Page 82 of Enforcer

My stomach tightens again, and the world grows hot as my skin clams and pimples with goosebumps.

“Ugh.” I get on my knees and dry heave into the toilet, sounds of misery leaving my throat as I do so.

I’m on my fourth round of dry heaves when I hear Dante enter the room.

“Alyssa?”

He sees me hunched over the toilet, blood dripping down my chin from all the times my stomach has tried to empty even though it’s already empty.

“What the hell? Are you alright?”

I shake my head, crying as I gag again.

“Okay,” he scrubs his hand through his hair as he reaches for the trash can, empties it onto the floor, and hands it to me. “Hold onto this, use it.”

He lifts me off the ground unceremoniously, grabbing his keys on our way out the door.

“Where are we going?” I manage through the rippling misery of my stomach cramps.

“The hospital.”

The drive over is excruciating, and the waiting room is full. I’m only marginally embarrassed when he uses his last name to get us to the front of the line and into a private room.

The nurse gave me nausea meds through my IV promptly, also hanging a bag of fluids to get me hydrated as we waited for the doctor.

It’s so awkward to be here with Dante only hours after everything that happened between us.

I use my phone to text Brynne what happened and where I am, and I have to practically ban her from coming here so I don’t ruin her wedding night.

When the doctor came in, looked me over, and agreed that it was the Plan B I took, he told me that the pill could come with some nasty side effects that could take days to clear out.

He says he’s keeping me for observation when Dante growls at him at the mention of letting me go back home, and I’m thankful because the reprieve from the nausea medicine is the only thing keeping me sane right now.

Before the doctor leaves, Dante asks him the one thing I never thought I’d hear him say, and I can’t help how it warms my heart.

“Even though she’s had this reaction, do you think the pill worked?”

“It should’ve still had its effect, yes. Though the pill isn’t one hundred percent effective, just like any other form of contraceptive, it has had hours to metabolize and function properly. The side effects are pretty common. I wish more people read the box.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” I tell him, barely having a voice to speak with.

He nods and exits the room, shutting the door quietly behind me.

“Dante, I…” I start as he pulls his chair closer to the side of the bed.

He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about anything. Get some rest.”

I bite my lip and nod in agreement, shutting my eyes to get the image of him watching over me with worried eyes out of my line of sight. But it’s there when I close them.

And even though I try my damnedest not to, I dream of him all night.

Dante stayedat my bedside all night. When I awoke with more nausea at four in the morning and hit my nurse button, his head was on the bed; body slumped over in exhaustion.

The nurse came in and administered more medicine, and I was thankful that Dante bullied the doctor into keeping me here as soon as it hit my veins and calmed the cramping.

“He’s one of the good ones,” she’d said before she left my room. “I can always tell.”

Her words still bounce around as I watch him pace the room on a phone call with someone.

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