Chapter 4 #2
I was surprised at how fast someone knocked on the door.
Kannon stood from his seat next to the door and opened it.
A beautiful woman with dark skin and light brown locs in a tight bun on top of her head, entered the room with a soft smile.
She had on a white coat, but I couldn’t be sure what her position here was.
“Sis, what’s up?” Kannon greeted her.
“Hey, Kannon. They paged me to come holler at y’all. I’m glad to see you’re awake this morning, Miss Doe.”
“Yeah. I’m still kind of out of it.”
She turned to Kannon before speaking again. “Kannon, can you step outside the door for a second while I speak with Miss Doe.”
I was glad she said that. I needed to talk to a doctor alone.
I trusted Kannon, but I didn’t need him to know every single detail of what was going on with me.
The corner of his mouth lifted into a snarl, and his eyebrows snapped together for a noticeable beat before he corrected it.
I smiled when he rolled his eyes before leaving the room.
“I’m Doctor Joss St. John. My brother-in-law, Kross, let me know how important discretion was in your case, so only me and a couple other people will be coming in the room while you’re here.
I understand that you and Kannon are good friends.
I’m not sure if he’s anything like my brother-in-law, but he’s a trip. ”
I smiled. “Tell me about it.”
“How are you feeling this morning?”
“Horrible. What kind of tests did they run?” I asked.
“The basics, a full tox screen and labs. We were told that you tried to harm yourself, but we made the decision not to admit you to the psych ward until we spoke to you, mainly because you are a Jane Doe in the system and Kannon refused to let anyone move you. He can’t go back there.
I have to ask if you’ve had thoughts of harming yourself or feeling like life is too much to bear.
Kannon said he wasn’t sure if you would do something like that.
There is nothing wrong with feeling overwhelmed. It happens to the best of us.”
“He’s right. I told the cops I think someone put something in my drink. I was in the studio drinking, then I started to feel funny.”
“That makes sense.”
My mouth seemed to feel extra dry before I spoke again. “Did they do a rape kit?”
“Do you feel like you’ve been sexually assaulted?” she countered.
“No, I don’t feel like anything happened, but I’m not sure if I could tell.”
“You were fully dressed, and your clothes weren’t disheveled.
There was no sign of a struggle or any defensive wounds.
They didn’t do a rape kit, but we did do a full body assessment.
The only injury they found was a possible sprained ankle due to the swelling.
If you’d like, we can order a rape kit.”
“Yes. Also, I’d just found out that I was pregnant. I’m not sure if they checked.”
“That’s why I asked Kannon to leave the room. According to your hormone levels, you’re very early on in your pregnancy. It might be hard to tell what kind of effects the drugs had on the baby for a while. I would suggest you follow up with your gynecologist as soon as possible.”
“How long do I have to be here?” I asked her.
“We wanted to monitor you overnight to make sure everything was fine. I would suggest you stay another night due to the pregnancy and to have your foot x-rayed again.”
“And if I don’t want to?” I asked.
“I can’t make you stay, but I do suggest you follow up with an ob-gyn soon.”
“Are there any paparazzi out there?”
“I haven’t seen anyone. I don’t think anyone knows you’re here.”
“Good.” I nodded.
“Are you in any danger, Carteay?”
“Not with Kannon. Do you know how I got here? He doesn’t know who brought me. I called him before I was brought here.”
“All they said was that it was a woman.”
“OK.” I nodded.
There was no telling who Cy had to bring me. He had more than enough women to go around.
“Can I ask you something else?” she asked carefully.
“Sure.” I shrugged.
“Are you and Kannon dating? You literally don’t have to answer. I’m just curious.”
Her curious expression made me smile. “We’re just friends.”
“I only asked because he was like a lion every time somebody came in the room to check on you. He’s had the door barricaded with his chair, and we have to knock to come in.
I know he’s protective, but I was like damn.
I kinda hoped that you were dating. He’s so sexy.
I would have made a move and let him know I was interested if my sister weren’t married to his brother. Anyway, don’t mind me. I’m just nosy.”
“I understand.”
“I’m a huge fan, by the way, but I’m very discreet, so my lips are sealed.”
“Thank you.”
“Like I said, I would advise you to stay another night, but for sure follow up with your primary physician as soon as possible, and stay off that left foot for at least three days. Schedule an appointment with OB as soon as possible.”
