Chapter Twenty-Two
ARI WOKE TO the muted sound of beeping. It was hard to open her eyes; they felt too heavy. She didn’t try very hard. She ached all over, so she tried to shift her position to get comfortable. Oh, bad idea, that hurt. She searched her thoughts. Where was she and why did everything hurt so badly? She wracked her brain for several seconds, but even that hurt. Then suddenly, the memories came flooding back. Her eyes flew open and even in the darkened room, she had to squint. She tried to turn her head, but it wouldn’t move. A frightened whimper fell from her lips. Why couldn’t she move? Did the traffickers still have her? If so, where was the beeping coming from.
When a hand brushed her forehead, she jerked and moaned in pain.
“Shh, Ari. You’re safe, it’s ok,” said someone beside her. That voice. It was low and soothing, and she knew it. She wanted to move her head to see who was talking, but she couldn’t. She must have made a frustrated noise because whoever it was shifted so they were looking down at her. Oh. Rex. There were too many thoughts. She tried to talk, but her mouth and throat were too dry to form words. A straw touched her lips, and she closed them, trying to suck greedily, but it pulled back just as fast.
“Slowly, Ari. Just take a few sips, then I’ll get the nurse,” Rex said, keeping his voice soft.
He brought the straw back and as much as she wanted to drink it all down, she did as he’d instructed and took only a few sips. She heard Rex move and the sound of a door sliding open nearby. She heard muffled conversation but couldn’t make out all the words. Ari’s head still throbbed, so she closed her eyes to ease some of the pain. It helped a little. Her mind tried to fit all the pieces together. If Rex was talking to a nurse, there was beeping, and she couldn’t move her head, was she in the hospital? What had happened? Was everyone else ok? Was Stella? She wanted to ask, but that seemed like an awful lot of work.
Ari opened her eyes again when Rex brushed her cheek and said, “Ari, I have more water and the nurse will be in to assess you soon and get something for the pain.”
She drank some more, remembering his instructions and just taking a few sips. This time when she tried to talk, the words came out, scratching and hoarse. “Is Stella ok?”
Rex smiled, but Ari thought it looked sad and that didn’t match his answer at all. “She’s fine. She’s with a counselor right now. They brought her in to do an exam and it doesn’t look like there were any physical injuries.”
Ari searched his face and saw the truth there. Stella hadn’t been raped because they’d gotten there in time. As a virgin, she’d been left untouched until the sale, unlike Ari. She felt a weight lift. Stella would need time to heal mentally, but at least that wouldn’t be part of the trauma she had to learn to live with.
“When you’re feeling up to it, a counselor is going to come talk to you as well,” he said, not meeting her eyes. Then he continued, “I’m sorry. I should have done that as soon I as brought you to the house. I hope you’ll forgive me. I was…” He gave another small smile. “Distracted. It won’t happen again. I’ll make sure you get whatever you need to put all this behind you in the future.”
The door to the room opened, and he leaned in close to her and whispered, “I had to tell them I was your fiancé to get in here. We just have to pretend until I get you out of here.”
Ari wanted to ask him why they had to pretend, but she knew the answer to that. No matter how much she’d come to feel for him, she was just a rescue to him. A complicated one that had turned his life upside down, but still just a stray. He probably couldn’t wait to get her and her siblings safely settled and get back to normal. He didn’t need to know that life would always be missing something now for her if he wasn’t a part of it.
The nurse hurried over to her bed, and with efficient movements, checked her vitals and reactions. She smiled widely when she asked Ari to wiggle her toes and Ari could without issue.
“The doctor will be in soon and hopefully we’ll be able to get that collar off you and let you sit up. Your scans were all clear, but as a precaution since we didn’t know how hard you hit your head we kept the collar on.”
“Thank you,” Ari said.
“Are you in pain? Do you want something?”
“I don’t want to be knocked out,” Ari rushed.
“Ari,” Rex said. “Love, if you’re in pain, you need to tell them. If you need to sleep, that’s fine. It will help you heal.”
Ari shifted her eyes to his. She caught a fleeting glimpse of emotion in his eyes, but that couldn’t be. Yes, his voice sounded loving and concerned, but that was just an act, wasn’t it? He leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, and Ari wanted to pull him closer. Yes, everything hurt and that probably would too, but in that moment she didn’t care. She just wanted him to hold her. He pulled back too soon and stared her down.
She finally gave in. “Yes, my head still hurts pretty bad.”
“Ok dear, no worries. Once you talk to the doctor, we’ll get you something to take care of that.”
The nurse hadn’t been gone five minutes when a tall woman came in. Ari idly wondered how much of Rex’s money was making things happen that quickly. She was familiar with hospitals and things never moved this fast.
“Good morning, Ari. I’m Dr. Pelton. I heard you were awake and doing a little better,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am. My head hurts and I’m a little confused, but otherwise I feel ok.”
