Chapter Eighteen

The warmth of the darkness was yanked from me as I came to, refusing to open my eyes as I gained some sense of my surroundings. I was laying in a bed, but I know it isn’t mine. The sheets feel scratchy against my skin and the weight of my favorite blanket was nonexistent. I was flooded with relief when I could wiggle my fingers and toes. While I would have loved nothing more than to go back to sleep, curiosity got the better of me when I registered a heaviness on my right hand and side. Plus, I had an overwhelming need to pee.

Rousing myself, I blinked away the blurriness that was making it hard to see and internally groaned when the fluorescent lights shined too brightly above me, letting my eyes close to block out the harshness. All my senses slowly woke up as a steady beep echoed through the room and disinfectant assaulted my nose. A hospital? My memories from when I left the bar until now were hazy, like I could feel them in the recesses of my mind, but couldn’t grab onto them. I needed answers. Turning my head to the side, the action causing a dull throbbing. I opened my eyes once more and hoped I could find someone that could help fill in the missing pieces from last night. Instead, the sight in front of me had my frantic mind stopping.

Anthony had a chair pulled against the side of the bed, his arm supporting the weight of his head, almost as if he fell asleep without realizing. He had my right hand captured in one of his and his face was relaxed in a way I hadn’t seen before. There were no wrinkles on his forehead and his eyebrows weren’t pinched together in a constant state of pissed off. I didn’t want to disturb him, my need for answers quickly disappearing as I watched him sleep for a few more minutes. Too soon, though, I remembered why I woke up in the first place. My bladder was going to get angry very fast if I didn’t get to the bathroom soon.

Gently lifting my left hand so as to not mess up the IV I had just noticed, I placed it on Anthony’s shoulder that wasn’t covered by his head. Before I could attempt to jostle him awake, his eyes opened, his head snapping up as if sensing something.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to–Gwendalyn, you’re awake!” His eyes found mine, squeezing my hand. He lifted up his free hand to fix a few stray pieces of my hair and tucked them behind my ear, his hand lingering to gently cup my cheek. I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes and savoring the familiar roughness, before opening them to look back at him again. Concern clouded his eyes and guilt squeezed my heart for putting it there. “How are you feeling? You look so pale.”

As if his question triggered my pain receptors, my head began pounding. I tried to speak, but my voice was barely there. Trying to clear my throat, I noticed how dry it was. Reading my mind, Anthony moved his hand from my face, the warmth leaving with him as he reached over for a cup with a straw sticking out of it on the bedside table. I went to take it from him with my free hand, but he shook his head.

“No, let me help you. Please,” he mumbled, adding a half smile that melted my heart. I had no strength to fight him, nor would I have wanted to. The man had said please after all. He held the cup in front of my lips so I could capture the straw in between them. “Small sips,” he softly instructed, and I did as he said, at first, anyway. As soon as that first sip hit the back of my throat, it was like a desert receiving rain for the first time.

I took a huge gulp, and Anthony immediately pulled the cup away. I tried to follow the straw as it was ripped away from my lips. “I said small sips. You’re going to make yourself sick if you start chugging water,” he chastised.

“But…” A whine escaped as I stuck out my bottom lip, hoping the pout would help me win my case. I threw some puppy dog eyes in there, too, for good measure.

“There she is,” Anthony chuckled, a faint smile threatening the edges of his lips as he placed the cup back on the table. “You really scared me, Gwen.” Sadness returned to his eyes and my stomach flipped, his use of my shortened name not lost on me. He had refused to call me anything but Gwendalyn, going so far as correcting Oliver in the beginning until I insisted he could call me Gwen.

“Oh my gosh, where is Ollie?” I frantically looked around the room, half expecting him to jump out from behind the chair.

“Hey, he’s okay.” Anthony grasped my chin with his thumb and finger, forcing me to look at him. “Katie is watching him. Focus on you right now. Do you remember what happened last night?”

“Everything is still pretty fuzzy after I left the bar…” A knock at the door cut me off and Anthony’s head snapped around. His grasp on my hand somehow became tighter, but I was too distracted by the doctor walking into the room to really register it.

“Good morning!” The doctor exclaimed, louder than was necessary in the small room. “Oh, good, you’re awake. I’m Dr. Edwards. How are we feeling?” He had a smile plastered on his face and I couldn’t tell if it was genuine.

“Um, okay, I think,” I said, looking between Anthony and him. “My head is killing me, though. Feels like a bad headache.” My bladder took that moment to remind me of the now urgent need for a bathroom. “I need to pee, too.”

“Well, let me do a quick check and then we can go from there.” He stepped around to the left side of the bed and pulled a penlight out from the pocket of his white coat, shining it in my eyes and having me look in varying directions. He asked questions about my pain and if I had experienced any dizziness or lightheadedness since waking. Anthony didn’t leave my side, but did loosen his grasp on my hand. I was thankful for both of those things.

By the time the doctor was done with his checks, my mind had drifted. If it weren’t for the nagging need to pee and the throbbing in the back of my head, I would have fallen back asleep. I was about to close my eyes when the doctor’s chipper voice broke through the mental fog. “In regards to the head trauma, that seems to be on the up and up. No lingering effects that I can tell, but of course, we’ll need to monitor that over the next couple days. Now, in regards to everything else…” He paused, seeming to search for the right words as he met Anthony’s stare. “Mr. Marino, would you be so kind as to give us the room?”

Panic floods my system. “No!” My voice comes out louder than I expected, but I don’t stop. “I don’t want him to leave. Please.” The thought of being alone with a strange man had me shaking.

