Page 25 of Love's Patient Journey
Ryan woke early to make Jenna breakfast in bed. He wanted to pamper her, and he knew that she would be hungry after meeting a night of his demands. God, if anything happened to either her or their baby, he’d go crazy. He tried to get his wrists loose, to no avail. Whoever trussed him up knew what they were doing. This was a hired thug; Mr. Ashbrook would never get his hands dirty by hurting others. He would never risk his political career or his well-being. He cared too much about himself to get his hands dirty.
Ryan could hear Jenna shouting for him. He tried to scream for her, but the gag in his mouth didn’t allow for many sounds to escape. He knew that the same person who had knocked him out earlier was still in the house. He could hear the assholerifling through closets and drawers. He heard some commotion above him, most likely in the kitchen. That was where he was knocked out. He had gotten the milk and orange juice out of the refrigerator and heard the floorboard squeak in the pantry. Immediately, he knew that someone was in their house. He put the containers on the kitchen floor and left the refrigerator door open, so as not to make any unnecessary noise. When he opened the pantry door, he wasn’t ready for the hulk-like figure that punched him in the face, knocking him out. The guy must have pulled him to the basement, letting his head hit every damn step, because it hurt like a son of a bitch.
Ryan worried that the same asshole knocked Jenna out, too, because everything upstairs was too quiet. His gut clenched when he thought about Jenna lying up there, unconscious. Or maybe she was awake, and the mother fucker was hurting her. Ryan panicked and tried like hell to get free. He looked around the basement for something sharp that would cut the ropes that trussed him like a stuck pig. Ryan spotted an old, rusty coffee can on a metal shelf. He scooted his ass across the cracked, crumbling cement floor. He had just enough room between his feet to secure the can. He started running the rope that was binding his wrist over the mouth of the can. It was so rusty that the first few scrapes of the rope only made the can disintegrate. He worked off the first layer of rust and got down to the metal. The ropes started to slowly fray. Ryan froze when he heard footsteps upstairs. The thug must have started to look for the papers again. Ryan almost laughed to himself because the ass had zero chance of finding them here. Tom Gentry had the papers in a safe, where no one could get to them. He wondered just how stupid the Ashbrook’s thought he and Jenna were. He continued to work his ropes, knowing that Jenna was still upstairs, in danger.
He finally wore the rope thin enough that he could snap it. He freed his hands and feet and removed his gag. “I’m coming, baby,” he whispered his promise, hoping Jenna could hold on long enough for him to get to her. His bare feet hardly made a noise on the old steps. There were a few creeks, but the continued noise coming from upstairs told him that the intruder didn’t hear him. Ryan carefully pushed the door open and immediately saw Jenna’s form lying on the kitchen floor. She wasn’t moving, and he noticed blood on her forehead, just at her hairline. He wanted to go to her and make sure she and the baby were okay. At least he could see her chest rise and fall, so he knew Jenna was breathing. His only chance of them escaping was to find the asshole who knocked them both out and take him down.
At the top of the steps, Ryan caught a glimpse of an old wooden baseball bat that someone had stowed in the corner. It looked pretty old, but Ryan was confident that it could still knock someone senseless. He grabbed the bat and tiptoed to the dining room, where all the ruckus was coming from. Thank God the Hulk in the corner had his back turned to Ryan while he was going through Jenna’s China hutch. She kept some papers in there, and the guy was carefully going through them. With his attention diverted, the asshole never even knew what hit him. Ryan swung the bat so hard that he could hear a cracking sound when the bat made contact with the thug’s skull. Still, the giant didn’t fall right away, turning to look at Ryan, his surprise evident. Ryan swung once more, knocking the Hulk out with another hit to the head.
“Yeah, that’s right, asshole, I escaped.” Ryan found a rope in one of the guy’s cargo pants pockets and tied him up. He also found some duct tape in another pocket and ran it around the guy’s wrists and ankles, just in case he came to and taped his mouth.On his way back into the kitchen, he grabbed his cell from the family room. After calling 911, he hit Drew’s number into his phone and told him to haul ass over to Jenna’s. Ryan rushed to where Jenna lay on the floor, careful not to move her too much. The gash on her forehead had stopped bleeding, but she was still unconscious.
