I vaguely remember something along those lines but nothing definite.
The door opens and I pull my head out of Denham’s chest to see who it is. It’s the nurse, and that sudden movement makes me feel dizzy. My vision spins a little and Denham leans me back so my head is resting on the pillow.
“So, how are we doing in here?” She’s a large lady with a big voice, which reverberates through me, but she has a friendly smile and a demeanor to match.
Denham answers before I have time to think. “She’s in pain, is there something you can give her?” he asks anxiously.
“I’m sure she is,” she replies to Denham and then speaks directly to me. “You had quite a fall, young lady. Anything coming back to you?” She picks up the clipboard that is hooked on the bottom of the bed and studies it.
“No, nothing,” I answer sadly.
“Well, you’re badly concussed and we want to keep an eye on you for a little while longer, run some tests and just make sure you’re doing okay.”
“How long will the tests take? I want to go home. Can I please go home?”
She pats my hand. “As soon as we think you’re well enough, you can go. But right now it hurts you just to move that pretty head of yours, doesn’t it?”
“No, my head’s fine, honestly…I can even get out of—” I sit up and try to swing my legs over the side of the bed. It hurts, every part of my body screams at me to lay still, but I want to do it so that I can leave this cold, sterile place. Denham’s hand on my thigh stops me.
“She’ll rest, nurse, I’ll make sure of it,” Denham answers. I snap my head around to him and it takes a second for my eyes to catch up to the direction my head is pointing in. Once I’ve refocused, I scowl at him.
“Good. Now, I don’t want you exerting yourself, okay? The more you rest, the quicker you’ll heal.” The nurse clicks a few buttons on the monitor that I’m wired up to and scribbles something down on her chart before hooking it back on the bottom of the bed. “I’ll send one of the nurses in with some pain meds, then if you’d like a hot drink, just ask.”
“Thank you, nurse,” Denham calls as she leaves the room. “Did you hear that? You’re to do as you’re told and rest.”
“Thanks for nothing,” I grumble. “I hate these places, I want a bigger bed, and a view over the strip and…”
“You’re turning into a diva,” he chuckles. “We are not leaving here until you’re well enough, if you do as you’re told it won’t be long.”
I groan at his answer. Regardless that I know he’s right, I still don’t want to be here. So, I try a different approach.
“You know it’s not very private here…” I say with as much sass as I can while giving him my best ‘come to bed with me’ eyes. Which is probably not working considering how I feel right now. “I want to get naked in your bed and have—”
“Ari, no,” Denham interrupts, shaking his head at me. “That’s not going to work.”
I pout like a petulant child. It doesn’t look like I have a chance of getting my own way, so I decide to take his advice, keep my mouth shut and hope that I recover quick enough to get out of here soon. If I’m honest, as much as I don’t want to be here, I really do feel terrible.
“Don’t sulk, Stunner. I want you out of here as much as you want to be out. But I don’t want to take any chances.” He drops his head and talks into his lap. “You scared me. Seeing you like that…it was…”
“I’m sorry. I’ll behave. It’s just…I don’t want to be here. The last time I was in a hospital it was for a very different reason and it doesn’t hold very good memories.”
“Your ex? He put you in the hospital?” he asks softly, although the lines around his eyes harden and I can see it’s almost harder for him to hear than it is for me to recall. Years of detachment have left me feeling next to nothing when I replay events in my head.
“Yes. I was there for ten days.”
“Ten days?” he asks in disbelief, his voice rising with anger. “What the hell did he do to you, Ari?”
I take a deep breath before continuing. I’ve never told anyone all the details. “He lost it,” I say with a shrug of my shoulders, and even that small movement has my muscles protesting. “He beat me nearly unconscious. I had a lot of broken bones and a punctured lung. He wanted to keep me there until the bruising had faded, so no one would know.” It is actually easier to talk about than I thought it would be. I don’t know if it’s because I’m telling someone who actually cares about me, or if the scars in my heart are finally starting to fade. Thinking about Jonny still makes me feel nervous, but only because of the fear he instilled in me for so many years. I’m not sure he could hurt me now. Ifeel stronger. Having someone genuinely willing to fight in my corner makes me feel like I can move on from that time in my life.
“No one can find him, Arianna. My contacts have turned over every stone and there’s no one to be found with that name. He’s more than likely moved on and started somewhere new. You’re safe, I’ll keep you safe.”
My whole body relaxes and it makes me realize how tense I’d been just recalling that last time I had seenhim. It has affected me deeply. It’s always going to be there at the back of my mind, nagging, holding on to a little part of me. But instead of letting it ruin my life, I need to remember it, learn from it and move on. I’ve been blocking things out for too long. Trying to detach from anything or anyone that might make me feel, that I’ve stopped living. I had stopped seeing the good and tried to ignore the bad. Which left me in no man’s land, a gray world. It wasn’t until Aaron hit me, that I realized how miserable I was in a life that wasn’t mine. Who knows how long it would have taken me to see this clearly? If I hadn’t met Denham, I might have still been living in a black and white world, thinking I had a grip on reality but really I was just running from the truth.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“Ari, why are you sorry?” he asks, confused.
I shrug. “Because that must have been hard for you to hear.”
