Page 39 of Protection for Rowan

When they wheeled her back into the room, Shine and Griz were there. She didn’t know Griz well, but she was glad he showed Shine support by showing up.

Before Griz left the room, he moved to her bedside. “We’re all here for you. Shine will make sure you have our numbers so you can call if you need anything. I’ll be out in the lobby.”

“Oh, you don’t?—”

“I’m not leaving until they release you or determine when you can be released. We’ve got your back.”

If you didn't know him, Griz was scary. The intensity rolling off him would keep people away. But Griz had a heart of gold. He just didn't let people see it.

Griz gave Shine a hug before he left the room. Shine leaned over and kissed her forehead. "The doctor said your ankle looks good. She thinks it will heal on its own, and you won't need a skin graft."

“Oh, I didn’t even know that was an issue.”

The door opened, and the doctor stepped in. "Okay, I'm happy with how your ankle looks. But you have to go see a doctor in the next two days to make sure it's healing. You have some heavy antibiotics on board. The infection should heal fairly quickly. I think you can check out and go home. Nothing around that ankle, though. So, no socks that come up and touch the bandage. It may take a few weeks for that to get to the point where you can put any cloth over it. No beach, no ocean, and no pool. Also, no long soaks in the tub. You have to keep it dry."

She nodded. “Thank you, Doctor.”

“My pleasure. My information is in your paperwork along with my report. Your doctor can contact me if they need. I have a burger and fries coming your way. Eat as much of it as you can.”

“Thank you.”

The doctor left, and Rowan tried to take in the information she'd been given. She was going home. Her gaze flew to Shine as panic rose.

“I can’t go home.”

“You’re staying with me. It will be okay.”

“Oh God, my office. I can’t go back there. He knows where that is.”

Shine sat on the bed and pulled her onto his lap. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure something out. You don’thave to go back to work yet. You can take a bit of time and figure out what to do.”

He was so calm against her rising panic, and for a moment, the struggle felt real. It could go either way for her. Blowing up and having a raging fit wasn't too far of a possibility. Instead of reacting, she drew in a deep breath, trying to lean into his calming presence. The peace he exuded calmed her racing heart. Her body relaxed, and she sank against him. Maybe everything would be okay. Maybe she could recover from this horrible chapter and move on.

Chapter 31

Gettinghome didn’t take long, but he could tell Rowan was exhausted from being in the car. She’d only eaten about half the burger and fries, but he was glad she’d kept it down.

Once at his place, he wrapped her ankle in plastic to keep it dry and helped her shower. He didn’t like how quiet she was, but she’d been through a lot.

Though she was beautiful, and he wanted her, he forced his desire down so he didn’t freak her out. The last thing she needed was a horny guy coming at her.

The creep had violated her. He would do everything he could to keep her safe.

Once clean, he got her into one of his larger T-shirts and carried her to the bed. As he moved to get up, she grabbed his hand. He sat back down and turned to face her.

“Don’t leave yet.”

He stretched out beside her, hoping he really was comforting her. “I’m here.”

Her breathing evened out about two minutes later. Ittook him less than a minute to get up and leave the room. She must have been exhausted because she’d fallen asleep lightning fast.

His biggest problem was he could imagine what she’d been through. He didn’t want to think about it, but he knew what happened to women held captive by deranged men. Though he tried to keep the images out of his head, flashes of things he’d seen while doing his job hit. They would both need counseling.

He texted the guys on his team with an update, then sent a note to Thario. Heat washed over him. If he hadn’t become close friends with Thario, he wasn’t sure what would have happened with Rowan. They’d found Rowan because Thario was good at what he did and told them where to find that jerk’s ex-girlfriend.

His phone rang, and he answered, hoping it hadn’t disturbed Rowan. He moved as far away from the bedroom as he could get.

“Hello.”

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