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Distracted by the sound of my voice, Mr. Flint manages to kick Banner in the stomach before getting up and rushing out of the room.
From the look on Banner’s face, I can tell he’s ready to go after him. “Banner.”
He drags his attention from the door Mr. Flint just escaped through and looks at me. His hair is a mess, and his T-shirt is torn and pulled, hanging off his shoulder.
He crawls over to me, his expression filled with anguish and pain. “Emma, what did he do to you?” His hand shakily hovers over my head, his eyes watering. “Where does it hurt?”
“I—” I lick my dry lips, tasting the coppery tang of blood, trying to grasp the words I want to say, but my tongue feels heavy and my vision begins to blur.
“Stay awake, Emma,” he warns. “You need to stay awake.”
“It—it hurts,” I croak out, before coughing, choking on the blood that fills my mouth from the gash on my lip.
“I know, baby, but you need to stay awake. Do it for me, please.”
I’d do anything for him.
I love him.
And despite the pain, despite the roaring in my ears as I battle to stay awake, my heart soars as I swear I hear him say, “I love you too.”
I want to hold him, needing to know he’s ok and yearning to feel him against me. I raise my arms to do just that, when blinding pain lashes through my side, and I pass out.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Some of the shock from tonight has worn off. My mind, deep down, understands I was attacked, that I’m hurt, whilst a part of me still can’t believe it happened. It doesn’t feel real, or that it happened only hours ago.
Slowly, I try to sit up, but quickly realise how futile it is when a sharp pain shoots through my ribs. Spots flash behind my eyes and I bite my lip to keep from crying out and showing Banner and Mark how much pain I’m really in. If they make me stay a second longer in this hospital, they’re going to need to sedate me. I just want to go home and curl up in bed.
“Here, let me,” Banner orders softly, helping me up. I swing my legs over the bed, before stopping to catch my breath.
“Thank you.”
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Mark tells us from where he’s pacing.
I glance his way, trying not to cry at his appearance. He looks like he’s aged ten years, and he can barely look at me. I don’t blame him, either. I caught sight of myself in the mirror, and it’s not pretty.
“Mark, I just want to go home.”
“You’re in pain. You need to be here where they can help you.”
“There isn’t anything they can do that you can’t. Please, just get me out of here. I hate hospitals.”
He nods but still doesn’t seem convinced. He glances at Banner, his jaw tight. “I’m going to go see what’s taking Levi so long. He said he’d call when he’s outside.”
Banner nods and moves to kneel in front of me, sliding my shoes on my feet. Finally alone, I place my hand on his shoulder, getting his attention. The torment in his eyes has me closing mine briefly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I will be. I’m just pissed right now, Emma. Why didn’t you come to me?”
I blink back tears, not needing to hear how stupid and naive I was in thinking I could deal with this on my own.
“Honestly?”
“It’s all I ever want from you.”
I wince, even though I know he didn’t say that to be mean. “I didn’t want you to get into a fight. At first, I thought I was just being jumpy because of my past, but then he got in my personal space again. I didn’t want to be the reason a man got fired from his job because of my paranoia. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“What happened after?”