"I'll call the police," Cleo said going to the phone.
"No. He'll kill me, Cleo. I can't let them know."
"He already has tried to kill you Nicole. Look at you, you're almost skin and bones."
Nicole tried to sit up, but her body protested so much dizziness struck her immediately. "I need to find Mr. Mills before they get him to sign over Nanna's business. I can't let it happen."
"I'll go get someone to help us," Cleo said.
"Who?" She gripped Cleo's shirt terrified Cleo would call Marvin. She didn't know who she could trust at this point because no one had come to help her, but Cleo had been the closest she knew had some dislike for Marvin, but she didn't know anymore.
"He's the neighbor. He's been looking for you."
"Who?"
"Just let me go get him." Cleo broke from her grip and ran out the front door.
Nicole knew she had to go. They'd take her back over there and Marvin would kill her. She gathered all her strength and got up using the wall to get to the front door. The children just stared at her. She wrapped the covers around her for warmth against the frosty December air and went out the door. Almost falling down the stairs spraining her ankle, she made it and began to hobble down the street not caring what direction she was going.
Someone behind her called her name, but Nicole was delirious. She wasn't going to let them take her back. Somehow she'd get help from someone anyone. Footsteps were getting close and she tried to run as fast as she could. She tripped over the sidewalk hitting her nose on the cement. Warm blood flowed down her face, but she scrambled up and continued to run not caring anymore where she went, but as long as she got away from the footsteps.
"Nicole, stop!" the deep voice yelled.
The only thing she could surmise was that Marvin had caught up with her and was now going to kill her. This only gave her more strength but everything looked so fuzzy and dim, yet she ran. Her body wanted to stop, but her mind was gone.
Darting through a muddied field, she jumped over a knocked down tree, but so did the pursuer and grabbed her pants leg. She fell again and when she tried to scramble up, something held her down by the legs. It was so dark and her vision was failing her because even her eyes were cold. She turned on her back and kicked at the large dark figure that crawled up her body as she tried to scoot back and get away. Finally he pinned her. She couldn't scream because her throat hurt so much and she sobbed fighting.
He shook her so hard, but that only increased her fight to get him off of her. Finally he slapped her cheek and she almost passed out and this sort of deluded her sense of balance that she had to fight for her own consciousness ceasing her physical fighting for a moment. Through the haze, she heard, “Nicole stop it! It's me!"
It couldn't be. Dear Lord not him. "Ethan," she rasped to be sure.
He had pressed his ear down to her mouth to hear her. "Yes, Nicole. Let me help you."
She sobbed, but this wasn't in fear, but great relief as he scooped her cold muddied body up and began to carry her. It didn't matter where he took her, she had a feeling she would be safe with him until at least the morning, then she could get him to help her. He would help her even if he probably did want sex. It didn't matter as long as he helped her.
Ethan looked down at her as they got into his home to see her in an exhausted sleep. Cleo followed them and she was too busy looking around the strange front room to notice where he laid Nicole, but when she noticed him heading to what looked to her to be a couch worth more than eight of her paychecks she told him to stop. She ran in front of him and laid out a clean blanket she had brought from her home knowing Nicole would need it when he brought her back.
Ethan impatiently let Cleo busy herself in getting the other blanket off before he laid her down, then he wrapped her up. "I'll take care of her, Cleo. Thank you." He wanted to be alone with her.
"We should call the police."
"Did she say so?"
"No. She told me not to or Marvin would kill her."
"I'll take care of everything. If she doesn't want the police called we won't call them, yet."
He went over to the fireplace and turned up the heat by adding more logs on the fire, the he turned to Cleo. "Come over in the morning."
Cleo gave him a wary look. "Maybe she should stay at my place."
"I'm going to take care of her. I'll call my doctor and have him check on her and help her. Can you do that this time of night?"
"I could take her to the hospital."
"If she wanted to make known what was wrong with her that would have been her first destination, don't you think?"
Cleo agreed reluctantly. "I'll be over early."
"Don't call anyone or let anyone know where she's at Cleo. At least until we can find out what happened to her. Obviously she's terrified."
"She said she had to speak to Mr. Mills, but I don't know who that is."
"Can you find out?"
"I guess if I nose around. I'm supposed to work a double for them tomorrow. I could look thought some of his stuff while he's out picking his nose."
"Good. Do her that favor and then I want you to see if you can find information about Nanna too for her mind sake. I'm sure she wants to know about her grandmother if she doesn't know anything already."
Cleo nodded and left.
Ethan turned back to her sleeping form and knelt by the sofa. Unwrapping her, he took off the clothes she wore that were practically molded to her body. Though she was asleep, she protested with moans, but that was about it. Sleep seemed the best for her.
Dr. Desmond arrived about five. By this time, he had gotten her up to a guest room with a king size feather bed with lots of warm covers to bury her in. It had been difficult not to look at what he had revealed as he had taken off her clothes and cursed himself for becoming aroused at her.
