“No!” I gasped. “Cal, no! Please! No drugs. I can’t…I…I won’t be likeher! I don’t need drugs!”
“Hey, it’s okay. We trust Doctor Barnes, and you need pain relief right now, Cara. You’re in pain,” Cal soothed, but I just shook my head violently despite the pain it caused.
“Listen to your friend, young lady. The best thing you can do is sleep right now, and these drugs will help you to do that,” The strange doctor said, as he got closer to me. My panic rose, and despite me knowing even at the time that it was an overreaction to a man Cal seemed to trust, I let out the loudest scream of my life. It came out instinctively, and at the same time I slipped free of Cal’s hold and slid from the other side of the bed, dropping to the floor when my legs failed to catch me as I needed them to.
“CARA?” Cal yelled, but I was too focused on trying to get away to listen or even look for him. I pushed my weight onto my right arm and used it to drag myself backwards, aiming for the en-suite.
I paused when there was a loud crash moments later, and looked up for danger.
“Get away from her!”
The roar rattled through the room, but it didn’t scare me this time, because I recognised it easily. The next thing I knew, Dante charged into the room, shoving the doctor - who had been trying to get near me - and launching him backwards hard. I didn’t see if the doctor fell, but it sounded like he ended up on his arse, from the small cry I heard.
“Dante,” I squeaked with relief, and then he was coming towards me. He dropped to his knees before me and I instantly reached for him, instinctively knowing he would protect me. He gathered me up bridal style and held me close to his warm body. He smelled as if he was fresh out of the shower, his hair looking slightly wet, and he had changed into jeans and a hugging plain navy t-shirt.
“What did you do?” Dante growled at Cal. I used my right arm to protect my left from being jostled, then snuggled closer to Dante, resting my aching head against his chest.
“Nothing. The doc just tried to give her some pain relief and she panicked completely,” Cal explained.
“I don’t w-want it,” I defended myself shakily. My voice was hoarse and my throat felt dry and scratchy.
“You don’t want the drugs?” Dante asked as he looked down at me.
“Not strong ones. I d-don’t like not being in control. I don’t want to…to be knocked out, Dante, please!” I begged.
“Hush now, love. No one will force you to do anything while I’m here,” Dante promised.
“I wasn’t forcing her into anything, Dante. I was just trying to explain that the drugs would help her rest,” Cal argued.
“She doesn’t want them. Find something else she can take that won’t knock her out, now!” Dante snapped.
“I haven’t finished checking over her injuries yet. Her arm needs to be in a sling, and there’s bruising down her side that I’d like to look at more closely.”
“Fine. Get her some tablets for the pain, then you’ll do the other stuff while I hold her. I want you out of here as fast as fucking possible.” Dante looked down at me again, and his features softened instantly. “Is that all okay with you, beautiful?”
“Thank you,” I whispered with a nod.
Dante kept me sheltered in the safety of his arms for the next half hour as the doctor checked my bruised side, put my left arm in a sling, and gave instructions to Cal and Dante for what to look out for over the next twelve hours, because he too agreed, I was concussed.
He gave me some strong co-codamol, which Cal helped me to take, and left a supply for the next week. I was so relieved when, finally, Cal showed him out.
I would have told Dante he could set me down now, but I didn’t want him to. I had never felt safer or smaller and more protected as I did in his giant arms, pressed against his hard and vast body. He was so warm, and just as I had suspected since meeting him - his chest rumbled deeply when he spoke in his deep, rumbly voice. It was, without question, the most comforting and peaceful place I had ever found myself in my life, and I needed it right then. Needed him.
“How do you feel now?” Dante asked softly.
“A little better. The pain meds are kicking in, I think.”
“Good. I don’t like you being in pain,” he told me plainly.
“I don’t either, but I feel better when you hold me like this. Thank you.”
“For what? Holding you? I should be thanking you for giving me that.”
“For that,” I nodded. “And for having my back before. That…it meant a lot to me.”
“You don’t thank me for either of those things, Cara. I’ll hold you any time you want. And I would never force or bully you into anything. You’re a grown woman, who’s intelligent and more than capable of making your own choices. I’ll always try to respect that, unless it regards your safety, but even then…I like to bark orders and I definitely like being in charge, but I’m not a total arsehole. I’ll never force you to do anything against your will, and I will kill anyone who tries to.”
“You barely even know me, Dante,” I argued.
