“Wow! It’s nearly six-thirty. I’m sorry your dinner’s so late, girl. Let’s get you fixed up and then start on dinner.”
As Piper ate her dinner, I put the leftover lasagna into the preheated oven. I wasn’t sure when Liam would be back, but I could always keep it warm until he arrived. “I sure hope this is going to be good.”
Piper barked and put her two cents in.
Twenty minutes later, the sound of Liam’s truck pulling up sent my stomach dropping with excitement.
“Your daddy’s home,” I said to Piper as she shot up and ran to the front door. When it opened and Liam walked in, with a stranger right behind him, my smile instantly fell. The urge to turn and run nearly overwhelmed me.
“Don’t worry, Mallory. This is Bubba.”
I tried to relax, but struggled with finding the right rhythm to breathe.
Bubba gave me a warm smile. “I was a medic in the Marines, and Liam asked me to take a look at that bump on your head.” He carried a small bag, which he set down on the coffee table before slipping his hands into his pockets. It was clear he was trying to let me know he wasn’t a threat.
“Are you okay with him taking a look at the bump?”
Ignoring the churning in my stomach, I slowly made my way into the living room and sank down onto the couch.
Bubba cleared his throat. “I’ll have to touch you, to find the bump.”
“That’s fine,” I managed to say. My gut was telling me that Bubba wasn’t the guy who’d kidnapped me. For one, he seemed shorter and much more built. At least from the little I’d been able to tell about that monster.
I watched as Bubba opened his bag, put gloves on and walked around the couch. Liam was suddenly sitting next to me, his hand covering mine.
“Okay, can you point to where the bump is?” Bubba asked.
Lifting my hand, I touched the still-tender spot. Bubba carefully examined my scalp.
“She had blood in her hair when I found her, dried blood that the rain hadn’t even washed out.”
“Yeah, I can see where it was split open, but it’s nearly healed up now. It probably needed stitches, from what I can tell. The bump looks to be down as well, but I imagine it’s still tender. Are you getting headaches?”
“I was, but I haven’t had one today.”
Bubba walked over to his bag and took out something. “May I look at your eyes? Make sure they’re dilating like they should be?”
“Of course,” I replied.
He shined the light in each eye. “Looks good. Are you sore anywhere else?”
I wrung my hands together before I admitted, “My ribs were pretty tender when I first woke up in the basement and after all the running. They’ve been slowly feeling better. And my feet still hurt from running barefoot.”
Bubba’s eyes went wide.
“You didn’t tell me your ribs hurt,” Liam said softly.
“I don’t think they’re broken, but…maybe more bruised?”
“Do you mind if I examine them?” Bubba asked.
Shaking my head, I stood, inhaling deeply. “I don’t mind.”
He carefully pushed on each rib. I sucked in a breath on one, and he looked at me. “On a scale of one to ten, what’s the pain level?”
When he gently pushed again, I closed my eyes. “Maybe a four? But like I said, it’s getting better every day.”
“I think she’s right, they’re most likely only bruised. They don’t feel broken.”