“That’s so good to hear.”
The doctor ran her through the same tests the nurse had, plus a few more before she nodded. “Everything looks good. Here, let me help you get that collar off and we’ll bring the bed up a bit for you. Not much. I want you to take it slow. I’ll order some medication for the pain. Tomorrow we’ll do another CT scan to check your brain. If everything is stable, we’ll get you out of here then.”
“Tomorrow?” Ari said at the same time Rex said, “That soon?”
The doctor chuckled as she leaned in and unbuckled the bulky neck collar.
“Yes, tomorrow, and yes, that soon. As long as you have someone you can stay with,” she looked knowingly at Rex, “for a couple days to make sure you’re doing ok, there is no reason to stay in the hospital.”
Rex frowned, but Ari smiled as the doctor lifted the head of the bed up just enough for Ari to be able to see the surrounding room. It was small, but she could see hers was the only bed in it. When the doctor had left, she glared at Rex. “A private hospital room? Really?”
“What, you’d rather have a roommate?”
“Of course not, but this is too much.”
“Ari, you put yourself in extreme danger mentally and physically to save my cousin. There is no such thing as too much. Even if I hadn’t insisted on it, Tommy would have.”
Ari sighed. She supposed there were worse things than having a grateful crime boss in your corner. Although she privately didn’t think that title really applied to Rex or his cousin. They were nothing like the men she’d grown up with and known. Those men hadn’t cared about the casualties of their decisions, only the ends.
“Well, thank you. How are the kids? Are they behaving?”
Rex gave her a crooked smile. “They’re fine. Liesel introduced them to the world of educational online gaming.”
“Oh god.” She groaned.
“Sorry, that’s really the only way Liesel knows how to relate to other humans.”
“What are we going to do about school for them? It’ll be starting soon. I need to find a house—”
“Ari, relax. Tommy and I will get it sorted out soon. You’ll be staying with us for at least a week and then you’ll need to go to court—”
“What? Why? Is Stan back? Did he try to take them?”
“Ari,” Rex said placing a hand on her cheek.
She stopped and tried to control her breathing. She felt tears burning her eyes.
“Please take a deep breath and listen.”
Ari nodded and did as he asked. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart, but I have things to tell you.”
He waited until she nodded again and then continued. “Stan is dead. They found his body yesterday afternoon.” He held up a hand to stop her from interrupting. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you to worry. I was planning to tell you after the raid was done, I swear.”
A sob broke free and Rex looked confused. “Are you upset he’d dead?”
“No,” she choked out, still crying. “I’m so relieved. Which makes me a terrible person—”
Rex placed a finger on her lips.
“No, he made your life hell. You are not terrible for being glad that he is gone.”
Tears streamed down her face, but she nodded.
“If you’re ok with it, Tommy and I will work on enrolling the twins in online school for now and hiring a tutor to help them with it.”
“That sounds good, but it’s so much—” she broke off when he glared at her.
“Sorry. It’s perfect. Where will we live?”
Rex hesitated. “We’d love it if you would stay at the family house with us. We’ll move you into your own suite with the kids. We’re keeping Stella and Damien home and enrolling them virtually as well for this semester. We don’t know yet if it’s safe for anyone to be out and about without protection.”
Ari hesitated, but what he said made sense. “You’re sure we won’t be in the way?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay then.”
Rex’s face darkened. “There is one more thing we need to talk about before they bring in the pain meds.”
“What?”
“Your mother,” he said softly.
Ari’s throat tightened. “What happened?”
“They did a brain scan, and there has been no change. There’s no activity. The only thing keeping her alive are the machines she’s on.”
“I can’t—” she broke off crying again. Damn it, the man was going to think she was an emotional mess. She took several long, deep breaths. “I can’t. Not yet. I know she’s… I don’t know what. But she’s still my mother. The twins’ mother. I can’t give up yet.”
Rex cupped her cheek with his big, warm hand. “I understand, sweetheart. That’s fine. If you don’t mind, I’ll call the social worker in here so you can give consent for me to make arrangements for her in long-term care.”
Ari nodded.
“It will be ok, Ari. We’ll figure it out. Together.”
Rex left the room and Ari missed him as soon as he was gone. Which was ridiculous. She’d managed the last five years with her fucked up family all by herself and now she felt alone and bereft when he’d been gone less than five minutes. It didn’t even take that long for him to come back with a harried looking social worker. Ari gave her consent to have her mother transferred and for Rex to make the arrangements. It was over and done before she knew it and her nurse was back with a syringe of pain medication that she pushed into Ari’s IV.
“Just rest now, dear. When you wake up, we’ll get you some food and see therapy about getting out of bed for a shower. How does that sound?”
Ari wanted to tell her that sounded absolutely perfect, but she drifted off before she could get the words out. The last thing she remembered was the warm, comforting pressure of Rex squeezing her hand.