“Mrs. Marino, I need to ask about the events that led up to you visiting us last night, and having your husband in the room could influence the answers. I want to make sure you feel comfortable disclosing everything.” Mrs. Marino? Husband? What the hell is going on? I looked to Anthony for answers, his jaw set as he forced air through his nose.

“Gwen, he has to make sure I’m not the one who did this to you,” Anthony answered my unasked question, his voice soft as he did and his eyes shooting daggers at the doctor. When I did I finally registered what he meant, I quickly turned my head toward the doctor, causing pain that had me wincing. Anthony’s hand on mine tightened slightly, the action grounding me.

“Anthony would never hurt me! I went out last night with a friend and I started feeling dizzy and nauseous, so I left the bar and tried to find my car. Things are still kind of fuzzy after that, but Anthony had nothing to do with it. I swear!” I was speaking way too fast and when the doctor looked between me and Anthony, his eyes narrowing and lips pinching together in a line, I knew he wasn’t believing me.

I was about to keep word vomiting when, all of a sudden, Anthony stood up quickly and the motion distracted me. He released my hand for the first time since I woke up, and I took a second to stretch my fingers. My eyes followed Anthony’s movements, still very confused by the fact that we were apparently married. “Dr. Edwards, seeing as you were not her doctor upon her arrival, I would appreciate you approaching this topic with more sensitivity. She has made it clear that she has little memory of last night. I think it would be best if you gave her some time before continuing.”

Looking between the two men having a staring contest, Anthony’s jaw twitched and his eyes narrowed. The doctor looked at me, his eyebrows raised. He seemed hesitant to leave.

“Alright,” the doctor said, breaking eye contact with me. “Let me send in the nurse to help Mrs. Marino to the bathroom and then we can talk more afterward.” We both tracked the doctor as he quickly made his way out the door.

Looking down at me, Anthony met my stare, and he read my thoughts once again. “When the ambulance picked us up, I may have told them we were married. I was worried they wouldn’t let me stay with you otherwise. I didn’t want you to wake up alone, not knowing what had happened.” His hand reached out to grasp mine once again, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Ambulance?” I asked. “Anthony, what happened?”

“You called me. The line was quiet until I heard a voice that wasn’t yours. My gut told me something was wrong. When I found you, you were…” Anthony’s voice trailed off as we were once again interrupted by a soft knock on the door. The door cracked open and someone slowly peeked into the room. Seeing us watching the door, a nurse with a lot of pep in her steps bounded into the room. Anthony moved closer to my head, keeping a loose hold on my hand. The nurse basically skipped her way to the bed, bringing with her what looked to be a robe.

“Hey there! Doc said you needed the bathroom. Let’s get you disconnected from everything, then we can get you up and moving!” Anthony set my hand down, stepping away from the bed to presumably let the nurse do what she needed to do. I looked up, hoping to convey to him without using words that I didn’t want her help. He met my eyes, a look of understanding flashing across his eyes, followed by a quick nod.

Clearing his throat, he speaks up as the peppy nurse starts making quick work of unhooking me from machines and removing my IV. “I think my wife would be more comfortable using the bathroom without a stranger present.” While I have never considered Anthony a scary man, his tone of voice definitely relayed that she shouldn’t attempt to argue with him.

“Of course.” After finishing up, she offered a small smile. “There’s a call button in the bathroom and here by the bed if you need anything.” She gestured to the button before throwing Anthony a nasty look, before quickly leaving the room. I held in the chuckle that threatened to escape my lips. I was sure Anthony’s sudden alpha male energy wasn’t going to help our case, but I was amused nonetheless.

Before I could blink, Anthony was in front of me, hands out to offer his assistance. “Let’s get you to the bathroom. Need any help standing up?”

“Thanks.” Carefully, I guided my legs off the edge of the bed, letting my feet touch the floor. Then I took his outstretched hands and leaned into them, pushing myself up into a standing position. I wasn’t the most steady at first, my knees nearly buckling when I went to take a step. However, Anthony quickly reacted, releasing one of my hands and putting it on my waist until I had stopped swaying.

“Are you dizzy?” he asked, concern lacing his words. “I can ask the nurse to come back.”

“No, I’m okay. Just need a minute for my legs to adjust.” Tentatively, I stepped away from the bed, much more confident in my own strength. Anthony released me, reaching over to grab the robe at the end of the bed and helping me to put it on. His hands returned to their spots, guiding me to the bathroom as I focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Once we reach the door, he lets go of my waist, stepping in front of me and bending slightly so I could see his face without straining to look up.

“Do you want a few minutes to yourself?” he asked, reaching to tuck hair behind my ears. I nodded my head, definitely wanting a little privacy. He straightened himself, placing a kiss on the top of my head before flipping the light on in the bathroom. “I’ll be right out here if you need me. Just holler.”

I stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind me and going straight to the toilet to relieve my bladder. After getting cleaned up, I stopped in front of the sink and someone I didn’t recognize was staring back at me in the mirror. My hair was a mess, bandages cover the back of my head. I saw the start of bruising on the side of my face and throat. All of a sudden, memories from the night flooded my mind.

“There’s no reason we can’t have a little fun…” The words echoed through my mind as I pushed away from the sink, stumbling backwards. My back hits the wall and I slide down it, pulling my knees to my chest. I was stuck under him again, unable to breathe. Fingers like sandpaper shoved into me as jagged nails dug into my skin, pain shooting through every nerve of my body. “See baby, you like this…”

I could feel my body starting to shake and the darkness threatened the edges of my vision as I wrapped my arms around my knees. Anthony was right outside the door. I just needed to call out, but I couldn’t move or speak. I was left with only the screaming in my mind that I didn’t want his body on mine. No… Please… Stop.

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