“OK.” I nodded.
Once Doctor St. John left the room, Kannon was back again.
“She said I have a sprained ankle that I need to stay off for at least three days. I don’t have to stay another night. I wanna leave.”
“What you want me to do about it, Carrie? You never had a problem with leaving before,” Kannon snapped.
“Wow.”
“Wow, my ass. Other than that sprained ankle, I guess you can run as fast as you fucking can.”
“Kannon, I had to leave. You understand that, right?”
“Carrie, feel free to do anything you wanna do. I’m not holding you anywhere you don’t want to be held. You want me to get the doctor to discharge you, or do you want to walk right out that door on your own? The choice is yours.”
“I can’t go home alone right now, Kannon. I probably can’t go anywhere without them knowing.”
Kannon shrugged. “Hmph, I guess you’re staying here then.”
He didn’t bother to look at me as he grabbed his chair and dragged it over to the door. I thought he was going to leave the room, but he pushed the chair against the door and plopped down in it.
“Why in the world are you sitting in front of the door like that? How are people going to get in and out?”
“That’s the point.”
“How are the doctors and nurses going to check on me?”
“They know how to knock. Everybody else can stay on the other side.”
“Wow.”
“Am I still securing you, or can I go home? I don’t have to be here. You called me!” he spat.
“It was just a question, Kannon. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“No, you meant to get on my fucking nerves. We already know you don’t trust me to protect you, so why did you even call?”
“How can you even say that?”
“You fucking left, Carteay! You left. You knew what kind of danger you were in with those people. I’m sure it was even worse than you told me.
You knew what they were capable of, and you put yourself back at their mercy.
I asked you over and over to let me protect you, and you fucking left!
Now we’re—” He shook his head, cutting himself off before he could finish his statement.
“Kannon, you are the only person in the world that I know I can trust to protect me. If I thought I could trust anyone else, I wouldn’t have drug you back into my shit.”
“I could’ve lost you, Carrie. Obviously, you’re not taking this shit serious enough.
Look what he did to you. What the hell do you think I would have done if this shit would have been worse?
What if you weren’t able to call me? What if he .
. . what if he killed you, Carteay? You think I would be able to live with myself if we were in the morgue instead of this cold ass hospital room? ”
“I was trying to protect you,” I managed to croak through the lump in my throat.
“I don’t need your fucking protection. You need mine!” he snapped.
“I know, Kannon. I know I need you. I can admit that. Now can you please get me out of this freaking hospital before someone finds out where I am? I’m sure the label plans to send Cyrus up here to make a big production with flowers and paparazzi when he finds out which hospital I’m in.”
“You never have to fear another man as long as I have something to do with it. Let his ass come. You think I don’t want to see him about this shit?”
“I’m not sure he’s actually coming. I’m just saying that’s typical of them.”
“What’s the name of the other security company the label uses?”
I shrugged my shoulders. I had never really thought about it. “I’m not sure, but I can find out.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve already got somebody on it. Get some rest, Carrie. I’ll take you home when they discharge you.”
“To my house? I can’t go home, Kannon.”
“Get some rest, Carteay,” he said before closing his eyes.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and tried to get some rest. I knew it would be next to impossible, but the least I could do was try. It wasn’t like I wasn’t completely exhausted. As soon as I closed my eyes, I started to drift off to sleep.
I must have been way more tired than I imagined because I opened my eyes to pitch darkness. It was early morning when I woke up. Breakfast hadn’t even been served at the hospital yet. Now I was cloaked in darkness.
As I adjusted myself in bed to get more comfortable, I realized two things: I wasn’t in the hospital anymore, and I was tied up.
Panic struck me as I tried to sit up. My ankles were tied to the footboard, and one of my wrists was tied to something over my head.
I could move but not enough to reach my feet.
“Kannon!” I yelled.
Knowing his affinity for tying people up gave me hope that he was the one responsible for tying me to the bed.
I had no idea how I had gotten from the hospital to this dark room.
I couldn’t remember anything. I didn’t know what the hell I would do if someone else other than Kannon had tied me up.
As I shifted my weight to try to sit up, Kannon’s warm, woodsy scent on the sheets gave me enough comfort not to have a heart attack as I screamed his name again.
“Kannon!”