"Mostly she's dehydrated. I started an I-V for her to get her nutrients back. It might be a couple of days, but I'll be sending a nurse over in the morning to change the I-V. If she awakes and demands to take it out, let her, but make sure you keep her on the diet I've specified until she feels better." He handed him a paper. "It's a simple diet of soups and liquids. Nothing heavy or diary products. I've given her stitches to her nose and over her eye. Someone beat her pretty bad repeatedly. It wasn't just one time, but several times. Luckily there are no bones broken but she will need a lot of rest."
"That's understandable," he agreed.
"I'll make out a report for you. Whoever did this to her should be charged with something. There's even bit marks on her back and … " he paused looking very disturbed. "She was violated in the back. It looks like this took place over a week ago, but I can't be sure."
He cursed under his breath and hit the wall. "Fuck!"
"When she awakes, don't question her immediately. Just take it slow. If she wants to talk then let her, but don't push her. I took some Polaroid’s also and I'll keep these with the file. If she wants to press charges, I will be available."
Ethan thanked him and pressed a check in his hand. "Thank you, Dr. Desmond."
Once the doctor had gone, Ethan returned to her room, and sat in the chair next to her watching her sleep. He sat vigil there all night until the crew arrived to work on the home. He sent them home with pay. The nurse came to change her I-V and give her another sponge bath. Ethan saw her look of distrust and he excused himself to get something to drink.
A shot of whiskey calmed his raging nerves. James was in the office and he told James to come to the site as soon as he could, but not to tell that bitch where he was going. He knew Lynne still contacted him, but he would wring his brother's neck if Lynne showed her face in front of him. How could that woman allow this to happen? She had been in the home at the time of Nicole's disappearance and she didn't know what happened to her daughter.
At least that was what she had told the police when they had asked her of Nicole's whereabouts. Nicole had been missing for about a month and Marvin had begun to te
ll everyone the girl had disappeared from her grandmother's side and run off. No one questioned it because everyone was aware of how bad Marvin treated her. It seemed logical, except to Ethan who had come to know the girl from what the customers and neighbors said. Nicole would never leave Nanna's side no matter how bad Marvin was. She would never leave Nanna for anything.
Cleo came late that afternoon when Nicole was still sleeping. Ethan had changed into some black jeans and a nice black silk shirt. Right before she had arrived he'd just gotten out the shower so his hair was still wet.
She seemed strangely alarmed at his disheveled appearance as she came in the front room. When she didn't see Nicole on the couch she became alarmed.
"She's up in the guest room," he assured her.
"I would like to see her."
He didn't feel very comfortable with letting her see the rest of the house. The front room was specially modified to block others from seeing what the rest of the house contained. It wasn't he didn't trust Cleo; he just knew the neighborhood he was in and couldn't go around showing off what kind of money he was investing into the home. Why he chose this side of town was only one reason - Nicole. In the end, he surmised it had to do with wanting to be closer to her. He had planned to sell the property once he had finished his revenge against Lynne, but now his plans were definitely going awry. How could he not care that something like this had happened to Nicole?
"Now, Mr. Black or I really will call the police."
"She's sleeping," he said stiffly.
"I don't care if she's dead. I want to see her."
He led her straight to the guest room making sure he closed the doors to the other rooms so she wouldn't see the other parts of the lavishly furnished home. Soon as she saw Nicole lying on the bed with the tube in her arm, she practically shoved him aside to get to her and see if she was still alive.
"How is she? The doctor really came?"
He nodded. "He said he was beaten repeatedly on different days and she was molested."
Cleo gasped. Tears welled in her eyes as she pushed the hair out of Nicole's. Reaching in her purse she pulled out her comb and brush. "I'll fix her up real pretty. She'll like that."
"You don't have to."
"It's the least I could do. She always wore those ugly pony tails. She's pretty, Mr. Black, just like her heart." She was crying more. "I should have known. I should have told her to stay with me, but I… I didn't know."
He came around the bed. "I don't think anyone knew, but he called with the test results and she's clean. There’s no infection, just scars."
Cleo held her hand. "I'll be back with some gowns for her. Is there anything you might need for her?"
"Nothing I can think of. Did you find anything out at the store?"
She dug through her purse and pulled out a torn piece of paper of a Laundromat sales slip with a name and number on it. "This is all I got. They plan on selling the Laundromat to this guy. The stopped the nurses from coming to see Nanna. I heard him talking to the doctor on the phone and he was lying to the doctor saying he had gotten a private service for Nanna's care instead of the doctor's appointed nurses."
"What was the doctor's name?"
"Rucker. Dr. Rucker."
"Do you know the hospital she was rushed to last time?"
"The one nearby. Henry Ford."
"Thanks Cleo. Go ahead and get the stuff for her."
Cleo started to go past him, but she stopped noting the concern expression on his face as he stared longingly at the bed. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you last night and even today."
"I'm sorry I didn't trust you."
"She's a good girl and don't deserve to be hurt. She's never done anything to anyone. If I'd known this was happening to her, I'd done more. Much more. Thank you for helping her." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You're a rare man, Mr. Black." When she was gone, he went to the bed.
