Chapter 10
Anna’s hushed words at my bedside may as well have been yelled at point blank range in my ear as I palm the hot foam cup full of coffee between my palms.
Sighing, I bring my fingertips to my forehead, pressing down where the migraine is brewing the strongest.
“David stayed here all night?” I ask, both surprised and confused as I sink back into the firm cushion of my hospital bed.
Aside from the migraine, I woke this morning with a mild hangover thanks to the drip, and no recollection of last night’s events past dancing with a cute stranger, who Anna has now informed me is a fucking date rapist. My doctor came earlier to give an update on the drug used and how it affected me.
Pending results of my latest blood test, she has given me the all clear to go home, hopefully with a few pain meds up my sleeve for my head.
“Yeah,” Anna replies. She sinks into the arm chair beside me with her own cup, still wearing her black mini dress from last night. We both have smudged mascara rings around our eyes and unbrushed hair, but at least we’re safe. “He left just before you woke.”
I glance down at my hospital gown.
“Who, uh, dressed me last night?” My cheeks flame with embarrassment at the thought of David stripping the gold dress off my unconscious body, as if I needed to present an even more hopeless version of myself to him. He must think I’m the world’s most colossal disaster.
“Me, obviously,” Anna says, raising her brow over her cup. “With the help of a nurse.”
“Right.”
We sit in silence for a moment while Anna takes a long sip. I continue to breathe in the aroma of the coffee and monitor the state of my stomach. So far, so good.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Anna reaches for my hand and squeezes gently, her eyes round with concern. “I was terrified when you started to lose consciousness.”
I squeeze her hand back. “That must have been scary for you. Sorry I was stupid enough to let it happen.”
Useless. Dumb. Nothing.
The kernel of shame that’s been floating around my chest explodes like popcorn in a microwave, ricocheting around my ribcage as Anna’s eye widen further, anger marring her brow in a way I rarely witness.
“Don’t you dare take the blame for this, Gianna!” She fumes, almost spilling her coffee in her haste to sit forward and stare me in the eye. “You are the victim, here. Don’t even try to take responsibility for the actions of a fucking rapist!”
And that’s exactly what I am. Always a victim. I’m sick of it.
Nausea flattens me when I think about how close I came to being violated last night. I squeeze my eyes shut to stop the tears building behind my eyes and focus on taking deep breaths.
In and out.
I’m fine. He didn’t touch me. I’m safe.
“Sounds like I was lucky David was there.” My voice is shaky as I exhale. When Anna doesn’t reply, I crack open an eye.
She’s sitting there with a lazy grin on her face, and I groan for a whole new reason. I know exactly what’s coming, but honestly, I’m glad for the distraction right now.
“Why didn’t you tell me how absolutely delicious he is!” Her squeals pierce my brain, and I check to make sure the nurse shut my door on the way out. “Not to mention how he stepped in and saved you. Like your own personal superman,” she swoons, hand on her heart and all.
I roll my eyes and regret it instantly when it ramps up my headache. Considering I was drugged last night, I feel better than I ought to.
“Superman? I think not. Did I not tell you how rude he was to me? On two occasions, no less,” I grumble, finally taking a slow sip of coffee.
It makes it all the way down to my stomach and seems to want to stay there, which I’m thankful for because my throat is still raw with all the projectile vomiting I apparently did all over David last night.
I guess that’s the silver-lining to short-term memory loss- I have no recollection of it happening.
“I’m pretty sure him saving you negates that,” she says, eyeing me way too closely. “Did you even know he was at the club?”
“I think I spotted him right before I was drugged, but it’s all a bit hazy.
” I roll my bottom lip between my teeth.
“I remember dancing with that guy, then nothing until I woke up an hour ago.” I try to sift through my memories but give up when it makes my head throb harder. “Did he mention anything about it?”
“Not really,” Anna says slowly, lowering her cup onto her lap. “I think he said something about the owner of the club being his client?”
“Right. Explains him being at opening night.”
“And then there’s the fact he stayed by your side all night long.” She reaches for the spare blanket at the end of my bed and throws it over her lap, propping her feet up on the bed rails. “I was a bit hesitant to have him in here, being a stranger at all, but fucked if I could make him leave.”
