Unable to fight the exhaustion, she closed her eyes.I’m safe.
“You’re going to be okay,” Colton whispered into her ear.
* * *
Colton steppedout ofthe triage room and called Taylor.
“How’s she doing?” Taylor asked.
“The doctor is with her. Do you have the dog?”
“He jumped right in. We stopped for dog stuff and a several bottles of flea shampoo. We’ll bathe him in the mudroom. That mutt stinks!”
“I interrupted your Thanksgiving holiday. I’ll make it up to you.”
“No worries. It kills me to think what would have happened if we hadn’t found her.”
“Say nothing to the staff. Until we know what happened, I don’t want to scare them.”
“I understand,” Taylor said.
The nurse stepped out of triage and looked around. “I have to go.” Colton ended the call and approached the nurse. “Can I go in?”
“Yes, Dr. Hayes wants to update you.”
Colton entered the single-unit room. Brigit lay in the hospital bed with her eyes closed. Her hair was matted, her cheek swollen, and her forehead scratched. “Dr. Hayes, Colton Mitus. How is she?” He extended his hand.
“Lucky to be alive,” the doctor said shaking it. “In addition to being badly beaten, her ribs are bruised at best. I’ll confirm the degree of damage with X-rays. Looks like she suffered a concussion and appears to have been injected with a substance that probably caused her to lose consciousness. I’ll know more once we get the tox report back.”
“Can I have a private word?” Colton asked. The doctor stepped out and Colton followed.
“Brigit’s pregnant,” Colton said.
“Why step out to discuss that?”
“I overheard her talking with a mutual friend and I don’t want to spoil the surprise of her telling me.”
“How far along might she be?”
“Four weeks.”
“I’ll add the pregnancy test to the order, but hold off imaging her ribs and prescribing a painkiller until the report comes back.” The doctor tapped on his tablet. “I do have a piece of good news. We found no evidence Brigit was sexually assaulted. We’re admitting her, but it’ll be a few hours before she’s moved to a room. Things happen slowly around here. I’ll let you know the results as soon as I hear.”
“Can I go back in?”
“Yes. I’ll have the tech draw blood.” Dr. Hayes left.
Colton slipped into the triage room and sat in the chair next to Brigit’s bed. Her steady, peaceful breathing helped him relax. His concern had escalated Tuesday after Vanessa had told him Brigit had gotten drunk on Monday night. When Brigit hadn’t responded to his texts, he’d called Taylor Thanksgiving morning. Brigit wasn’t with her. He’d then asked Chad to remote in and locate her phone. Surprised by its whereabouts, Colton asked Taylor and Ryan to help him.
Finding her dumped amongst the bramble bushes on the restricted-access dirt road near the marina in Alexandria had been surreal. Scared the hell out of him. But she’d been alive. And that gave him hope. For a man who needed control, he’d had none. Absolutely none. He raked his hands over his whiskered face and exhaled an audible breath.
“Colton?” Brigit rasped.
He took her hand.
“I…I need to tell you…”
She was going to tell him about the baby He leaned close, full of anticipation.
