“Where did he finally drop her off?” Dean asked impatiently, trying to come to terms with all he’d learned in the last few minutes.
“He brought her to another hotel on the other side of the city,” Jonathan said.
“Why didn’t she come to us?” Bethany asked.
No one said anything for a moment until Dean finally answered the question he figured everyone was thinking. “I think she was embarrassed. She didn’t want to be a burden. I’ve talked to her on the phone almost every night she’s been in that house and on the show and gotten to know her pretty well. She wanted to let her little coyote know she didn’t abandon her, but whatever happened must have humiliated and embarrassed her and she wasn’t ready to see anyone.”
“But Dean,” his mom said haltingly. “She’s your One, doesn’t she know you’d protect her and she’d never have any reason to be embarrassed with you?”
“For starters,” Dean tried to explain something he wasn’t sure he completely understood. “She doesn’t really know you guys. She only knows you’re my family. Sure, she knows me pretty well after all our conversations, but remember, I wasn’t here. She’d have to deal with you guys. She had no idea when I’d be back.” His voice broke on the last word. He hadn’t been here for her. On one hand he knew it wasn’t his fault. He was working, it wasn’t like he was away on a pleasure cruise, but on the other hand, irrationally, it felt like he’d let down the most important person in his life.
Dean cleared his throat and tried to ignore the compassionate looks his family was giving him. They knew how much this was hurting him. “The first instinct anyone has, be that a person or an animal, when they’re hurt is to hide. We want to get away from what’s scaring or hurting us. I’ve seen it over and over again with the women I help set up personal security for. I’m hoping I can find Becky and let her know that this is her refuge as much as it is an animal’s. She can always come here to hide if I can’t be around to let her hide in my arms.”
He looked at his family standing around him, supporting him. “I’ll find her,” he said resolutely. “Jonathan, give me the address of the hotel she was dropped off at. I’ll start there.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jonathan said without hesitation.
God, Dean loved his family. They’d do anything for him without asking for anything in return. That loyalty was one reason why he still lived near his folks. He was so grateful Jonathan was making his way back to Arizona as well. He loved having him back in his life.
Steve’s phone rang shrilly, startling everyone. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was an unknown number.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Uh, Steve?”
Steve frantically motioned to Dean as he answered. “Yes, Becky, it’s me. Where are you? Are you okay? We’ve been worried sick about you.” There was so much more he wanted to say, but first things first. They had to find her. Dean had to find her.
Becky answered softly, “I’m going to be fine. I’m so sorry I didn’t call you right away. I know you said I could, I just…” Her voice faded off.
Dean was reaching for the phone at the same time Steve was holding it out toward him. Steve knew Dean had to talk to her.
“Sweetheart?” he said softly but urgently. “Tell me where you are and I’ll come and get you. Whatever happened we’ll get through together, okay?”
He heard her sniff and it about killed him.
Becky had to get the tough apology out of the way first. She knew with Dean’s sense of family loyalty she was going to have to answer to that first of all. She repeated what she’d said to his dad. “I’m sorry I didn’t call your dad or brother before.”
“You’re calling now, sweetheart, it’s all that matters. Where are you?” Dean asked again. He didn’t want to break the connection until he found that out.
He heard her take a deep breath. “I’m in town, I’m at the hospital.” At his sharp inhalation she continued on quickly, “But I’m all right, Dean, I promise.”
“We’re on our way,” he said to her, already walking toward his truck. His family immediately mobilized as well. There was no way they were letting Dean go without them. They figured both he and Becky would need their unwavering support to get through whatever happened.
“No, wait, don’t hang up,” Becky pleaded frantically, not wanting him to hang up. Now that she’d made the decision to call and now that she was actually talking to Dean, she didn’t want to let him go.
“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart,” Dean said soothingly. “I’m not hanging up.”
Becky sniffed again, frantically trying to hold her tears back. God, she couldn’t lose it now. “I know you want to know what happened,” she started hesitantly.
“Actually, no,” Dean said surprisingly. “I want to wait for you to tell me where you’ve been and what happened while I have you safe in my arms.”
There was dead silence on the other end of the line for a moment, then Dean heard her sobbing.
“Oh, Becky, God, please don’t. Please don’t cry when I’m not there with you. Hang on, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Becky tried to get it together. God, he never stopped surprising her with the sweet things he said. She figured most people would be clamoring to get the entire story immediately. She didn’t want to tell him about the whole humiliating experience, but she didn’t have a choice. One part of her wanted to tell him on the phone so she wouldn’t have to face him, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen. She had to warn him, though.
“Uh, Dean,” she said, knowing he wasn’t going to like what she said next.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
Becky could hear the truck start up and hear Jonathan in the background talking to someone. It looked like Dean’s entire family was on their way as well. Lovely.
“I, uh, my face…” Hell, she had no idea how to tell him what she looked like.
“I know, Becky. We talked to the cab driver and he said you’d been beaten up. It’s okay. It’ll all be okay.”
