Fifteen
I woke up with a banging headache, and a shock, because Reacher was sitting beside me, his hand wrapped around mine. I wrenched my hand back immediately, and watched a frown form on his face.
“Where the fuck am I?”
His face relaxed, and he reached for my hand again.
“You’re safe, woman. You’re in our infirmary.”
“Get fucked.” I shoved his hand aside, and pushed the covers away. Thankfully I was dressed, and just covered up.
“Where are you going?” Yeah, that sounded like a demand, from the man who’d discarded me like a pair of used underpants.
“None of your business. Jesus .” The room tilted as I slid off the bed and landed on my feet. When Reacher tried to catch me, I shoved him away again. “Don’t touch me.”
That hurt look on his face was annoying enough that I was tempted to slap him. How dare he act hurt after what he did to me?
“Ally, please…”
“Please? Please what? Please fuck off again? Don’t worry, I’m going. I don’t know how I ended up here, or who those bastards were, but you need to get out of my way so I can go. Where are my things?”
Reacher folded his arms at me, raising his eyebrows.
“In our room.”
Bastard . I headed for the door, cursing the way the room kept swaying from side to side. There was definitely something wrong with my head, or my balance, or something.
I slammed into him, as he stepped in my way, and caught me by the arms.
“Stop!” I backed up, and shook my head. Big mistake. Reacher caught me as I lost my balance and lifted me, taking me back to the bed, and he was so gentle as he lay me on it. It was all too confusing for me to interpret or process right now.
“Let me call the doc back up, and he can give you something for whatever this is.”
“Why don’t you go and fuck yourself, Reacher? I don’t want anything to do with you.”
My heart had been battered enough by this bastard, and I couldn’t let myself soften, even when he kept looking at me like I was physically hitting him with every word.
“Ally… don’t keep moving around. You got knocked out. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I don’t want you anywhere near me. Leave me alone.”
“You don’t mean that. Look, I’ll text the doc to come back up. He’s only having some dinner.”
I kept glaring at him, but honestly, the dizzy head thing was making me feel sick, and movement really wasn’t my friend.
“You sent those goons after me,” my voice was dull and shaky. He sent suited bastards after me, and let them hurt me, so I knew I absolutely couldn’t trust him now.
Doc walked in, smiled at me, and jerked his head at Reacher.
“Seriously?”
He nodded, and the man I’d thought I loved actually listened. He left the room. Thank god. It felt like the oxygen returned, when I hadn’t even realised I’d been slowly suffocating with him beside me.
“How’s the head, love?”
“Sore. I feel dizzy.”
He nodded, gently checking the side of my head, and stopping when I winced in pain.
“Sorry. You took quite a knock from those bastards. I’ll get you something for it, but I didn’t want to dose you with anything until you woke up. Just to be safe. The dizziness should subside, but I’ll monitor you throughout the night, for concussion.”
“Thank you. Why am I here again?”
He shrugged, rummaging in one of those drawers of medicines I’d seen before.
“I don’t get let in on that kind of stuff, love. I just fix what needs to be fixed.”
I sighed, swallowing the pills he passed to me, washing them down with water, and the water was so good, I finished the entire glass.
“Can you fix lost trust? Because I can’t trust that asshole out there. Not now. First he threw me out, without even having the balls to do it personally, and then he sent a bunch of assholes to beat the hell out of me, and force me back here. He… he’s unhinged. He’s insane. And…” my voice cracked, and I couldn’t voice the next part. And I still fucking loved him.
“Listen, love, I can’t promise that I know what you’ve been through, or what’s going on with the Pres. I do know this though. He went spare when he realised they’d hurt you. They both got their asses handed to them before he kicked them out. Check out his knuckles when you see him again, because he probably broke both of their stupid noses for them.”
He avenged me. He punished them for hurting me. Was it enough? I really wished I could say yes.
“It’s too late. Too little, too late. The guy has worse PMT than even I get, and I can’t be around him. I need to get out of here.”
