Chapter 2
Arianna
Ajackhammer pounds in my head as I try to open my eyes.
They’re heavy. So heavy, and the continual thud makes me want to screw my eyes tight shut and go back to sleep.
Sleep?
Was I asleep?
Where am I?
I flex my fingers. They move slowly, and feel strange. Clumsy.
I turn my head into a soft pillow and deduct that I am in bed. It’s not my bed. It doesn’t smell familiar.
I gingerly crack open my eyes. The light pierces my vision, and I snap them shut immediately, letting out a groan.
A hand touches my forehead softly and I try to lean into the gentle touch.
“Arianna,” a familiar voice murmurs.
I force my eyelids open and allow them to adjust to the soft lighting in the room. It takes a couple of blinks until I can hold them open. My vision is blurry but I can just make out the man sitting next to my bed.
“Denham?” My mouth is dry, my tongue feels difficult to move and I start to panic. My body is not responding as it should and I’m scared.
“Ssshhhh, just relax, rest.”
I take his advice and give in to the overwhelming weight that is pulling my lids shut.
I drift in and out of consciousness for an undeterminable amount of time.
Each time I wake, I figure out a little more of my surroundings.
I am not in my penthouse. I don’t know where I am, and I’m not lucid enough to figure it out.
The curtains are open and the sun streams in.
The man that has been there every time I wake up is still here but now with his head resting on the edge of my bed.
I feel like I have just enough energy to want to move.
I push up, but feel a sharp pain in the back of my hand and let myself rest back on the bed.
A hospital bed. Why am I in a hospital? Machines and monitors bleep and whirr all around me.
I tentatively lift my hand and rest it on Denham’s head while he sleeps, stroking his hair with my fingertips.
He stirs and lifts his head to face me. “Arianna … you’re awake?” he asks. Worry mars his handsome features as he pushes himself up on his elbow and strokes a strand of hair from my face.
“Yes, I’m awake … I think.”
I’m confused, I feel strange. I don’t understand why I’m lying in a hospital bed, and I can’t figure out what time of day it is.
“Are you okay? How do you feel?”
“I … I don’t know. I don’t …” My tongue catches on the roof of my mouth and I’m in desperate need of a drink. “Water …” I say hoarsely, unable to get any more words out.
He hops up and grabs a glass of water from the nightstand.
“Here,” he says, holding it to my mouth. I try and take the glass from him but I have little coordination. I sip enough to wet my mouth and as much as I don’t want to, I cry. The emotion is overwhelming and deep sobs catch in my chest.
“What happened, what’s wrong with me?” Everything is a jumble and no matter how hard I try, I can’t piece it all together.
“Shhhhh.” Denham places the glass back on the nightstand and pulls me into his arms. “You fell, Ari, you must have slipped and knocked yourself out, or blacked out …”
“I … I don’t remember anything,” I sob. I hate this. It’s a frightening feeling. I feel helpless and scared.
What if he hadn’t found me? Of course he would have found me. I’m not alone now. He cares.
“We couldn’t wake you so we brought you straight here. Do you remember anything at all?”
I try. I try to remember any little detail that would start to set me straight.
“No, I …” I calm my racing head and take a deep breath, trying to let things come back. “I … don’t remember a thing.”
Blank, totally blank. I remember Spike interrupting us. I remember Denham leaving with him. Then … nothing.
“I can’t remember … I’m sorry,” I say
“It’s okay, Stunner. It’s not important. What’s important is that you’re okay,” he soothes. “I need to call the nurse; she’ll want to know you’re awake.”
He stands and presses the call bell above the bed, pulling me back into his arms and cradling my head in his hands.
“Ouch,” I wince, “My head.”
“My god, Ari, you have an egg sized lump on your head, you must have really hit the ground with a thud.”
I nod into his chest “My ribs hurt too … everything hurts,” I whisper sorrowfully. “Can we go home, please. I hate hospitals. I hate needles.”
He chuckles lightly, “Let’s just get you well enough to move around first, shall we?”
“How long have I been here? What time is it?” I ask, still confused.
“It’s mid-afternoon, just after two. We came late this morning. Beth called me to say she couldn’t get ahold of you and you hadn’t arrived there.”
“Beth?”
“Yes, do you remember she messaged you this morning?”
I vaguely remember something along those lines but nothing definite.
