Page 51 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

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I woke up.

My heart sank that I was still here. Even as I peeled my eyes open and stared at the beautiful room, I didn’t want to be there. The peace of knowing that the pain would all be over soon was what I clung to as I passed out. Now, that promise of a better world, one that didn’t include my tormentors was snatched from me, leaving me with a massive void of depression.

I moaned as I tried to sit up and my ankle twinged. I bit my lip, holding back the sob that threatened to escape my lips. I wouldn’t cry. I had been through worse, and this was definitely not even close to what I experienced last time. But I couldn’t push myself up either. The drugs were still making me groggy, trying to pull me back under. I blinked slowly and took in the room, shocked when I saw Asher beside my bed, passed out in a chair.

He looked like hell. His eyes had deep bruising under them, and a bandage was taped to the left side of his head. And then there was the other bandage taped to his stomach on the right side. He wore loose sweats and nothing else, but he didn’t look at all comfortable sitting in that chair.

“He wouldn’t leave your side.”

I tore my eyes from Asher and stared at the man whose eyes I remembered vividly. He was the one that carried me out of that hellhole. I swallowed hard, unsure if I could actually trust this man. He was big and bulky with long hair pulled back in a ponytail, but his kind eyes had me relaxing slightly.

“I’m Jerrod Lockhart. Do you remember me?”

I nodded, unsure if I could even speak right now. My eyes flicked back to Asher. He didn’t look too good.

“He’s alright. Just needs some sleep.”

“What…” I cleared my throat as my voice struggled to come out clear. “What happened?”

“You were ambushed.”

I knew that much. “I mean…after.”

“We were about to take off when Chase called us. He said he had a bad feeling and we should get our asses to you immediately. We were a good ten minutes behind you. That’s why we weren’t there. When we pulled up on the scene, they had already taken you.”

“Patrick,” I croaked, remembering he was the first to be hit.

“He’s recovering. It was a through and through.”

I frowned, not understanding what he was saying.

“The bullet went straight through, and it didn’t hit anything vital. He’s recovering.”

Then I remembered Chase getting hit in the chest and my heart rate kicked up. I wasn’t sure why I was so worried about these men. They didn’t mean anything to me. At least, that’s what I told myself.

“Chase took it the worst. He’s in the hospital, but he’s a stubborn bastard. He’ll survive.”

I nodded and my eyes slid back to Asher. “You should take him to a bed,” I said, my voice barely coming out as a whisper.

“He won’t leave,” Jerrod said, his lips quirking up in a grin. “Believe me, I tried to get him to leave. The doctor tried drugging him, but he won’t budge.”

That didn’t make any sense. He didn’t care about me. He didn’t want this marriage any more than I did. But then it hit me. He was afraid I would die, and then my father would take it out on him. It wasn’t like it really mattered anyway. My father didn’t care about me. He was only using me as a bargaining chip, just like Asher was.

I rested back on the pillows and let my eyes slip shut. I just wanted to forget it all. The terror of waking up in that room felt like an elephant sitting on my chest. Even with the sunshine pouring in through the windows, all I felt was numb.

“Can you close the shades?” I asked Jerrod, my voice barely a whisper.

“Sure. Is there anything else I can get you?”

“Drugs,” I said immediately.

He frowned at me. “Are you in pain?”

I wasn’t really, aside from the burn in my ankle, but he didn’t need to know that. I just wanted to sleep, to forget that any of this happened. I wanted to clear my mind of the old memories I thought I’d pushed away. Now, they were there every time I closed my eyes. So, I lied to him and nodded.

“Where does it hurt? Should I call the doctor?”

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