Page 27 of Desire

Chapter 20

I was sittingat the bar at Eden drinking my scotch as I waited for Bridget to arrive when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Phones weren’t typically allowed in Eden, but ever since Alex had come into the picture, I kept it with me at all times in case he needed to reach me. When I saw who was calling, I was tempted to ignore it. I had no desire to talk to Webber, but then I thought about Alex and figured I better answer.

“It’s Webber. We have a problem,” he spoke before I could even say hello.

I sprang to attention with his words. “What?”

He clipped out the words. “Bridget’s on her way to the hospital. Someone was in her apartment tonight and beat the shit out of her.”

My ears buzzed, and I shook my head to clear the noise, not sure I’d heard him right. “Come again?” I asked.

He sighed in what sounded like disgust, but I heard the underlying worry in his tone. “We’re headed to Pinegrove General. The guy really did a number on her. He used her face as a punching bag, and if I had to guess she has, at minimum, severely bruised ribs. It’s also possible she has a mild concussion. Anyway, I figured you needed to know.”

I was already halfway to my car before he finished speaking. “I’m on my way. And Webber, thanks.” I reluctantly told him.

I drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital. I needed to see with my own eyes that Bridget was okay. Fuck, this was all my fault. My instinct told me this was Malcolm’s doing. Alex had repeatedly told me that Bridget was in danger, but I thought I could protect her. And with Alex temporarily out of Malcolm’s reach, he must have set his sights on Bridget. I swerved into the hospital parking lot and had barely put the car in park before I’d jumped out and was sprinting to my woman.

I raced into the emergency department and spied Webber sprawled in one of the chairs at the back of the waiting room. I rushed over to him, needing to find out about Bridget. He must have heard my approach because he turned his head in my direction and sat up when I reached him.

“Where is she?” I snapped, impatient to see her and make sure she was okay.

“She’s still in one of the exam rooms. They’re stitching up the cut on both her cheek and above her eye. Then they’re going to get an x-ray and CT scan to see about the ribs and concussion. That’s all I can tell you.” Webber replied, in a calm voice. I assumed he was trying to reassure me that she was going to be fine. I still needed to see her for myself.

Three excruciating hours later, a doctor entered the waiting room, and I leapt from my chair, ready to begin the interrogation. Webber had passed irritated about two hours ago. Every person wearing scrubs that came through the door received the third degree about Bridget whether they knew anything or not. After I interrogatedthe fourth nurse, Webber gave up trying to stop me. He’d fallen asleep an hour ago.

“How’s Bridget Carter doing? They brought her in about three hours ago.”

“Are you Connor Black?”

“Yes, now tell me how she is.”

“Ms. Carter is in stable condition. She has been asking for you and knew you would be waiting to hear how she was. Her x-rays came back negative for cracked ribs, but they are bruised, and the CT scan showed no skull fracture, but she does have a minor concussion. She’ll need to be on bed rest for another day and she’ll have a whopper of a headache for a few more days with the possibility of some dizziness and double vision. She won’t be able to drive for at least a week or until she follows up with her primary care physician. Overall, she is an extremely lucky woman. She was severely beaten, and it definitely could have been worse. Does she live with anyone or is there someone she can stay with for a few days?”

Without any hesitation and before thinking it all the way through I said, “Bridget will be staying with me. Now, can I please see her?”

With a nod, he led me through the doors, past exam rooms and curtained off areas and stopped before a slightly opened door. He indicated for me to enter. I lightly knocked, slowly opened the door, and,careful to not wake her if she’d fallen asleep. I spied her lying on the gurney, eyes closed, and bruises on the entire right side of her face, which only highlighted the stitches in her cheek and above her eye. Fury raged through me, and I had to quash the urge to punch a hole in the wall.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

She blinked a couple times before her gaze focused in on me. She attempted to smile, but winced in pain and reached up to touch her face to assess her injury. Bridget groaned in pain when she tried to shift positions.

“You didn’t wake me. I was just resting. And trying not to move. Fuck, my whole body feels like I’ve been run over by a train. My head is killing me, too.”

Even with the bruises marring her face, Bridget was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I intended to do everything I could to find the bastard who did this and fuck up his entire existence. No one hurt my woman. And yes, she was my woman. When I got that phone call from Webber telling me Bridget had been injured, my heart stopped. I was madly in love with this woman and I needed to stop pushing her away. Like she once said, she needed a man with the balls to go after what he wanted. It was time for me to grow a pair and fight for her. Even if it was my inner demons I had to fight.

Bridget was unlike any woman I’d ever known. I had to have faith that she wouldn’t reject me based on my superficial looks, unlike other women. I still needed to keep that other side of me, the darker side, reined in, but I needed to claim this woman before someone else did. The question was, was I strong enough? Looking at her lying there, I knew I had to be.

“I’m sorry you’re hurting, baby. Where the hell is the nurse with some pain medicine?”

“Connor, it’s fine. I took something not that long ago. It just needs to kick in. I’ll be all right in a little bit. Really.”

I could sense she was puzzling something out inside that gorgeous head of hers when she barely cocked her head and narrowed her eyes at me.

“Did you just call me ‘baby’?”

Oddly, heat rose to my cheeks. I don’t know that I’d ever blushed before in my life. I had to clear my throat before answering. “Is there a problem with me calling you baby?”

She hesitated only briefly, but enough to make my heart stop. “Not necessarily, but I’m a little confused. You’ve pushed me away more than once, and now you’re calling me pet names. The mixed signals you’ve been sending are enough to drive a person to drink. I’m not sure what your angle is.”

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