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Ella

T he lights. They’re so bright. And everything still hurts. Why does everything still hurt? I want to go back to the place where nothing hurts.

“Okay, Ella. I’ll go get the nurse to give you some more pain meds.”

Tyler? Did I say that last thought out loud? Why is he in this house? Nurse? He says something else, but I slip back into nothingness.

I try to turn over, but I’m tangled up in something. Am I still restrained? I start to fight with whatever is holding me down.

“Gisella! Stop, please. You are going to rip out your IVs.”

Jack . He’s here. Wherever here is.

IVs.

Nurses.

I must be in the hospital. My body calms at the realization.

“That’s it, baby. Just relax and get some more sleep.”

Get some more sleep. That’s funny, because all I have been doing is sleeping. I don’t want to sleep anymore.

“I know. I want you to wake up too, but the doctors say this is what your body must need right now.”

Well, if the doctors say…

My nose tickles. I scrunch it to ward off what I know is coming, mostly because I’m afraid of how badly my body will hurt when I do it. But it’s no use. I sneeze and immediately cry out from the pain.

“Is she okay? Why did she sneeze? Is she getting sick?”

“It’s probably all these fucking flowers in here, man.” Nate. “It looks like the entrance of a Trader Joe’s in here.”

Flowers. Jack got me flowers. That makes me happy.

“I’m glad to hear that, baby.”

The lights aren’t so bright this time. That’s a relief. I attempt to force my heavy lids to open. After a few attempts, they finally obey. I’m disoriented, even recalling that I’m in the hospital. I don’t want to think about everything else because it’s overwhelming and tiring for my injured brain.

I slowly push myself up since I can’t find the button to raise the bed. Blinking more, I look around the room. It’s the usual white, sterile, dull hospital room, except for the half a dozen vases of gorgeous flowers of every variety scattered throughout the room. I glance down at the blanket covering me and smile—my favorite throw blanket. Jack must have brought it from my condo. My eyes continue to scan the room.

Jack.

I finish my perusal when I land on his large body sprawled in a small reclining hospital chair. He has one elbow on the armrest, his hand holding his head up. His other arm is covered in a black cast. I frown at his injury.

He’s so handsome. Even in the vulnerable position with a cast, his presence is powerful and consuming.

“You’re up.” I don’t realize he’s awake until his voice disrupts the silence.

“You’re injured,” I say, my voice cracking.

Slowly standing, he stretches his back. Then, with his eyes on mine, he saunters over. Just from his closeness, my body relaxes. Leaning over me, he leaves a lingering kiss on my forehead, whispering, “It’s nothing. I’ll go get the nurse.” He quickly leaves the room, returning a few minutes later with a nurse following close behind.

It’s clearly not nothing. My heart clenches, because he got hurt because of me. The last thing I want is to talk to the nurse, but the sooner it’s over, the sooner I can talk to Jack.

“Hey there, Gisella. Or Ella? I’ve heard these guys hanging around call you both. I wasn’t sure which you preferred.”

I lock my eyes with Jack, and the memory of Jack’s explanation of why he calls me my full name fills my mind. I’m so relieved he’s okay. That I’m still alive and with him. It seems like everything could’ve just been a nightmare instead of reality. If it wasn’t for being in a hospital room, I’d actually think that .

“You can call me Ella,” I tell her.

The pleased smile that fills his face gives me goosebumps.

“Alright, Ella. We’ll need to take your catheter out now that you’re awake.”

When I grimace and my gaze zips to Jack, she turns to him. “How about you give us a few minutes? Won’t take long, and I’ll come and get you when I’m done.”

His jaw clenches.

“Please, Jack,” I plead quietly.

He doesn’t move immediately, but after a few moments of watching me, he leaves the room.

“Protective man you got there. Between him and his friends, you haven’t been alone for a second since you got here.”

It means a lot to know they’ve been with me, but I don’t know what to say, so I just smile as she introduces herself as Jenny with a y . She quickly removes my catheter and checks a few of my vitals, asking me questions about how I’m feeling. Once she’s checked every box, she tells me she’ll send a doctor in shortly.

A moment after she leaves, there’s a quick knock and the door opens. I expect it to be Jack, but instead, there’s a doctor and two uniformed officers. I’m relieved that the fourth person to enter is Jack’s friend, Carlos.