Becky nodded, knowing Dean couldn’t see her. Thank goodness he already knew about her face. She figured he knew on one hand, but seeing it would be another story. Oh, well. Nothing she could do about that now.
Becky and Dean continued to talk about nothing in particular until Dean finally told her they were pulling up into the hospital parking lot and he’d be with her soon. They finally hung up. Becky sat on the edge of the bed nervously. They hadn’t admitted her. She was beaten up, but as she’d told Steve, she was essentially all right. They’d put her right arm into a sling to keep her immobile so her collarbone could heal.
She was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing the stupid hospital gown that was way too short when Dean, his parents and Jonathan came through the curtain. She looked up nervously. She had no time to say anything before Dean had caught her up in his arms and was holding her tightly.
Becky’s face was nestled up against his throat. Her one good arm went around his waist without thought, while the other was smushed again his chest, secure in its sling. She felt one of his hands at the back of her head, holding her head to him gently, and the other was against her back, holding her close. She lost it. She couldn’t stop the tears to save her life. Dean was here. He’d make everything better.
Dean turned them around and sat on the edge of the bed, holding Becky to him. God. He’d only gotten a glimpse of her face but that one glimpse was bad enough. He’d seen women who’d been beaten up before, but not someone who belonged to him. Not someone in his family. Not someone he loved. He suddenly knew how the relatives of the women he’d helped felt. Helpless. Like riding in a train car with no breaks. There was nothing you could do to make the hurt go away. The only thing he could do was hold her and let her cry. He was shaking. Him. The rock. Shaking. His One was hurt and he’d never let her go again.
Dean didn’t know how long he’d been sitting on the bed holding Becky, but when he finally lifted his head and looked aroun
d he saw that his family was no longer in the room. They’d given him the privacy he needed with his woman.
Becky had stopped crying a bit ago and was now just sniffling. He could feel the wetness on his neck from her tears. He looked down at Becky and said, trying to lighten the moment, “You aren’t wiping your snot on me, are you?”
Becky laughed lightly as he wanted her to. He took the hand that had been on her head and put a finger under her chin, raising her head until he could see her face fully for the first time. He held back his gasp and tried to look at her objectively.
She had two black eyes, and dark circles under them. Her lip was cut and had obviously been stitched, probably just that morning. He ran his thumb lightly over her lips while continuing to run his gaze over her face. God, what had she been through? And by who? He needed to hear the story, but he’d wait until she was ready. It was enough, for now, she was here in his arms and in one piece.
“Can you tell me what happened now, sweetheart? If not, that’s okay, I’ll wait, but please know you can trust me. I’m here for you. Nothing you say will change the feelings I have for you.”
He watched as Becky nodded and quietly gathered her thoughts.
“I’ve watched TV, I’ve seen movies, I’ve read stories…” she began softly, “but I never thought I’d be in the position to be scared for my life and wonder if I’d live to see the next day.”
Dean’s arms tightened, and he consciously had to tell himself to loosen his hold. This was going to be torture for him, but he knew Becky had to get it out. Hell, he had to hear it. He wanted to know everything she went through so he could best figure out how to help her.
Becky continued, understanding that Dean had himself under control and he’d let her tell the story her way.
“I never figured anyone would hate me enough to want to hurt me. I couldn’t understand that kind of hate. But I get it now. It’s irrational. I tried to stop it, but eventually I figured out that they weren’t going to stop no matter what I said.”
“They?” Dean interrupted, barely holding on to his anger.
Becky nodded, and ignoring Dean’s interruption continued. She told Dean everything that had happened after he’d left for the mountains. How she’d had enough after Derek had tried to attack her after their date.
Afraid Dean would lose control she was surprised when he simply said, “Good for you, Becky. You knew it was time to get out and you did.”
“I wasn’t scared at all when I left the house. All I could think of was you, and how I’d finally get to be with you out in public. It was such a relief.” She sighed. She told Dean about seeing Derek and David getting out of the limo and having a bad feeling about it. She told him about how stupid she’d been by deciding to eat in the restaurant when she should’ve been staying in her room avoiding all the former contestants. She explained how the twins intercepted her while she was eating and about how drunk they were. She even told him about the attempted rapes and when they couldn’t get hard how they’d started taunting her and hitting her. It wasn’t until she started telling him about them writing on her that she broke down again.
“You know, as I lay on the floor of that hotel room I convinced myself it was better for them to hit me than to rape me. They hadn’t broken me. I could take that. It wasn’t until they got out the markers and started writing on me that I lost it.”
Becky started to shake uncontrollably and Dean had to lean down so his ear was right next to her mouth to hear her next words. “I couldn’t stand it that others would see what they did. It was one thing for them to try to rape me, no one could see that, no one would know, but to write all over me was different. Everyone would see. I couldn’t go to your dad, Dean,” she said miserably, “he’d see what they did.”
“Ah Jesus, sweetheart,” Dean crooned to the devastated woman in his arms. How did he make her understand what Derek and David did to her wasn’t what people would see?
