure through the roof?” The question was directed toward
them.
“Answer me.”
2
“They were just leaving.”
Miranda eyed them with annoyance clear on her
face. “I believe I told you that she wouldn’t be ready to speak with you until
after she was given the all clear. What part of ‘head trauma’ and ‘is under strict
orders to not be upset in any way,’ did you not understand?”
Gulver stepped forward, palms up, while he spoke
to her. “It’s important that we speak to the victim of the crime as soon as
they are conscious. So much information is still fresh—”
“Knock it off, Detective. You and I both know
the procedure…not my first merry-go-round. If the doctor or I say that you need
to wait, you wait until the patient is physically and mentally prepared to do
so. Their well-being should be top priority.”
“We understand, but she has—”
“She,” Maya sneered at them, hand clutching mine
in a tight grip, “is right here, and would appreciate it if you would stop
speaking about her as if she has no say in the matter.” The machine beside her
beeped, and all eyes inside the room shifted. Her blood pressure was rising,
and rapidly.
Fuck this. “We will
speak to you after I get her cleaned up and she has eaten, and not a second
sooner. Janice and Brian won’t disappear while she takes care of her needs.”
“So you know who attacked her? How?” Again,
Gulver with his shit. He’s more than lucky to have that badge protecting him.
“For fuck’s sake,” Maya growled out in warning,
pushing against the hand I had on her shoulder keeping her in place. “I told
him the second I woke up…now get out!”
“Ms. Owens—” This time Martinez stepped forward.
Done. They’d pushed my girl too far and I was ready to deck the motherfucker,
consequences be damned. His eyes met mine and widened, my ire growing with each
second that passed.
Before I could move or say another word, Maya’s
nurse stepped in. “Leave, or I will report you for harassing my patient and her
fiancé.”
“We’re just trying to do our jobs.”
“I’m sorry,” Martinez interjected, voice
contrite. “We never meant for this to escalate or upset Ms. Owens. Talan,” he
called out, and I nodded, “please call me when she’s ready. Let’s go.” With
that, he turned and pulled a now quiet Gulver toward the door. Without another
word the two exited the room, leaving us alone with her nurse.
“Assholes couldn’t wait a few hours,” Miranda
mumbled and I laughed, breaking a bit of the tension inside the hospital room.
Craziness followed me everywhere.
“Agreed.” Turning toward my girl, I leaned down
until we were at eye level. This was the perfect example of a moment where my
anger had to be tamed and her needs put first. “Can you try and calm down for
me? Breathe in and out. I’m here, and I’m not leaving.” Bitty gifted me one of
her pretty smiles. “Good girl.” And then I got an eye roll and a weak slap on
the arm.
“Honey, you are screwed,” came from Miranda over
by the two monitors next to the bed, watching as the numbers of Maya’s blood
pressure began to drop. My own anxiousness seemed to evaporate as Maya calmed
down.
“Who’s ‘honey’?” I had to ask. Curiosity was a
bitch.
“Applies to the both of you.” She snickered and
continued to write her reading on Maya’s chart. Women.
“Hey, Miranda?” Maya called out after a few
minutes of silence, gaining her attention. “Can you unplug me from the
machines? I want to get cleaned up.”
“Maya, I told you—”
“I won’t let anything happen to her.” At my
interjection she huffed, but after a few speculative minutes, she nodded.
“Get me fired, and you’ll be maintaining me for
the rest of my life.”
I waved her on. “Duly noted.”
“You two are adorable yet sickeningly sweet.
How’s that even possible?”
“Thank you, Miranda…now unplug me, woman.” Bitty
ignored her, choosing instead to focus her attention toward the matter at hand.
“You heard the patient.” Had to add my two
cents.
“Impatient little… You both better behave.”
Title: Caught By Her
