man who is frogmarching him away.
“ Wait,” I groan, my quickening heartbeat pounding in my chest.
He’s h urting and embarrassing Nigel. He won’t like that, not one bit. And public image is so very important. He’s being embarrassed in front of every single person in the hospital.
And I’ll be the one to suffer for it.
I’m suddenly feeling very sober as I struggle to manoeuvre my broken body away from the bed. I don’t know what to do but I know I need to stop this. I need to do something.
There are alarms and beeping sounds all around me and I feel lightheaded as my brain issues signals to my body which are repeatedly rebuffed. I lie almost immobile in my bed as my mind screams for action.
“ Shh, dear,” the doctor urges. “I need you to relax. It’s okay, it’s going to be okay.”
She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I can’t draw in oxygen fast enough and the bigger my breaths, the more my ribs hurt. My vision is prickling and fading to black as the nurse does something to the IV drip attached to my arm.
My last thoughts are of the impending punishment as the world around me fades to grey.
***
“ It’s been almost two hours, Craig. I don’t think he’s coming back,” I hear the gentle encouragement of the doctor before I open my eyes.
There’s a small grunt of acknowledgment but that’s the only response I hear.
She sighs. “You finished almost four hours ago. You should be at home resting.”
She’s met by silence this time.
“Don’t make me call your family,” she threatens.
I open my eyes in time to see the tattooed man narrow his eyes at the doctor.
The doctor just laughs. “That look may work in the ring, Craig, but it won’t work on me. I know you too well.”
“ It’s a cage, Jenny,” Craig responds with just a hint of a smile.
It’s another glimpse of an interior so unlike the exterior. It’s soft and warm but he’ s cut muscle, hard edges, and the quintessential bad boy.
She chuckles. “Just testing you.”
My eye flutter s closed again because my hair brushes against my lashes. My body is still too heavy for me to be able to remove the strands from my eyes.
A gentle gesture strokes the hair away from my swollen face and tucks it behind my ears. Gratefully, I open my eye, expecting to see the doctor but I gasp in surprise when I’m met with the inked giant.
“S’okay,” he reassures me. “Won’t hurt you.”
I just nod meekly because I still believe he won’t but I’m not really sure of anything else. I don’t know where Nigel is and, for the first time in years, it doesn’t seem all that important.
My body hurts too much for me to worry about anything else. Well, aside from the extremely large, slightly intimidating man in front of me.
“You hurting?” He asks me. His voice is so gentle that it almost takes my breath away. The man seems like a walking contradiction.
I don’t answer but he seems to know that I am. He leans over and adjusts my pillow slightly. Even with the medical tape over my squashed nose I’m still overwhelmed with his scent. It’s the smell of clean laundry and a hint of cloves. It ’s a surprisingly pleasant combination.
His forearm brushes against mine and my skin ripples with goose bumps from the warmth. It makes me realise how cold I am.
“ You’re freezing,” he frowns, shooting an irritated glare at the doctor’s back. She’s busy with a patient on the other side of the room and oblivious to the glares she’s receiving.
With surprising grace and agility considering his size, he swings his body weight past the side of the bed and reaches into the cupboard next to me. Whatever he’s looking for is on the top shelf and his lithe body stretches out with the movement. I can’t help notice that muscles on his arm. I didn’t even know there were muscles like that in the human body.
I groan because this is not the time to be appreciating the aesthetics of tattooed men who hang out in
“ Wait,” I groan, my quickening heartbeat pounding in my chest.
He’s h urting and embarrassing Nigel. He won’t like that, not one bit. And public image is so very important. He’s being embarrassed in front of every single person in the hospital.
And I’ll be the one to suffer for it.
I’m suddenly feeling very sober as I struggle to manoeuvre my broken body away from the bed. I don’t know what to do but I know I need to stop this. I need to do something.
There are alarms and beeping sounds all around me and I feel lightheaded as my brain issues signals to my body which are repeatedly rebuffed. I lie almost immobile in my bed as my mind screams for action.
“ Shh, dear,” the doctor urges. “I need you to relax. It’s okay, it’s going to be okay.”
She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I can’t draw in oxygen fast enough and the bigger my breaths, the more my ribs hurt. My vision is prickling and fading to black as the nurse does something to the IV drip attached to my arm.
My last thoughts are of the impending punishment as the world around me fades to grey.
***
“ It’s been almost two hours, Craig. I don’t think he’s coming back,” I hear the gentle encouragement of the doctor before I open my eyes.
There’s a small grunt of acknowledgment but that’s the only response I hear.
She sighs. “You finished almost four hours ago. You should be at home resting.”
She’s met by silence this time.
“Don’t make me call your family,” she threatens.
I open my eyes in time to see the tattooed man narrow his eyes at the doctor.
The doctor just laughs. “That look may work in the ring, Craig, but it won’t work on me. I know you too well.”
“ It’s a cage, Jenny,” Craig responds with just a hint of a smile.
It’s another glimpse of an interior so unlike the exterior. It’s soft and warm but he’ s cut muscle, hard edges, and the quintessential bad boy.
She chuckles. “Just testing you.”
My eye flutter s closed again because my hair brushes against my lashes. My body is still too heavy for me to be able to remove the strands from my eyes.
A gentle gesture strokes the hair away from my swollen face and tucks it behind my ears. Gratefully, I open my eye, expecting to see the doctor but I gasp in surprise when I’m met with the inked giant.
“S’okay,” he reassures me. “Won’t hurt you.”
I just nod meekly because I still believe he won’t but I’m not really sure of anything else. I don’t know where Nigel is and, for the first time in years, it doesn’t seem all that important.
My body hurts too much for me to worry about anything else. Well, aside from the extremely large, slightly intimidating man in front of me.
“You hurting?” He asks me. His voice is so gentle that it almost takes my breath away. The man seems like a walking contradiction.
I don’t answer but he seems to know that I am. He leans over and adjusts my pillow slightly. Even with the medical tape over my squashed nose I’m still overwhelmed with his scent. It’s the smell of clean laundry and a hint of cloves. It ’s a surprisingly pleasant combination.
His forearm brushes against mine and my skin ripples with goose bumps from the warmth. It makes me realise how cold I am.
“ You’re freezing,” he frowns, shooting an irritated glare at the doctor’s back. She’s busy with a patient on the other side of the room and oblivious to the glares she’s receiving.
With surprising grace and agility considering his size, he swings his body weight past the side of the bed and reaches into the cupboard next to me. Whatever he’s looking for is on the top shelf and his lithe body stretches out with the movement. I can’t help notice that muscles on his arm. I didn’t even know there were muscles like that in the human body.
I groan because this is not the time to be appreciating the aesthetics of tattooed men who hang out in
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