Page 35 of Coerced (Tainted #2)

35. Reverse Stockholm Syndrome

Rome

“Okay, Sir Serious, I’ve hammered out a cuirass for your giant-sized self. Ready to try it on?”

Sacked out on the couch, my good arm behind my head, I blinked my eyes open to find her standing over me with a smile.

I’d sent her off with the Council credit card that morning with orders to buy a good smartphone. When she’d returned, she’d plopped down on the loveseat and spent about an hour adding contacts from my phone, familiarizing herself with its features, and scrolling through the Internet. She had chatted with me as she’d played and I’d slowly let myself relax more and more until the sandman showed up.

I guessed she’d worked on the armor while I slept.

“Thank you, Mira. I’ll be there in a minute.”

I dreaded getting up. I’d pushed too hard and my body was finally calling me on it. I’d been using my power to absorb the pain, but that took a constant current and now I was exhausted and close to drained.

“Come on!” She nudged my hip with her knee. “Aren’t you excited?”

“I am. Very.”

I wanted that armor. I really wanted it. I’d crawl to her room if I had to. And I would. As soon as I could get my eyes to stay open.

“You look it,” she huffed.

Clenching my jaw, I brought my arm down, reached for one of the throw pillows, and swung my legs off the couch. With the pillow held against my side, I levered myself up, but the room spun and I bit back a groan.

“What are you doing?” John came in from the kitchen. “You shouldn’t be getting up. If you don’t take better care of yourself until we find Chance or Gemma, you’re going to do more damage.”

“What damage?” she yelped. “I thought you just whacked your head a good one. What else is wrong with you?”

I opened my eyes, saw she had knelt down beside me, and scowled.

“Nothing.”

“I’ve seen you hunched over like this a few times now. You hurt your ribs, didn’t you?”

“I told you—”

“More like broke them,” John interrupted. “Every single one on that side.”

The next thing I knew, a pair of hands swung my legs back up on the couch, then an arm like an iron bar went behind my shoulders and laid me back down on the cushions I’d piled up earlier. Still clutching my pillow, I blinked until the stars faded.

“You stay right there, Rome Aalders.”

She stood over me in her superhero pose, arms akimbo and legs braced three feet apart, and looked ready to take on the world. Her eyes flashed fiercely and I wondered if her cheeks were flushed because she was angry - or something else. My mind, obviously shutting down all filters before it turned itself off, sent words to my lips before I realized I was speaking.

“You’re beautiful.”

Smiling at her shock, I closed my eye.

“He’s delirious,” I heard her mutter and wondered how red her face was now. “Only explanation. I’ll get some ice.”

“I helped him change his bandages yesterday, but it might need done again soon,” John told her. “Want me to do that?”

“Bandages? What’s bandaged?”

Now she’s glaring at the poor kid.

“His chest and upper arm. A behemoth gored him during the ambush, then tossed him with its horn. He’s lucky he didn’t get trampled to death.”

For all the everloving saints, did you have to tell her that ?

“Why didn’t he say something?” She made a strangled noise.

I heard the refrigerator door open, then shut after a few seconds.

“He didn’t say anything to anyone, Mira. I only know because I was there.”

Their voices stopped and I felt myself drift off again.

“Do you have any other injuries?” Her voice jerked me partially awake. “If I need medical supplies, I want to get everything all at once.”

“Nope, other than this never-ending headache. We’re running out of gauze patches, though, if you want to get some more. And I think he’s getting sick of duct tape, so maybe first-aid tape would be a good idea.”

“Duct tape.” Her voice was flat.

“It’s what we had. But it’s tearing up his skin. I don’t think he’ll grow hair in some places again.”

I never want to see freaking duct tape again . Never, ever, ever, ever!

Someone was wrestling with my clothing and I cracked one eye open to see Mira lift my t-shirt and tuck a bundle against my injured side. From the cold seeping through the fabric, I guessed she’d wrapped ice cubes in a dishtowel. It felt good now, but I knew from experience it would soon get uncomfortable.

“Leave this on for twenty minutes. You should have been doing this every hour since it happened, Rome!”

I closed my eye.

“Don’t let him get up, John.” Her voice was far, far away. “Sit on his legs if you have to.”

I fell asleep to the sound of a door opening.

#

Mira

Feeling like I’d been kicked in the gut, I left the guys’ room, grateful I still had Rome’s solid black credit card. I’d have paid for the medical supplies with my own money, but he would have raised a fuss, saying it was “an expense incurred during the mission, Mira,” just like he had with the phone. And, I had to admit, I didn’t have a whole lotta cash in my stash.

Digging my keys out of my pocket, I went to the hotel lobby, where the desk clerk gave me directions to a pharmacy only three blocks away.

Good. I won’t need to drive.

And I nearly ran out the door, my mind whirring.

“Jesus, Joseph, and Mary! When I wanted to walk to the field to try out the bow, he must have been in agony!”

My heart clenched at the thought of causing pain to anyone, but that it was to him devastated me. Oh, I’d thanked him - and Kerry - several times, but it wasn’t nearly enough for what they’d done. Even making the armor, which he insisted was worth a small fortune, wasn’t enough.

I spotted the pharmacy and made a beeline for the door. Revising my list as I went, I snagged a basket and went straight for the first-aid aisle.

And is that the only reason you’re upset? my conscience asked. Because he rescued you and you feel in his debt?

I chewed on my bottom lip as I loaded the basket with supplies.

No, that’s not the only reason , I finally admitted. Then, It’s too soon to feel this way. I’ve only known him a few days. It’s one of those mental disorders like Stockholm Syndrome, but in reverse. Instead of holding me hostage, he freed me and I now think I like him. That’s what this is.

I double checked the basket to make sure I had everything I needed, then headed for the checkout counter.

Thankfully, the hotel we’d picked had large bathrooms. At least the tub would be large enough for even him to lie down in. It was more like a mini Jacuzzi than a bath, complete with bubble jets.

I knew. I’d luxuriated in the hot, foamy water for nearly two hours last night.

As I waited for my turn to checkout, I glanced at the nearby racks of books and magazines. I hadn’t been much of a reader these last two years, although I remembered enjoying it when I was younger. Especially a good zombie book. I scanned over the titles and one in particular caught my eye.

Oh! Rome likes reading about history.

I plucked the book from the rack and added it to my overflowing basket.

So , my conscience picked at me again, you’re buying him a book because you have reverse Stockholm Syndrome.

Yes , I answered fiercely.

Um-hmm. And do you feel the need to buy Kerry a gift?

Uh. Okay, maybe it’s a budding friendship thing. A friend can buy a friend a book.

Mira, my girl, instead of fighting so hard, why don’t you relax and see where things go? If it’s infatuation, it’ll fade. You don’t feel this way about Kerry and he had more to do with rescuing you than Rome did. And if it’s not infatuation…

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,” I muttered. “The ‘if not’ part.”

I paid for my supplies, tuned out my nagging conscience, and hustled back to the hotel as fast as my legs could take me.