Page 24 of Bound By Pain
“We were so worried,” Mom tells me. “Having Omen call to tell us you were missing and likely hurt… Well, none of that compares to getting here and seeing just how injured you are.” Her voice shakes, so my father wraps his arms around her, comforting her as best as he can.
“Omen was the one to call you?” I ask, furrowing my brows. Why would my best friend be the one to relay the message about my disappearance? How did she even know in the first place?
“Yes, well, that’s a story for another day,” Dad sputters, a spark of anger flashing in his brown eyes.
I want to ask more, but the door to my room opens, and a nurse walks in. After checking my vitals and all the bags attached to my IV, she tells me she will send the doctor in soon. Whatever relief I felt being surrounded by my family evaporates. The doctor will want to discuss the damage done to my body, and I amnotready for that conversation.
Ridley sits forward, having woken when the nurse arrived. He slips his hand in mine and squeezes several times. “It’ll be okay, sunshine.”
Jerking my head, I bite back my response. It won’t be okay, because I’m not okay. I’ve been avoiding facing the reality of what Doctor Harrison took from me since I woke back up in that cage. Some truths are too difficult to face when you’re already reeling from the trauma you’ve been through.
A middle-aged woman walks in several minutes later, dressed in a long lab coat with black scrubs underneath. “Miss Powell, it’s wonderful to see you awake. How are you feeling?”
I shrug. “Like I’ve been through hell.”
She glances at me from where she’s putting information into her computer. “An understatement, I’m sure. Are you comfortable with everyone staying in the room while we go over everything we found or?”
My head shakes rigorously, bouncing my curls into my face. “Who would you like to stay?” the doctor asks as I brush my hair aside.
“I don’t want to know,” I choke out.
“Miss Powell, understanding the extent of the physical damage from your ordeal is important.”
“Sabine,” Mom calls, trying to catch my attention.
“Tell her.” I point to Mom. “I give my consent to have all relevant medical information passed to my mother, Shelby Powell. She can make decisions regarding my care going forward, and she can tell me everything when I am ready.”
Ridley rubs his thumb along the back of my hand and scoots his chair closer to the side of the bed, drawn by the visible signs of my distress.
“Are you sure, bumblebee?” Dad asks, glancing between me and the doctor. When I nod and turn onto my side, ignoring the spike of pain moving through me, my parents sigh and move with the doctor out into the hall. My nurse returns a moment later with a consent form for me to sign, and then it is just me and Ridley in the room.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I know you probably want to know, too.”
His fingers gently grip my chin, tilting my head back so I can see his face. “I want whatever is best for you, sunshine, and if that is waiting to hear what the doctor has to say, I support your decision. All I care about is keeping you safe and helping you heal.”
He leans over the side of the bed and presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “Do you need anything right now?”
Words clog in my throat, thinking of all the things I need but don’t dare to ask for. He tilts his head, hair falling across his forehead. It’s grown out since he left in August, amplifying his boyish charm.
The door opens again, drawing our attention away from each other. My heart skips a beat when I glance over to see Orion and Shiloh walking into the room. Their eyes immediately find mine, shock warring with relief in Orion’s vibrant orbs. Shiloh’s shoulders drop slightly, but his expression is as unreadable and guarded as ever.
“You’re awake,” Orion breathes. His arms loaded with… well, I’m not sure what he’s carrying. Dark circles line his eyes, likely matching my own. Knowing what happened with his former mate, my disappearance must have been difficult for him to process. A small part of me feels bad for causing him distress, but the rest screams that it was a situation out of my control. I didn’t choose to be kidnapped, so I can’t blame myself for the way my mates react.
He practically trips over his feet as he crosses the room and carefully sets everything on the empty chair my parents had been using. “I brought you some things I thought you might need,” he says hurriedly. Bags are pulled from a large tote and sit on my legs, each sealed tight and stuffed with fabric. The small suitcase from my apartment is stacked there too. He turns, gesturing wildly to everything. “I wasn’t sure what would help most, but your friend Omen helped pick things out.”
Tears brim in my eyes as I pick one up and flip it over, realizing they’re scent sealed and filled with blankets from my nest. Picking up another, I slowly undo the seal and am hit with the comforting notes of ozone and sea mist. Orion’s scent. These are his clothes, and in the other bags appear to be the rest of my mate’s clothes too.
“This is…” I can’t get the words out past the lump in my throat, so I spread my arms instead, silently asking for a hug. He crushes me to the bed, holding me a little too tight given the injuries on my battered body, but the warmth of his scent and the heat from his body make the pinch of pain worth it.
“You can’t do this to me again, butterfly,” he whispers, nose buried in my hair. “I can’t handle losing you, too.”
Instead of responding, I just hold him tighter. Wordlessly, I relay my wish to always be at his side. We can’t control where Fate takes us, but as long as we have each other, we can survive anything thrown our way.
CHAPTER 14
Bookingtwo last-minute seats on a flight from Newark to Huntsville, an FCDA agent meets us at the airport and escorts us to the hospital where Bea is being treated. Orion had shown up at the label several hours after I dropped him off at his therapy appointment. Hearing him admit he had been on the verge of drinking to drown his fear of losing Bea had gutted me. I remember too vividly how terrifying it was to find him the last time he’d resorted to alcohol as a cure for his problems.
Thankfully, Fate had intervened this time by sending Orion’s father to his doorstep. Mr. Walker had saved Orion from relapsing, and he gave him something to focus on instead of wallowing in the dark thoughts swirling in his head.