Would Cleo still think like that when he broke Nicole's heart? All of his help wouldn't be for naught. That kind heart of hers would be useful in persuading her to give him her virgin heart. She would fall for him as soon as she opened her eyes and want to give her heart to him for his goodness. Cleo would tell her how he went out of his way to help her out and provide for her, and she would love him.
####
James came over shortly after Cleo left. The woman had changed Nicole from the ugly hospital like robe the nurse had brought to a nice long gown. She'd brought over five other gowns of different styles and colors. In addition to this, Cleo had brought a bag the size of a duffle with every hair instrument ever used. After an hour of washing pressing and curling, she had gotten Nicole to look like a sleeping beauty with her natural shoulder length hair so soft and beautiful Ethan couldn't help but run his fingers through it once Cleo had left.
He allowed James only to glance at Nicole and in that quick glance James gasped. "Damn if she don't look like her mother."
"She's not. Not in the least, so get any ideas out your mind."
"Should I be saying the same to you, brother?" he asked suspiciously hearing the over protectiveness in Ethan's voice.
Ethan sat down in the front room after opening the cabinet where the bar was and pouring them both shots of whiskey. "I just have every intention of helping her."
"And yourself?"
"Shut up," he growled.
James chuckled his green eyes much softer than his brother's but contrasting with is pitch black hair which he kept short. "I was just kidding, brother. So what's up?"
"What has Lynne said to you?"
"She's asked me for money, sex, and the usual. I've got Kris blowing her off this past two weeks. With the new projects you've got going, it's keeping us busy. What made you start the home improvement stuff? Winter's usually slow for us."
"I know, but I saw a need in these neighborhoods. Lots of single women needing handy men around the house. Women see me and they flock like bees to honey from changing a stupid light bulb to lighting the gas. I figured we'd keep the guys on with internal home knowledge instead of laying them off like usual for the extra work. Is it good business?"
"Yeah, especially with the pay first plan."
"These aren't our regular customers. I don't want to get shagged, but I also don't want to steal anything that doesn't belong to us."
"That's understandable." James downed the whiskey and coughed a bit as the fluid warmed his veins. "What do you plan on doing with her now? Getting the officials to arrest Lynne?"
"Only if she wants to press charges. We'll have to see once she wakes up. Until then can you do me a favor?"
"Maybe. The last favor was getting those pictures of your wife to look real good for the detective." He chuckled. "I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the ride, but she can get pretty boring at times. I don't know how you did it for three years."
"I need you to put up with it a little more. Think you can do that for me?"
James didn't look pleased, but he reluctantly nodded. "I guess, but you'll have to tell me why?"
"I need to give Nicole time to get well. They plan on doing something and I think they wanted her out the way in order to do it." He passed his brother the information about Parker Mills. "Find out what he has to do with the business without getting up Lynne's suspicion, would you?"
"That's fine." James stood up. "You'll owe me a big birthday gift, brother."
"You'll get a kick in the ass."
James hooted amused. "I'll pass."
####
Two evenings later, she slowly opened her eyes and just stared up at the wall. He watched her from across the room not drawing any attention to him. She looked around the bed and the dimly lit room. Ethan knew he could not be seen in the dark corner.
Sitting up, she pushed the covers away and inspected the I-V in her arm. After a few moments, she yanked the needle from there, then tried to move, but gasped and flushed all over.
"I wouldn't be so quick to do anything," he said from his corner.
S
he turned sharply in his direction. Ethan came forward and sat up on the bed. "The nurse will be here in an hour to check on you. She'll take off the catheter."
Her throat was dry and he knew this. There was a cold pitcher of water next to the bed and he filled it for her in a glass, and then handed it to her. "You've been sleep for a couple of days. You had a fever the first night, but it went away. Dr. Desmond said you'll feel like shit, but he gave you a shot of antibiotics. The nurse will be able to take care of any other concerns when she comes."
She nodded but there was still a lot of questions in her eyes.
Lightly, he kissed her cheek. "Cleo's coming over when she gets off at one. I told her it was alright although I didn't know you'd be awake then. Get some rest." He pointed to a bell on the table next to her. "If you need anything, just ring. There was a small infection in your throat which is why it feels like you swallowed a million nails."
Again she nodded and smiled softly.
He started to leave the bed, but she took his hand to hold him there. Leaning over, she kissed his check and whispered, "Thank you."
It was his turn to blush. When he got up this time, she let him as she lay down. She was asleep before he returned to his chair. He moved it closer to the bed while he waited for the nurse to come.
He left the room to give them privacy. David's mother, who was a great cook, brought over some soup. David had told his mother his girlfriend had gotten real sick and was hurt bad. The woman was kind and since Ethan had helped with a lot of things around her home her landlord wouldn't take care, she was more than happy to give him a hand at sticking to the doctor's diet for Nicole. Tonight she brought a nice cream soup with mushrooms and finely diced chicken with noodles. It smelled delicious.
"I brought an extra helping for you too. You should eat as well."
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