“I don’t know yet. Your neighbor called Swole about the noise, and I found you unconscious on the floor. You were the only one in the house.”
I didn’t understand why Jeff would have just left me like that, but I couldn’t help feeling grateful to be alive. Jeff had shown himself to be a monster in the past, but today was different. He’d been out of control, more dangerous than ever.
I couldn’t let him come back and hurt me again. Trainer would try to keep me safe, I had no doubt, but he couldn’t be with me every minute of the day. As long as Jeff knew where to find me, I’d never be safe again. Everything I had here in La Playa, and the life that I’d built was collapsing.
I had to look away from Trainer as I thought about starting over somewhere else. Otherwise, I might burst into tears.
The doctor came in after that, checking my vitals. She lifted my blankets and checked my side, where my ribs were cracked, and the wrapping of my twisted ankle. I was told that I could have ice for my ribs, but the pain medication they were pumping in through my IV made it all a dull ache, as long as I didn’t do anything to make my ribs protest too much.
Trainer’s full attention was on me the whole time the doctor was looking me over, his intense gaze making it impossible to ignore his presence. I couldn’t get a feel for what he was thinking, but I feared the worst. He’d barely spoken since I woke up, just answering my questions.
Was this too much for him?
He’d known about Jeff, but maybe finding me beaten unconscious made it all too real. I couldn’t blame him if that was the case. Hadn’t I known from the beginning that my baggage was probably a deal-breaker? It wasn’t as if we’d been seeing each other for long. A couple of weeks of spending time together might not have been enough to convince him that I was worth this kind of hassle.
I tried to tell myself that it was a good thing. It would make things easier when I disappeared again. I wouldn’t be hurting him.
But it would break my own heart.
Trainer’s phone rang right after the doctor left, and he excused himself to answer it, stepping out into the hall. The distance between us felt huge, and I hated it.
“Mom?” Dominic drew my attention away from Trainer, to where he was lying stretched out on a small black loveseat against the wall. “Is dad going to come back?”
“I don’t know,” I lied. I was sure that he would. Jeff wasn’t the type to give up. He’d decided that he owned us.
“I don’t want to leave,” he said quietly. This kid was too damn perceptive.
The door of my room opened, and Trainer came back inside. He took a seat beside me once again, and this time he reached over, taking my hand.
“I have to go take care of some business,” he said.
I knew that it was stupid to get upset about him leaving to take care of Outlaw Souls business, but there was an ache in my heart all the same. I was in the hospital, and I selfishly wanted him to stay at my side to comfort me.
But I wasn’t going to ask him to. Maybe I was being stubborn, but I didn’t want to make myself even more vulnerable than I already was only to be rejected. I had enough emotional turmoil to deal with right now.
“Tammy’s going to come stay with you.”
I looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost midnight.
“You know what? It’s late, and I don’t want Dominic to spend the night in a hospital. Maybe Tammy could just pick him up and take him back to her place for the night?”
Trainer hesitated. “But then you’d be alone.”
Not if you stay.
“I need to sleep anyway,” I said. I had a big day tomorrow, full of big decisions to make.
“Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll call her and make sure that’s okay.”
Tammy arrived fifteen minutes later. She came straight to my side, swooping down to give me a hug around my shoulders, so that she didn’t hurt my ribs further.
“I’m so glad that you’re okay,” she said. “Is this why you wanted a fake ID?”
“What?” Trainer asked.
“I asked Tammy where to get a couple of fake IDs for Dominic and me,” I explained. “I had hoped to stay in La Playa and wanted to solidify our identities here.”
“I sent her to Hawk.”
