Page 3 of Mine to Keep

Roland pulled a chair over to the bed and got comfortable. There was no way he was leaving her until she woke up and got her bearings. He didn’t want her first day in her new home to be terrifying. He had to find a way to get his mind off fucking her, or he’d be miserable for the next few hours.

As the minutes and hours passed, he started to worry when she didn’t wake up. He sat beside her hip on the mattress and pressed his fingers on her neck. Her pulse was strong, and her breathing was steady and deep. He decided if she didn’t wake up in the next hour, he’d call in a doctor to check her out.

He looked out the window to see the moon was bright enough to light the room. He only had the small light by the bed on, so the room would have been shadowy and maybe look menacing to her without it.

Her sigh startled him. He stayed by her and set a hand on her hip. Her eyes opened and blinked several times. Violet. That was the color of her eyes and one he’d never seen before.

When a flash of pain filled her eyes, and she grabbed onto her head, he got worried.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

He could tell she was trying to focus on him, but the pain was making it impossible. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Daniel Crawford. He was in Society, so he knew he could trust him.

“Daniel, this is Roland. I’ll tell you the whole story later, but I have a woman here at my house that was sedated. She’s been out for a long time, and now as she wakes up, she’s holding her head and crying.”

“Fuck, do you have any idea what they gave her?”

“No.”

“I’ll come now. Put a cold washcloth on her head and tell her to keep her eyes closed.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Roland said and hung up. He walked into the bathroom, wet a washcloth, and walked back to the bed. “It’s going to be okay. I have a doctor coming to examine you. Let me put this on your forehead. He says it will help.”

Roland set it across her upper face. He was going to pull away, but her tiny hand came up and pressed down on his. He had no idea if she knew what she was doing, but he was surprised by his reaction to her touch and the depth of concern he felt.

“What happened?” she asked so softly he had to lean down to hear her.

He had no idea how much to tell her but decided if it were him, he’d want to know. “Your father sedated you for your flight.”

She stiffened.

“He gave you more than you needed,” he told her.

He watched her press her lips together but didn’t say anything.

A knock at the door made her cringe. “It’s okay, Honey. No one will harm you here.”

She nodded slowly.

He got up to answer and relaxed when he saw Daniel. “I’m glad you came so quickly. She seems to be in a lot of pain.”

“We’ll get her taken care of.”

Roland sat down at the end of the bed and put a hand on her ankle.

“This is the doctor, Honey.”

“Hi … what’s your name?” Daniel asked her.

Roland cursed under his breath. “It’s Laila,” he said.

“My name is Daniel, and I’m here to take care of you.”

“Thank you, Daniel.”

“Can you tell me your symptoms?”

“Bad headache, nausea, and lethargy.”

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