“Like my own little Labrador,” I joke, taking another hot sip.
I don’t know how to take David’s actions last night, so I’ll do what I do best and make light of it.
Before last night he’s only been cold and detached.
The thought of him spending the night at hospital to make sure I was okay is just…
strange. Doesn’t fit with the man I know.
“Labrador?” Anna snorts, giving me a curious look. “More like a Pitbull, guarding you like his life depended on it.”
A knock on the door interrupts us.
“Come in!” I call, pulling the thin hospital blanket further up my chest. My voice sounds weak even to my own ears. Being drugged really does take it out of you.
The door opens and David steps inside, looking way better than a man who was up all night ought to, in a pair of grey joggers and a fitted black t-shirt.
His reappearance here stuns me, but not enough to not notice how good he looks.
Here I am looking like death warmed up, and he looks like he had a full eight hours of sleep and is about to step on the set of his own reality TV show.
I ignore Anna’s blatant ogling at the side of my face and say, “Er, hello.” Why does wearing a hospital gown make you feel so damn vulnerable? I pull the blanket up even further. “What are you doing back here?”
David steps further inside my room until he’s standing at the foot of my bed, his gaze sliding between Anna and I before settling on me. Strangely, he looks a bit uneasy, facing us both in the light of day. Before I can ponder this further, his mask slips back into place.
“I’m going to take you to speak to the police.”
My eyes widen in surprise.
“You’re taking me?” I hadn’t yet given much thought to the man who did this to me, but of course the police would have to get involved. I just don’t understand why David wants to be the one to bring me. “Surely you’ve done enough?”
Anna clears her throat beside me. “I can take her.”
David’s eyes don’t leave mine.
“I have a friend who is a detective. He will be handling your case as a favour to me.”
“Oh, okay then.” I draw my eyes down to my half-empty cup and pick at the soft styrofoam edge.
Why is he doing all of this for me? He’s under no obligation to help me beyond getting me to the hospital.
He absolutely didn’t need to stay over night, let alone come back to take me to make a report.
My mind whirrs, but he reads my hesitation as something else.
“You do want to make a report, yes?” He asks carefully, raising a brow as his gaze roams my face. “To make sure this scumbag gets caught.”
I clear my throat. “Yes,” I say with a nod. “Of course. Make sure he doesn’t do it to anyone else.”
David’s eyes narrow on me. “And because he did it to you,” he says slowly, somehow making the statement sound both like a question and an accusation at the same time.
“Right. Yes,” I agree. “That, too.”
Anna shifts in her seat and I turn to face her. I forgot she was here for a moment.
“Thanks for everything last night, David.” The softness in Anna’s tone gives me pause. David must have really earned some brownie points with Anna because she never speaks softly to any man. “We would have been fucked if you hadn’t showed up.”
“Yes,” I say quietly, bringing my attention back to David. “I owe you a massive thank you, too.”
The sides of David’s lips twitch. “Not as much as you owe me a dry-cleaning bill.”
My cheeks flame and I palm the cup in my hand, looking anywhere but at David and Anna. I can’t afford a dry-cleaning bill right now.
“I’m joking,” he drawls when I don’t respond, but it somehow doesn’t make me feel better. When will I get my fucking life together? Because vomiting on people and not having two cents to rub together is definitely not it.
“The doctor said you can leave now, bloods came back as expected. I’ll take you home to change first.”
After we’ve dropped Anna home and I’ve assured her that I don’t need a second escort to the police station, we arrive at my apartment. David waits in my tiny living area while I wash the night off me with a scalding hot shower and throw on some clean clothes.
I come out of my bedroom to find him standing with his hands in his pockets, brows drawn, his gaze trained on my bookcase.
A flush creeps up my neck. Is he staring at my Harry Potter collection, wondering if his client is an actual child?
Because that’s the conclusion I’ve drawn while the hot water burned my flesh.
He’s just going through the motions, making sure I’m okay, because I’m his client.
And a valued one considering the pay out his firm is going to receive from Daniel in the settlement.
I’m an asset to him.
His gaze flicks to mine like he’s heard the words I’ve spoken in my mind, and then darts down my body like he’s assessing me for any injuries he may have missed. When he’s satisfied I’m fine, his eyes return to mine. “Let’s go.”