Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
That didn’t exactly make her feel very comfortable. In fact, it did the exact opposite. “I don’t want to be alone with him.”
“Just relax, Charity. Nothing is going to happen to you.”
She tried to eat more food, but she just couldn’t. The thought of anyone else being near her, she couldn’t handle anything else. It was all just too much for her.
She gasped and put her carton down as the doorbell rang.
“That’s him,” Dwayne said.
She stayed perfectly still in her seat, refusing to move. This couldn’t be happening. She was panicking about seeing a doctor. A professional who’d taken a vow to care, to do no harm. In the past twenty-four hours, she’d seen an ugly side to life, and the thought of being vulnerable again scared her.
Dwayne returned with a man in his fifties.
“Charity, this is Richard. He’s a doctor, and he’ll assess all of your wounds.”
She shook her head.
“I know you’ve had a trying time, Charity, but I need to see everything,” Richard said.
She didn’t give a fuck what the good doctor had to say. The only person she was interested in and trusted was right there in front of her. Dwayne. The man who’d saved her.
“Maybe I should sedate her?”
“No!” she cried out at the same time Dwayne barked it out. That at least made her feel relief.
“You’re not sedating her. She’s fine. I’ll be there. You’ll let the doctor see you so long as I’m there.”
She nodded. “But … I don’t have any underwear.”
Dwayne sighed. “Come on. I’ve got something. Stay there.” He pointed at the doctor as he passed. Rushing to keep up, she tried not to think about the pain in her side.
“Do you always get what you want?” she asked.
“Most of the time. It’s a fear thing. People fear me so I get what I want.”
“And you like it.”
“What do you think?” He placed his hand on the doorframe and stared down at her. He was so much taller than she was that she just took a deep breath, not knowing what to say. “See, right now you’re afraid.”
“No, I’m not,” she said.
“You’re not?” His head tilted to the side.
“I’m curious about you. I’d like to be able to take care of myself, and you seem to be able to do that.” She shrugged. “You saved me. Why would I be afraid of you?”
“I could be a bigger monster than the men I brought you from.”
“That’s not true.”
“How do you know?”
She opened her mouth and closed it, not really sure how to answer.
“Just a bit of advice, sweetheart. Don’t trust every single guy that saves you. Believe me, some are worse than they look.”
She followed him into the room. “Do you know what it’s like? To be hurt? To be lost?”
His back was ramrod straight and she wanted to look him in the eye, but she didn’t dare demand he turn to look at her. “Let’s just say that I know what it’s like to be hurt by the people you trust. Now, stop asking questions. Boxers and a shirt. He needs to look around your tits, so just lift your shirt and rest it beneath.”
“Don’t leave me.”
“Want me to watch you getting changed?”
“You were in the shower with me. What difference does it make?”
He didn’t say anything, but stood by the door, arms folded. “Get dressed then.”
Was he testing her?
It didn’t matter as she dropped the towel and did as he asked.
Chapter Two
Dwayne followed the doctor out of the room, and it was hard to decide if he wanted to kill him or let him live, just because of Charity’s reaction, which made no sense to him. He didn’t even know her, and yet he wanted to take that kind of pain away. He’d seen the way Charity had flinched at every single touch of this man’s hands. She’d not wanted the doctor there, and if it hadn’t been for her injuries, Dwayne wouldn’t have allowed it to continue.
“She has bruising to her ribs, which will make it uncomfortable for her to walk. A possible concussion, so she needs waking up every two hours just to be safe. Quite a few bruises, and I would also recommend a psych evaluation on her.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Mr. Carson, she’s been through a traumatic experience, and that’s not going to go away easily. The next couple of months are going to be hard.”
“Do you have anything else to add?”
“The rape kit. I need to collect one.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Look, you’re being unreasonable.”
“She’s still a virgin, Doc. I don’t see her wanting you to play that way, not after the fear she’s been through. I got to her in time before they did anything or before she slipped through the cracks. You’ve done what you needed to do, now you can leave.”
He saw the doctor out and slammed the door closed. It wouldn’t be long before Beast and Caleb knew and they’d be wanting to talk to him again. He was getting used to their special talks. For the most part it was where he sat and listened to the two of them tell him he shouldn’t do stuff, and then in the next breath congratulate him on a job well done.