The door opens and I pull my head out of Denham’s chest to see who it is. It’s the nurse, and that sudden movement makes me feel dizzy. My vision spins a little and Denham leans me back so my head is resting on the pillow.
“So, how are we doing in here?” She’s a large lady with a big voice, which reverberates through me, but she has a friendly smile and a demeanor to match.
Denham answers before I have time to think. “She’s in pain, is there something you can give her?” he asks anxiously.
“I’m sure she is,” she replies to Denham and then speaks directly to me. “You had quite a fall, young lady. Anything coming back to you?” She picks up the clipboard that is hooked on the bottom of the bed and studies it.
“No, nothing,” I answer sadly.
“Well, you’re badly concussed and we want to keep an eye on you for a little while longer, run some tests and just make sure you’re doing okay.”
“How long will the tests take? I want to go home. Can I please go home?”
She pats my hand. “As soon as we think you’re well enough, you can go. But right now it hurts you just to move that pretty head of yours, doesn’t it?”
“No, my head’s fine, honestly … I can even get out of—” I sit up and try to swing my legs over the side of the bed. It hurts, every part of my body screams at me to lay still, but I want to do it so that I can leave this cold, sterile place. Denham’s hand on my thigh stops me.
“She’ll rest, nurse, I’ll make sure of it,” Denham answers. I snap my head around to him and it takes a second for my eyes to catch up to the direction my head is pointing in. Once I’ve refocused, I scowl at him.
“Good. Now, I don’t want you exerting yourself, okay?
The more you rest, the quicker you’ll heal.
” The nurse clicks a few buttons on the monitor that I’m wired up to and scribbles something down on her chart before hooking it back on the bottom of the bed.
“I’ll send one of the nurses in with some pain meds, then if you’d like a hot drink, just ask. ”
“Thank you, nurse,” Denham calls as she leaves the room. “Did you hear that? You’re to do as you’re told and rest.”
“Thanks for nothing,” I grumble. “I hate these places, I want a bigger bed, and a view over the strip and …”
“You’re turning into a diva,” he chuckles. “We are not leaving here until you’re well enough, if you do as you’re told it won’t be long.”
I groan at his answer. Regardless that I know he’s right, I still don’t want to be here. So, I try a different approach.
“You know it’s not very private here …” I say with as much sass as I can while giving him my best ‘come to bed with me’ eyes. Which is probably not working considering how I feel right now. “I want to get naked in your bed and have—”
“Ari, no,” Denham interrupts, shaking his head at me. “That’s not going to work.”
I pout like a petulant child. It doesn’t look like I have a chance of getting my own way, so I decide to take his advice, keep my mouth shut and hope that I recover quick enough to get out of here soon. If I’m honest, as much as I don’t want to be here, I really do feel terrible.
“Don’t sulk, Stunner. I want you out of here as much as you want to be out. But I don’t want to take any chances.” He drops his head and talks into his lap. “You scared me. Seeing you like that … it was …”
“I’m sorry. I’ll behave. It’s just … I don’t want to be here. The last time I was in a hospital it was for a very different reason and it doesn’t hold very good memories.”
“Your ex? He put you in the hospital?” he asks softly, although the lines around his eyes harden and I can see it’s almost harder for him to hear than it is for me to recall. Years of detachment have left me feeling next to nothing when I replay events in my head.
“Yes. I was there for ten days.”
“Ten days?” he asks in disbelief, his voice rising with anger. “What the hell did he do to you, Ari?”
I take a deep breath before continuing. I’ve never told anyone all the details.
“He lost it,” I say with a shrug of my shoulders, and even that small movement has my muscles protesting.
“He beat me nearly unconscious. I had a lot of broken bones and a punctured lung. He wanted to keep me there until the bruising had faded, so no one would know.” It is actually easier to talk about than I thought it would be.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m telling someone who actually cares about me, or if the scars in my heart are finally starting to fade.
Thinking about Jonny still makes me feel nervous, but only because of the fear he instilled in me for so many years.
I’m not sure he could hurt me now. I feel stronger.
Having someone genuinely willing to fight in my corner makes me feel like I can move on from that time in my life.
“No one can find him, Arianna. My contacts have turned over every stone and there’s no one to be found with that name. He’s more than likely moved on and started somewhere new. You’re safe, I’ll keep you safe.”