Page 75 of Found By Him

“Is she okay? Why did she sneeze? Is she getting sick?”

“It’s probably all these fucking flowers in here, man.” Nate. “It looks like the entrance of a Trader Joe’s in here.”

Flowers. Jack got me flowers. That makes me happy.

“I’m glad to hear that, baby.”

The lights aren’t so brightthis time. That’s a relief. I attempt to force my heavy lids to open. After a few attempts, they finally obey. I’m disoriented, even recalling that I’m in the hospital. I don’t want to think about everything else because it’s overwhelming and tiring for my injured brain.

I slowly push myself up since I can’t find the button to raise the bed. Blinking more, I look around the room. It’s the usual white, sterile, dull hospital room, except for the half adozen vases of gorgeous flowers of every variety scattered throughout the room. I glance down at the blanket covering me and smile—my favorite throw blanket. Jack must have brought it from my condo. My eyes continue to scan the room.

Jack.

I finish my perusal when I land on his large body sprawled in a small reclining hospital chair. He has one elbow on the armrest, his hand holding his head up. His other arm is covered in a black cast. I frown at his injury.

He’s so handsome. Even in the vulnerable position with a cast, his presence is powerful and consuming.

“You’re up.” I don’t realize he’s awake until his voice disrupts the silence.

“You’re injured,” I say, my voice cracking.

Slowly standing, he stretches his back. Then, with his eyes on mine, he saunters over. Just from his closeness, my body relaxes. Leaning over me, he leaves a lingering kiss on my forehead, whispering, “It’s nothing. I’ll go get the nurse.” He quickly leaves the room, returning a few minutes later with a nurse following close behind.

It’s clearly not nothing. My heart clenches, because he got hurt because of me. The last thing I want is to talk to the nurse, but the sooner it’s over, the sooner I can talk to Jack.

“Hey there, Gisella. Or Ella? I’ve heard these guys hanging around call you both. I wasn’t sure which you preferred.”

I lock my eyes with Jack, and the memory of Jack’s explanation of why he calls me my full name fills my mind. I’m so relieved he’s okay. That I’m still alive and with him. It seems like everything could’ve just been a nightmare instead of reality. If it wasn’t for being in a hospital room, I’d actually think that.

“You can call me Ella,” I tell her.

The pleased smile that fills his face gives me goosebumps.

“Alright, Ella. We’ll need to take your catheter out now that you’re awake.”

When I grimace and my gaze zips to Jack, she turns to him. “How about you give us a few minutes? Won’t take long, and I’ll come and get you when I’m done.”

His jaw clenches.

“Please, Jack,” I plead quietly.

He doesn’t move immediately, but after a few moments of watching me, he leaves the room.

“Protective man you got there. Between him and his friends, you haven’t been alone for a second since you got here.”

It means a lot to know they’ve been with me, but I don’t know what to say, so I just smile as she introduces herself as Jenny with ay. She quickly removes my catheter and checks a few of my vitals, asking me questions about how I’m feeling. Once she’s checked every box, she tells me she’ll send a doctor in shortly.

A moment after she leaves, there’s a quick knock and the door opens. I expect it to be Jack, but instead, there’s a doctor and two uniformed officers. I’m relieved that the fourth person to enter is Jack’s friend, Carlos.

The doctor introduces herself, explaining that she’s going to examine me before the police ask me a few questions if I’m up to it. I agree, and after confirming that I’m comfortable with the police staying in the room during the examination, she begins to ask me questions and completes her assessment of my condition.

“You’re looking good, Ella. With a concussion as severe as the one you have, we need to monitor you for a few moredays. But you’re doing well, all things considered. You have a lot of bruises, but surprisingly, nothing is broken.” She pauses. “We did complete a sexual assault exam, and unless you tell us otherwise, we didn’t see any indication of that.”

I look down at my hands, remembering Craig’s insinuations of what he wanted to do to me. I don’t know how long I was rescued after that conversation, but I take it as a good sign they didn’t find any evidence of being assaulted. I explain, “There were good chunks of time I was unconscious, but if you didn’t find anything, I don’t think I was.”

She smiles sympathetically. “Good, glad to hear that. Do you have any questions for me?”

I shake my head and thank her. As she leaves, I take a steadying breath before settling my gaze on the familiar face in the room.

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