It was more of a whisper than anything but just enough to stop me from going after the guy and instead taking care of Vanessa.
"I need to call an ambulance," I told her as I kneeled down next to her prone body. She was still curled up in a ball cradlingher stomach. Pulling my phone out from my pocket, I dialed nine-one-one.
I gave the dispatcher our location and the extent of her injuries based on what I saw, which wasn't much.
"The ambulance will be here shortly," I said as soon as I had confirmation an ambulance was on the way.
"No," Vanessa croaked. "Please, no hospital." Blood dribbled from the corner of her mouth where I assumed she was hit before she landed on the ground.
The more I took the time to see the injuries she’d obtained, the more I saw red. I wanted to find the bastard and continue to whale on him for everything he had done to her.
Instead I had to wait for the ambulance to arrive.
I recognized the paramedic immediately as the one who had helped Valerie and then Aaron's mom when they needed it. I think his name was Ryan.
"Who do we have here?" he asked in a cheerful tone.
I wanted to scream that he needed to take this seriously, but the rational part of my brain knew he was just doing his job to make Vanessa comfortable, rather than having her freak out.
And it was working because Vanessa willingly gave her name and described what had happened. Just hearing her describe how she had been punched in the head, then kicked repeatedly made my stomach turn.
I should've gotten there sooner or trusted my instincts and gone to the door when I wanted to. Instead Vanessa got hurt on my watch.
I vowed in that moment not to leave her again, until I figured out what was going on, whether she liked it or not.
CHAPTER FOUR
Vanessa
I hated hospitals. I had ever since I was nine years old.
The only thing that was currently making this better was the fact that Nolen was sitting next to me. I hated to admit it even to myself, but there was something about the man that instantly calmed me. It had been that way since I met him, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why.
Not when he was a good fifteen years older than me.
Nolen was a silver fox with smooth brown eyes, a close-cropped beard, and what I would consider a military haircut. Short on the sides and a little longer on the top. He had the nicest smile, and his eyes scrunched up whenever his lips turned up. But it wasn't just about his looks. He was kind and caring. That was evident by the way he helped his friends and their woman. I saw it day in and day out when I worked for Valerie.
Basically he was everything I didn't know I wanted in a man.
"You okay?" Nolen's soft voice pulled me out of my musings. "Are you in pain? Do you need me to get the nurse?"
Yes, I was in pain, but the last thing I wanted was more drugs. Drugs are what got me into my current predicament in the first place, and it would be a cold day in hell before they continued to ruin my life.
"No," I croaked, then cleared my throat. "I'm good."
"You sure?" Nolen looked at me like he didn't believe a word I was saying. "You keep wincing every time you breathe."
A few broken ribs would do that to a person. Thankfully that was the worst of it. No internal bleeding and I didn't have a concussion from being punched.
Yay for small favors.
"I don't want any drugs," I finally admitted in a small voice.
I knew that look Nolen was giving me. It was both understanding and pity. I hated seeing it on his face, but at least it would keep him from asking me again.
"Okay." He nodded. "I won't ask again."
If I knew it wouldn't hurt my ribs even more, I would have sighed in relief.
