One of the nurses pulled out her phone and both doctors came toward me. I leaned against the wall and slumped to the floor just as they reached me, the exhaustion and aches finally getting the better of me.
“Can you grab me a napkin?” I asked one of the doctors, remembering the bloody spit on my chin. Even shocked out of my mind from the ambush, I had to give my brain props for thinking of this.
The doctor came back with a napkin as requested and I wiped the spit away, seeing a good bit of blood collected, then folded it and put it in my pocket. Maybe this shit didn’t work like it did on TV, but I figured if the guy who attacked me had a record, his blood could provide DNA to the detective working on my case.
It took no time at all for police to show up, though unfortunately when they went to check the room, the guy was gone. Wilson, who heard over his radio about a woman being attacked by the cafeteria, showed up just before they had and apologized profusely for not protecting me, but how could he have known? Alice had found her way to me as well and told me she’d called the guys to let them know what happened.
I’d just finished giving my statement after being checked over by an EMT when all three of them appeared, frantic expressions on their faces.
“Holy fuck, Soph,” Darren exclaimed worriedly, grabbing me gently and pulling me into a hug. “When Alice called us, we about lost our minds thinking we’d lost you.”
“I’m okay. Just a bit bruised up.”
Darren released me and allowed Porter to get his hug in. “Scared the hell out of us.”
“I know; I’m sorry,” I apologized, hating to have worried them so badly. Porter kissed my uninjured cheek and moved to let Alden in.
He surprised me by also pulling me into an embrace, though his was a bit quicker. He tenderly grasped my chin and turned my face to look at the bruise darkening there.
“Tell me you gave worse than what he did,” he told me quietly, his eyes tracing over the injury.
“I hit him in the head with a bedpan. Several times actually,” I responded with a shrug.
The guys chuckled.
“Of course you did. Did you see who he was?” Darren asked, his expression sobering.
I shook my head. “No, but I need you to call the detective for me. I told the police as much as I could about his height and a rough description of his build, but I think the detective will get more from this than they will,” I told them, brandishing the bloody napkin from my pocket.
“Is that his blood?” Porter asked darkly.
“Yeah. I bit his hand then spit out his blood onto my chin. Figured it might come in handy.”
The guys exchanged surprised glances.
“That was fucking smart,” Porter commented in awe.
“Do you really expect anything less from her?” Darren replied with a smirk.
“I mean, she did beat a guy with a bedpan. Can’t say much surprises me about her at this point,” Alden added comically.
“Okay boys,” I laughed. “It’s been a really long and painful night and I just want a hot bath and sleep. Can we go home?”
Not needing to be told twice, Darren slipped his arms beneath me and picked me up off the stretcher bridal style. I didn’t even bother arguing I could walk as we made our way to Porter’s truck.
Instead, I snuggled into his chest and let my mind rest knowing I was safe once again with the men who made me feel like nothing could touch me.
It took a bit to let it settle over me what had almost happened to me. Apparently I’d been in more shock than I initially thought. For the next several days it was hard to go through the motions at work without being on edge the whole time. I was jumpy, looking over my shoulder constantly. Alice had tapped me on the shoulder once to get my attention when I didn’t hear her calling my name, and I’d had a meltdown. I broke down into hysterics and fell to the floor, curling into the fetal position and just crying.
Sleep had also eluded me. Nightmares plagued my mind, making it impossible to get a good night’s rest unless Darren or Porter held me while we slept. Alden had even helped me one night when the other two were on shift. I’d awakened screaming, which prompted him to come into my room and crawl onto the bed to cuddle me. He held me as I cried and stayed long after I finally had fallen back asleep. Every night for a week all I saw was the masked man.
I heard his voice telling me to behave or he’d kill me.
I felt his rough hands grabbing at me.
I smelled that disgustingly sweet scent that rolled off him.
Anything sweet scented became a trigger, so the guys had foregone having anything remotely sweet in the house. It was kind of them to do that, but I hated what I was putting them through. They assured me it didn’t bother them, but it certainly bothered me. It was enough they’d taken care of me after the fire. I’d finally healed just to get beat all over again and had to rely on them. It wasn’t fair to them.