“Jenna, honey,” he brushed some of her blood-crusted hair out of her eyes. “Jenna, baby, open your eyes.” She moaned and reached for her head. “Don’t move too much, princess. The EMTs are on their way, and you are safe.” Ryan reached for her hand and squeezed. “Honey, open your eyes and try to talk to me.” She licked her lips and moaned again. Ryan was just happy that she was moving.
“Don’t call me princess,” she mumbled, trying to open her eyes.
He knelt and kissed her softly on her lips. “I’m not arguing with you, Ry,” Jenna croaked, causing him to bark out a laugh.
“No, honey, you aren’t. I just needed to kiss you. I love you so much. Are you in a lot of pain?” Jenna’s hands instantly went to her belly, and she tried to sit up. Ryan gently held her down.
“Don’t move, honey, you need to stay still until the ambulance gets here.”
Jenna moaned and agreed. “I don’t think my head wants me to move either. I think I see two of you.”
“Yeah, honey, I think you got clocked pretty good. You just lie still for me, okay?” Jenna nodded.
“I know the guy, Ry.” Jenna tried to tell Ryan everything that was on her mind, but the words came out a little jumbled. “He works for the Ashbrook’s,” she at least managed to get that out.Why were her eyes so heavy? She felt so tired.
“Jenna, honey, you need to stay awake,” Ryan said, squeezing her hand in his, causing her a little pain. Her eyes shot back open when she remembered the baby.
“Is the baby okay?” Ryan looked at their little bump and couldn’t tell if their baby was okay or not.
He nodded, “The baby looks fine, honey. He’s a fighter, just like his mama. He’ll be just fine.” Ryan smiled down at her, trying to be as convincing as possible, but the truth was, he was just as worried as she was.
“She’s just fine, you mean to say, because I know she’s a girl.” Again, Ryan laughed at his new bride, bending to give her another soft kiss, thankful that she was alive.
∞
The EMTs decided Jenna should be taken to the emergency room and checked out by a doctor. They also wanted to do a sonogram on the baby to make sure everything was all right. Jenna was relieved when Drew showed up to handle the police and their intruder. She wanted Ryan to go to the ER with her. Her head felt like it was in a vice, and someone kept tightening the hold. She didn’t want to have the sonogram without Ryan; she needed his strength to get through the rest of the morning. And, truth be told, she wanted Ryan to have his head looked at. He was pretty banged up, and she wanted to make sure that he didn’t have a concussion, too. When the EMTs first arrived, he refused to let them look at him. He made them take care of Jenna and the baby. When Drew arrived, he disappeared into her dining room, where he tried to question the man who brokeinto her house, but the guy seemed pretty out of it still. All she could hear was a lot of moaning, but not any talking.
When the police showed up, Drew explained what had happened. Ryan never left her side. He was questioning everything the EMTs did to her, so protective. She loved the way he wanted to take care of her. She needed him to be looked at, but her new husband had a stubborn streak a mile long.
The ER was quiet, not at all how she imagined it. The bright lights made her eyes hurt, and the doctors moved her around on the gurney so fast that she felt nauseous. Ryan was with her the whole time, holding her hand, smiling down at her, telling her everything was going to be fine. But she could tell by his expression that he was just as worried about the baby as she was. First, the doctor checked out her head and determined that she did indeed have a concussion. He told her that she was going to have to stay awake for the next 24 hours, which was going to be a problem because, after the morning she just had, all she wanted to do was sleep. Next, they wheeled a sonogram machine into her little cubicle, and she couldn’t help but burst into tears. All her worries came to a head when she saw the machine. She was so worried that the baby was hurt or worse. She hadn’t felt her kicking since she was in bed this morning.
“Hey,” Ryan soothed her, stroking her hair back, “Why are you crying?”
“I’m just so worried about her—I can’t stop crying,” Jenna sobbed. “What if she’s not okay?”
“Baby, she’s fine. Let the doctor take a look at her, and you’ll see. She’s strong like her mama.” Jenna smiled back at Ryan, through her tears.
“You said ‘she’, ” Jenna said, causing Ryan to laugh.
“Have you felt the baby move yet?” the doctor asked, squirting gel onto her bump.
“Yes, I felt her this morning.” Jenna held her breath waiting for the image to appear on the monitor.
“Do you know what you are having?” the doctor questioned.
“No, this is our first sonogram,” Ryan offered, “My wife thinks it’s a girl.” The baby’s image appeared on the screen, and time seemed to freeze for them both. The doctor moved the wand around on Jenna’s belly, pressing down slightly.
