She was reaching for the bed control when Cord stepped in.
"Here, let me do that." He helped her get into a reclining position and adjusted the pillow behind her head and shoulders.
He wore a serious expression, his mouth tight with worry. "You hear who's outside?"
She nodded, keeping the move as small as she could. Her father wasn't a quiet kind of man. She'd roused when Cord had left the room, then drifted in and out, but it was Tom English's strident demands that had shaken her fully awake.
"Do you want to see him?"
She felt so fragile, like she could break at any second. She was a mess.
And when she’d really needed him, her dad hadn't been there for her. If Dad had just listened to her, maybe none of this would have happened.
But then, she wouldn't have met Cord.
Her thoughts circled and zigzagged, basically a jumbled mess. She didn't know what she wanted.
She shrugged helplessly, using her eyes to beg Cord to make the decision for her.
He brushed stray strands of hair out of her face, smoothed his thumb over her cheek. He'd done the same thing last night, and now she wondered why. Was it the only place on her face that was unmarked?
"You could let him come in and see for himself that you're all right," Cord said. "Ease his mind. Doesn't mean he has to stay long. I know he hurt you."
She nodded slightly. Then grabbed his hand before he could turn away. "Stay with me?"
He gave her a quick squeeze. "Of course."
He was only gone for a few seconds before her father followed him back in.
Dad's eyes crinkled with concern as he took in the IV and heart monitor still attached to her hand.
He stopped beside the bed. "I was so worried when I got the call from the hospital last night."
He was? He must still be the emergency contact on her insurance card. She hadn't given a thought to how she'd been admitted. Cord must've done the paperwork.
Cord stood beside her and laced their fingers together on top of the hospital bedspread.
"I'm okay." What she really wanted to ask was why he hadn't been worried when she'd told him about Toby in the first place.
"Have the doctors said when you'll be released?"
"They're still monitoring her head injury," Cord answered. "We'll know more in the next couple of days."
Dad shot him an inscrutable look.
Cord returned his stare with a level one of his own.
Dad refocused on her. "We want you to come home, and we’ll help you with whatever you need before you head back to school next semester."
Too little, too late.
Remembering the terror she'd experienced in Austin during the weeks when Toby had followed her, stalked her, sent a shiver. Her ribs ached, and her side pulled where they'd stitched her up after surgery.
"I'm not going back to Austin," she said on a slight gasp.
Her dad frowned. "Of course you are."
She shook her head, but it didn't faze him.
