Page 103 of Already Home

Violet did her best to stay very, very still. Her head throbbedwith a pain she’d never felt before. The nurse had promised to return and hookup the IV as soon as they confirmed her head injury wasn’t serious. There wasalso the issue of her swollen jaw, black eyes and assorted other bruises fromthe fall.

Things would be better soon, she told herself. As soon as thepain medication hit her system, everything would be better.

“We’re going to find him,” the officer said. “He’ll becharged.”

Violet nodded slightly.

“Charged is good,” she said, knowing it wouldn’t matter at all.He would post bond and be back out on the streets. Probably looking for her. Arestraining order was only a technical aid. It wouldn’t physically keep him fromcoming after her.

There had to be others, she thought sadly. He’d snapped tooeasily, too quickly. She would bet a lot that he’d done this before. Other womenout there who had lived through the same. She hoped the police found out if hehad.

As usual, her gut had been no help. But when compared to whathe’d done to her, the losers she usually gravitated toward were actually lookingpretty good. The obvious solution was to avoid men altogether, she told herself.To just accept that she was alone and go with it. She just hoped she wasn’tgoing to have to leave Georgetown to get away from him.

She closed her eyes and told herself that in a few days shewould feel better. That her body would heal. She was less sure about the rest ofher, though. That would take longer.

The nurse returned. “We’ll be keeping you tonight forobservation, but as of now, all indications are that you’re going to be justfine. You’ve got a big bump though.” He hooked up the IV and offered somethingto eat.

“I’m not hungry,” Violet told the male nurse, who lookedconcerned. “I’m fine.”

“Does it bother you that I’m a man?” he asked. “Do you want meto switch you to one of the other nurses?”

Unexpected tears filled her eyes. She wasn’t prepared forkindness. The last time this had happened, she’d been maybe nineteen and strungout on drugs. She’d been more concerned about getting discharged so she couldget high again than thinking about staff or worrying about healing.

Violet looked at the guy. He was maybe five-eight and ahundred-and-fifty pounds. His eyes were soft brown and there were flecks of grayin his blond hair. His wedding ring looked a little battered, as if he’d beenwearing it for years.

“I’m not worried. I could take you.”

He grinned. “Probably. Try to rest. The pain medication shouldalready be working.”

She frowned, then realized the sharpness had faded, leavingbehind only dull throbbing.

“It is,” she told him. “Thanks.”

“I’m going to bring you a sandwich later. If you argue with meabout eating it, I’ll arm wrestle you.”

She caught her breath and winced. Her ribs weren’t broken, butthey were bruised from where she’d apparently smacked them on the table, aswell. “Okay, okay. Just don’t make me laugh.”

The nurse—his name tag said Henry—touched her hand. “You’resafe here, Violet. Try to get some sleep.”

“I will.”

She waited until he’d walked out, then closed her eyes, only toopen them immediately. The fear she didn’t want to acknowledge was stillthere.

She was safe, she reminded herself. Cliff would be in jail forat least the night. When she was discharged, she would figure out where shecould go that was safe. A hotel, she thought.

“Violet?”

She looked up and saw Beth standing in the doorway. Jenna’smother looked pale and was obviously trying to stay calm. Violet felt herselfflush as shame rushed through her. Women like Beth didn’t deal with situationslike this in their normal lives.

“I’m sorry,” Violet whispered, dropping her gaze to her hands.“They insisted on contact information and I wasn’t thinking. They promised theywouldn’t call.”

“Don’t,” Beth whispered, rushing to her side, tears filling herblue eyes. “Oh, Violet, honey. What did he do to you?” The tears slipped downher cheeks.

Violet shook her head. “Don’t cry. I’m fine.” She winced. “Myhead hurts is all and I got that from falling.”

Beth took her hand and squeezed her fingers. “You’re not fine.He hurt you. I talked to Henry. Cliff hit you. That’s not supposed to happen.You liked him so much. We went shopping so you could make him happy.”

“Not a mistake I’ll make again,” Violet said. “Really, I’mfine.”

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