“My family sees you, Becky. What they did to you, isn’t you. You are the woman their son is in love with. You are the woman who came to that refuge center and sat down on the ground and did whatever you could to make a small defenseless animal feel comfortable. You are mine, Becky. Mine. That’s what they would’ve seen.”
He let her cry against him again. God. If only her tears could wash away the feeling of those men touching her. If only they could wash away the feelings of helplessness and humiliation she was feeling.
Finally, Becky pulled back again and shyly looked up at Dean.
“You’re in love with me?”
“God, yes. I know we have a long road ahead of us. You have to get some help too, so you can deal with what happened. We need to get you moved down here. We need to spend time together, just the two of us, and really get to know each other. But ultimately, I know deep in my heart, you’re mine. You belong to me and I belong to you. I hope to Christ you’ll learn to feel the same way, but I want you to know up front where I’m coming from. I’m not leaving you. I’ll be at your side as we deal with this together.”
“I want that too,” she said, looking into his eyes.
She leaned forward and placed her lips lightly on his. Dean didn’t want to hurt her and he gently ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, avoiding her stiches, and then pulled back.
“What did the doctor say? Are you allowed to leave?”
“I think she wants to come back in and talk to me some more. I already talked to the police…they took pictures,” her voice cracked, but she bravely continued, “and said they’d be in touch.”
Dean nodded. “Okay, we’ll deal with them when they get back in touch with you. Are you allowed to get dressed?”
Becky nodded. “Are you going to help me?”
Dean shook his head. At seeing the shock and hurt in Becky’s eyes at his negative answer, he quickly said, “The marker and the words don’t matter one whit to me, sweetheart. Don’t get me wrong, I want to literally kill them for hurting you, for doing that to you. But don’t think for one second I don’t want to look at your gorgeous body. I want to spend hours examining you and making sure you’re all right. I want to take my time and check out all the nooks and crannies of what makes you, you. I want to lay you down and make love to you for hours and worship your body, but I want it to be at a time that we decide. In our bed. I want the first time I see you to be special for us both. I don’t want it to be in a hospital room wondering if someone is going to walk in. I’ll see what those assholes did to you Becky, make no mistake, but now isn’t the time. Okay?”
Becky could only nod. God, every time he opened his mouth he slayed her with his sincerity and emotion.
“I’ll just go and get my family while you get dressed. I’ll send in a nurse to help you navigate around that sling. We’ll meet you back here to talk with the doctor and I’ll take you home.”
Becky slowly got dressed with the nurse’s help, thinking about all that had happened to her in the last couple of days. She’d had such extreme highs and lows she was amazed she was still standing upright. One thing was clear, however, Dean wanted her. She smiled and waited for him to return for her.
Dean returned and Steve, Bethany and Jonathan crowded into the small room behind him. Each of them gave her a huge gentle hug and didn’t demand answers, she was thankful they were tactful enough to give her some time.
Finally, the doctor came in to talk to all of them.
“You’re Rebecca’s family?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dean answered for all of them, “Yes, I’m her fiancé, and these are her future father and mother-in-law and brother-in-law.”
The doctor looked to Becky for confirmation and she could only nod. She shouldn’t have been shocked by Dean’s words, but deep down she still was. She hadn’t been a hundred percent sure he was serious about the entire being together thing, but obviously he was.
Dr. Sumner ran down the list of injuries Becky had. When she was done, Becky could see Dean and his fam
ily were looking a bit queasy.
“Honestly, guys,” she said, trying to make them feel better. “It sounds a lot worse than it is.”
“No, Becky,” Jonathan disagreed, “it sounds just as bad as it looks. You’re coming home with us, aren’t you? You’ll let us take care of you while you heal?”
Dean answered for her, “Yes, she’s coming with me.”
The others just nodded their heads as if it was a foregone conclusion all along.
Dr. Sumner wrote out a couple of prescriptions. One for pain and one for antibiotics. She encouraged Becky to go to her own physician for a follow-up in a few days. Becky was about to explain that she wasn’t from around here and didn’t have a doctor when Bethany piped up.
“Becky, I have a great physician. I’ll make you an appointment. If you like her, then you can set up further visits with her.”
It was settled. Becky was on her way home with Dean and his family. There was no place she’d rather be.
Chapter Fifteen
Becky knew the time had arrived to talk to Dean’s family. They’d been so great to her. Very patient, and they didn’t ask her why she hadn’t come to them or anything. She owed them an explanation, but she only wanted to do it once. She didn’t think she had the strength to go over it more than one time.
When they arrived back at the refuge center, which was also Steve and Bethany’s home, they settled her on the couch and ran around trying to get her everything they thought she needed to be comfortable. Bethany brought her a pillow and a soft fleece blanket. Steve brought her a large class of water and Jonathan hovered nearby as if waiting for her to ask about needing something. Dean sat next to her on the couch and held her hand, not saying a word, but providing some much needed support just by being there.
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