Gaps appeared in the fog of his brain. Mitch shook his head, a sharp stab of pain pierced his skull, but he ignored it.
Nadia needed him.
“Oh, you’re gonna be so tasty, bitch. I can’t wait to rip that pretty little dress off and feast on your pussy.”
“No.” The word roared out of him. Adrenaline spiked the neurons in his brain. Awareness of the situation returned. He and Nadia were being ambushed by a group of men on the streets of San Antonio. Men who were going to hurt and possibly rape Nadia. He wasn’t going to let that happen. Not to the woman he loved. As quickly as the notion entered his mind he latched onto it and held it close. Because it was true. This woman saved him in so many ways he didn’t even recognize. Until she’d stormed into his life, he hadn’t known what he wanted. What he’d been missing. Now that he had it, he wasn’t letting go. And he intended to fight these bastards so he could have a future with Nadia—if she’d have him.
Mitch grabbed the leg that attempted to kick him again. He may have been an Army surgeon, but he’d also done some hand-to-hand combat training with the guys on the base. They all needed to let off steam and he found physical activity was a great way for that. He twisted the foot he held hard. The man yelped but didn’t go down. There was no way he could take them all down, but he could fight. Maybe someone had heard Nadia’s screams and had called for help. He could only hope and pray that was the case.
Pushing to his feet he ignored the screaming pain in his side and back. He didn’t think his kidney was badly damaged and he didn’t care if it was. All he cared about was getting to Nadia and keeping her safe.
Taking a moment he didn’t have, he looked over to where she stood. Their eyes met, fear marked every inch of her face, but her eyes held hope and love. Once again, she’d pulled him from the depths of his demons. He nodded to her, hoping she got the message that he would do everything he could to get them out of this.
Her answering nod assured him she had and she raised her leg, stomping her foot down on the man holding her, as her elbow went back and she poked him hard in the belly. It was enough for him to loosen his hold and Nadia managed to break away.
“Run. Get help.” He shouted as another two men attempted to grab him. He whirled his leg around, catching one of the guys in the jaw. He went down with bang on the pavement, his head jolting as it connected with the unforgiving surface.
Mitch threw punches and kicks and received a few of his own, but in the background he could’ve sworn he heard sirens. The sound was getting louder and louder but he didn’t want to risk a look and leave himself open to be hurt. A second later the person he was fighting was pulled away and arms banded around him.
“Police. Don’t move.” Voices yelled and immediately Mitch relaxed his stance, to try and transmit that he wasn’t the threat. That he wasn’t the one who needed to be carted off to jail. Blood obscured his vision but he could see that there were at least half a dozen policemen surrounding them. A woman officer had pulled Nadia to the side, away from the group of men.
Mitch wanted to go over to his love, check her out for himself to make sure she was okay and not hurt.
“Are you okay, sir?” The officer asked him and removed his arm from around Mitch. “An ambulance is on the way. Once here the paramedics will check you out.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need looking at.”
“You can tell the paramedics that when they get here. Now can you tell me what happened to you and your partner?”
In his peripheral vision he could see the group of men who’d attacked him and Nadia were all face down on the ground. Their arms cuffed behind their backs. Mitch had no idea who contacted the police, if it was Nadia or a passerby, but he was glad that help had arrived when it had.
Turning his back so he didn’t have to look at the assholes who’d almost taken his girl away, he told the officer everything that had happened. He left out how he’d fallen into a PTSD episode, that information wasn’t necessary.
As he spoke to the officer, Mitch kept glancing in Nadia’s direction. The need to be with her becoming more and more urgent.
“We’ve just about finished and you can get to your girl.” The officer said with a smile on his face.
Mitch attempted a smile, but the dried blood on his face cracked. “Thanks.”
The officer canted his head. “Maybe you want to get cleaned up first.”
“Yeah, probably a good idea.”
“How about we get you checked out while I finish questioning you?”
Getting checked out was probably a good idea. Even though he was a physician, and was pretty sure that all he was suffering from was bruised ribs and a contusion on his kidney, it was never a good idea to self-diagnose. “That’ll work.”
While the paramedic checked him out and Mitch finished giving his statement to the officer, he was aware of where Nadia was and every time, she looked over at him.
Fuck, how he wanted to tell her he loved her too. She’d called it out to him, but he’d been lost and hadn’t answered. Mitch stood and shook off the blanket and the paramedics hands. Theywanted him to go to the hospital to be checked out, even though they agreed with his self-diagnosis that he was okay. Going to the hospital was the last thing on his mind. He just wanted Nadia. “Are we done?” he asked the officer.
As if he could tell asking Mitch further questions was pointless the officer nodded. “If I need anything else I’ll be in touch. I’ve got your contact information.”
Mitch nodded and began to walk away. He’d only gone a couple of steps when he stopped and turned to the officer. “Thanks for being here. I’m not sure I could’ve held them off and,” he canted his head in Nadia’s direction. “I don’t want to think about what they would’ve done to Nadia if you hadn’t have come when you did.”
“Just doing our job, but thank you Mr. Alexander.” He held out his hand and Mitch gave it a brief shake before returning to his mission—holding Nadia.
As he limped over to where she stood, Nadia moved away from the woman she was talking to and ran toward him. He picked up his pace. Nadia slammed into him and he winced at the contact but he didn’t care. He closed his arms around her, as hers bandied around his neck. Having her close soothed all his aches. Everything was better when he had Nadia close.
