Page 22 of Saved by Him

Eleven

Clay left not too longafter he got a complete statement from me about what had happened. Because of Jalen, he’d already known about the other people being sold, but Jalen hadn’t been able to give him the names of any of the sellers, and he’d only had the vaguest descriptions. With what I’d given Clay, he had enough to start looking through known traffickers, and once I’d assured him that I was fine by myself, he left.

I let my mind drift aimlessly as I flipped through the television channels. I’d lost more than a week, and it was going to take some time to absorb that. Nurses and doctors came at random intervals, checking machines and poking and prodding me. I let them do their jobs, answering their questions when asked and being quiet when they didn’t. They didn’t ask about what I’d been through, not beyond the medical things that they needed to know.

It wasn’t until a different trio of people showed up in my doorway that I perked up.

“Hey, you came!”

Jenna rolled those pale gray eyes of hers, but I knew that her casual attitude was for show. She crossed to my bed and awkwardly patted my shoulder. Knowing what I did about her past, the pat was just as good as a hug.

“I hear I have you to thank for finding me,” I said.

She shrugged as Rylan came over to her side. “I’ve gotten used to you.”

I laughed, and it felt better than I remembered. “Thank you.” The sound died in my throat as Jalen came up to the other side of my bed. “Hi.”

He offered me a small smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Hi.”

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Rylan spoke, “Have the doctors said when you’ll be released?”

“Tomorrow,” I said. “I would have preferred to be in my own bed tonight, but they want twenty-four hours of me awake and alert before they’re ready to send me home.”

“Do you want me to come pick you up?” Jenna asked. “Suzette’s planning on taking the kids out Christmas shopping tomorrow, and I can work here on my laptop as well as I can work at home.”

“I’ll take her home,” Jalen said quietly.

My heart did a quick little dance, something that the beeping heart monitor shared with everyone else in the room. I turned my head, and Jalen was there, his tall, muscular body close enough to me that my pulse skittered again. Still, I couldn’t let what I wanted, get in the way of what I knew.

“You don’t need to do that,” I said. “I can call for a car.”

Jalen’s grip on the bed’s handrail tightened until his knuckles turned white. “Have you forgotten what happened the last time you called for a car?”

No, I hadn’t forgotten, and I didn’t like the fact that he’d decided to remind me when we had a hell of a lot, more important things to discuss.

“My boyfriend paid for me at an auction run by human traffickers.”

He went completely and utterly still. “Clay.” The name came out like a curse.

“I think that’s our cue,” Rylan said to Jenna. He kissed the top of her head, then looked at me. “Whatever you need, just call, night or day.”

“I will,” I promised. I looked at Jenna. “Are you working with Agent Matthews on the case?”

She glanced at Jalen, then Rylan. “Why don’t we wait until you’re discharged to talk about that?”

I narrowed my eyes, and she raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms as she stared back. Dammit. I nodded once, and she gave me a quick smile before she and Rylan left.

“You should get some rest,” Jalen said. “You’ve been through a lot.”

His concern just pissed me off, and I pointed my finger at him. “You shouldn’t even be here.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “I saved your life.”

“Yeah, and you could’ve gotten caught and left your kid without a father.”

A muscle in his jaw jumped as he clenched it. “We don’t need to talk about this right now. You should–”

“Don’t tell me to rest,” I snapped. “I’ve been talking to you for more than a week without you actually being there. Now, I want a conversation that doesn’t come out of my own damn head.”

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