The doctor introduces herself, explaining that she’s going to examine me before the police ask me a few questions if I’m up to it. I agree, and after confirming that I’m comfortable with the police staying in the room during the examination, she begins to ask me questions and completes her assessment of my condition.

“You’re looking good, Ella. With a concussion as severe as the one you have, we need to monitor you for a few more days. But you’re doing well, all things considered. You have a lot of bruises, but surprisingly, nothing is broken.” She pauses. “We did complete a sexual assault exam, and unless you tell us otherwise, we didn’t see any indication of that.”

I look down at my hands, remembering Craig’s insinuations of what he wanted to do to me. I don’t know how long I was rescued after that conversation, but I take it as a good sign they didn’t find any evidence of being assaulted. I explain, “There were good chunks of time I was unconscious, but if you didn’t find anything, I don’t think I was.”

She smiles sympathetically. “Good, glad to hear that. Do you have any questions for me?”

I shake my head and thank her. As she leaves, I take a steadying breath before settling my gaze on the familiar face in the room.

“Hi, Ella. It’s good to see you awake.” Carlos steps forward and sits gently on the end of my bed. I smile weakly, and he continues. “I would like to ask you a few questions. Do you feel up for that?”

“Sure,” I answer softly.

“Can you tell us what happened to the best of your ability?”

I recount what I can recall, expanding on what I told the doctor about being in and out of consciousness. Halfway through my talking through the events, the door opens once again. Relief floods me when Jack returns. He closes the door behind him and leans against the wall so he doesn’t interrupt. Carlos nods at him in greeting and continues with his questioning.

I’m surprised I was only held for a couple of hours. It felt like much longer when it was happening.

Carlos explains that, with the help of the CEO of my old company, Mark, they were able to uncover all of Craig’s crimes going back many years. He was creating invoices and making payments to his own bank accounts. He even created a phony contract with a consulting firm that was just him paying himself. I was shocked when Carlos said that, so far, what he stole was in the multimillions, and they aren’t done investigating. He also confirms what Craig said about Steven being the one who tried to shoot Tyler, in hopes of causing enough confusion within the group that taking me would be easier. I feel the same consuming guilt today as I did when Craig said it. Carlos also tells me that they arrested the cop who Steven paid to fake-arrest me. I can’t imagine how hard that is for Carlos and the other cops to know someone who worked alongside these people who could have killed me.

As the conversation winds down, exhaustion sets in. Jack must recognize I’m becoming more tired and dazed because he tells Carlos that’s enough for today. Carlos acquiesces and explains that, as of right now, they don’t have any further questions for me, but he’ll be in touch with more information as things progress with the cases against Steven and Craig. The two other cops exit the room as Carlos and Jack shake hands and have a quiet conversation before Carlos follows the other two out.

Jack approaches the hospital bed cautiously. “Are you feeling okay? You look tired.”

“I am,” I confirm with a lazy nod. “Considering how much I have slept, I didn’t think that would be possible so soon after waking up.” My attempt to give him a reassuring smile fails.

He leans down and presses a chaste kiss to my lips. Without removing his lips from my skin, he whispers, “Get some rest, Gisella. I’ll be right here if you need me.”

He steps away from the bed and pivots to reclaim his seat. An unexpected bolt of anxious energy bolts in my chest. “Jack?”

Facing me again, his features pinch in concern, and he takes a step back toward me. “Do you need something? I can get the nurse back in here?”

I shake my head and immediately regret it when pain radiates behind my eyes. “No, not the nurse.” Reaching out, I grasp his hand. “I need you, Jack. Please sleep in the bed with me. I need you to hold me.” My last few words break with emotion.

His face crumbles as he toes off his shoes and motions me to move over so he can slide in behind me, his arm wrapping around my stomach. “I don’t want to hurt you. Tell me immediately if you’re uncomfortable.”

I press my lips together to try to keep the tears at bay. Even his commandeering tone is an incredible reminder that I’m alive and back with him. Exactly as I should be. “You won’t hurt me. I promise.” I wiggle back so our bodies are pressed together from shoulders to feet.

The medicine and his body heat are all I need. As the world goes dark, I can’t be sure, but I swear I can hear him whisper three little words against my hair.

I love you.