Doc looked sad. “I don’t know what happened between you guys, but I do know he’s been panicked, and by your side, the entire time you’ve been out. He cares, love. More than cares. He’s a dumbass motherfucker half the time, but he’s the best damn President this club has ever had. He’s a good man. He’s just under a lot of pressure.”
“Yeah, well I’m not his punching bag for when he gets pissed off.”
Doc frowned then. “Has he laid his hands on you, Alicia? Has he harmed you?”
I sagged against the bed, feeling exhausted.
“Of course not. The wounds he caused are all under the surface. He hurt my heart.”
Reacher
D oc told me to stay away, and let her rest, but like fuck I was gonna let that happen. I waited while he had food delivered for her, and let her relax a little, but I never left the outside of the damn infirmary.
Ryder stopped by, while I was waiting.
“Déjà vu, huh, Pres?”
I stared blankly at him. “The fuck?”
He nodded at the infirmary door.
“Not so long ago, I was one the keeping vigil out here, and you were the one coming up to talk to me.”
Oh. He was right, although that felt like forever ago now.
“Yeah… I think things aren’t going to turn out as well for me. Well, if your shitshow you guys have going counts as ‘well’. I don’t know. She’s pissed at me, and I can’t really blame her.”
“You’re gonna have to grovel, Pres, a lot. Maybe some begging too.”
“You know we asked Rossi to send some guys to find her. Without Ice, we’re kind of blind right now.”
“Jesus, really?” Ryder looked horrified.
“Yeah. Bastards used a gun, to try and scare her into coming with them, and when that failed, they fucking hit her.”
“What? That’s how they do things? Fuckers.” I was relieved to see the same fury on his face, that I felt flowing through my veins. I guess, in my shoes, he’d be just as pissed off if Tori had been hurt this way.
“I thought it was my only option, you know? I didn’t know where to start. I… I was desperate.”
“Because you want her back. You love her. You need to claim her, Pres.”
I stared at the door again. “That bastard we questioned… the one who tried to kill Ice. He said it was because of her. Something she did led them to go after one of us. Maybe to come after the rest of us. That’s why I needed her.”
Ryder paced as he mulled that over.
“I mean, it’s bullshit, because you clearly fucking want her, but yeah, I get it. She’s bringing trouble to our door, and it’s already put Ice in the hospital, so yeah, I get it but… Pres, you’re not gonna put her back downstairs, right? It’s not gonna be that kind of interrogation…”
How could he even ask me that? I think my look of frustrated disgust was enough of an answer, because he just nodded, even looked relieved.
“So, uh… why are you hiding out here?”
“I’m not fucking hiding. She’s had something to eat, and she’s resting. She had a head injury. I’m… I’m, uh…”
“Waiting until she’s asleep, so you can sneak back in?”
Asshole. I jerked my thumb down the hall.
“Do me a favour and just fuck off, Ryder. I need some peace.”
“Yeah… you know where I am if you need me, or… if she needs Tori, just shout.”
After he’d gone, I wondered if that was what I should do. Send in her friend, so that she’d feel safer, but that same friend had encouraged her to steal, and lie, and betray me. It turned out that I was completely unwilling to put them in the same room right now.
Doc came out, and I stood up.
“Doc?”
“She’s resting. If you’re going back in, because I know I can’t fucking stop you, just bear in mind that she’s tired, she’s sore, and she’s afraid. It’ll come off as angry, but it’s fear, and hurt. You broke her heart, you stupid, arrogant prick. So maybe think very carefully about how you want to approach things, when you do go in. I’d say you have a very slim chance of talking her around. Fuck it up, and you’ll never see her again.”
Jesus . Everyone was full of advice, and none of it was even any use. At the end of the day, it really didn’t matter what I did next. What mattered was what she’d do next. I didn’t know if I had it in me to force her to stay, but I also knew I couldn’t lose her.