In The Still of the Night [The Protectors 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Monroe, Marla

  “How bad is she?”

  “She needs to go to the hospital,” she said.

  “She’ll go.”

  Riley twisted the door knob to the bathroom. It was locked.

  “Let me in, Jenna.”

  “No, I’m not dressed.” Her voice, though muffled by the door, didn’t sound right.

  “Let me the fuck in, or I’ll break this fucking door down.” He heard a noise like a sob then a shuffling sound.

  The lock clicked. He steeled himself for what he would see. Riley opened the door and slipped inside. It didn’t help.

  Jenna sat on the toilet lid with a blood-soaked bath cloth held to her forehead. She didn’t look up when he entered the room. She held a blanket around her. As far as he could tell, she didn’t have on any clothes. Bruises marred her arms, and blood stained her blond hair around her face. She still didn’t look up. Riley knelt in front of her and carefully lifted her chin with two fingers.

  “Ah damn, baby.” Riley heaved out a breath and held the cloth away from her face.

  Both of her eyes were blackened with the left eye swollen nearly shut. Dried blood caked her nose and her lips. The cut high up on her forehead was still seeping and would need stitches. He wasn’t sure about the cut by her mouth. A red haze filled his vision.

  “I’ll kill him. Todd won’t live to see the inside of a jail cell.” He growled.

  “It wasn’t Todd.” Jenna winced.

  He stilled. “What do you mean it wasn’t Todd?”

  She seemed to draw into herself. “It was Gregg, my ex-husband. He got out of prison early. No one bothered to let me know.”

  Riley struggled to keep in control. He wanted to hit something.

  “We need to talk, but first, I’m taking you to the hospital,” he said.

  “I don’t want to go to the hospital.” She tried looking up at him but groaned when she moved her head.

  “Too bad. You don’t get a say in it. You need stitches in your head and God knows what else. You’ve probably got a concussion, and I’m betting that when I take that blanket off you there will be bruises on your ribs from the way you’re hunched over.”

  “I’ll be with you, and you know Tina isn’t going to leave you.” Riley took the bloody cloth from her hands and rinsed it out in the sink before handing it back to her.

  “You need ice for your face,” Riley said. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

  He slipped out the door and closed it behind him. He didn’t want her to overhear him talking to Tina.

  “She needs ice. I’m taking her to the hospital provided she’s stable enough to go by car. I’ll need your car.” Riley followed Tina to the kitchen where she found a Ziploc plastic bag and filled it with ice from the freezer.

  “I’m going with you,” Tina said.

  “Where’s Logan?” Riley asked.

  “He’s at the base. He had to review his training manual with them.”

  “You didn’t call him, did you?”

  “No, I figured it would take him an hour or so to get here provided he didn’t kill himself trying. I knew you were closer.” Tina handed the bag of ice wrapped in a dish towel to him. “I’m so glad you answered your cell phone. I don’t know what I would have done. She refused to go to the hospital.”

  Riley walked back into the bedroom and noticed for the first time the state of the room. The floor was littered with everything from her dresser and the top of her chest of drawers. Her bedside table was overturned, and the lamp lay broken on the floor. A thin trail of blood marred the wall next to the bed. Blood stained the pillow lying at the foot of the bed. He ground his teeth and drew in a deep breath. He turned to Tina.

  “Get her something easy for her to put on. I’ll clean her up and help her dress.”

  Tina stopped him from opening the bathroom door with a hand on his arm.

  “Riley, maybe you should let me help her. She’s already so nervous around you.”

  “She’s going to have to get un-nervous because as long as her ex-husband is around, I’m sticking to her.” Riley opened the door and slipped back inside.

  Jenna looked back down when he walked in. He could tell she had been crying again. It tore him up to see her like this. She acted not just beaten but defeated, as well. He wanted to snap the bastard’s neck for that alone. He moved slowly so as not to alarm her. He handed her the ice pack.

  “Put this on your face. I’m going to help you clean up. Tina is getting you something to put on.”

  “I can do it myself. Please leave me alone, Riley. I don’t need your help.” She continued to stare down at her lap.

  “No, I’m going to make sure you don’t have anything broken. I don’t want to risk making it worse if I drive you to the hospital myself.” He squatted down in front of her. “I’ll call an ambulance if you’d rather not go in the car.”

  “No!” She jerked her head up then winced, and a tear fell from one eye.

  “Careful,” he admonished. “Don’t make it any worse than it already is, baby.”

  He stood back up and ran warm water in the sink. Then he pulled down a towel and several bath cloths which he soaked in the warm water.

  “I’m going to check you over, so be still.”

  With one of the warm, wet bath cloths, Riley began carefully cleaning the right side of her face. He kept rinsing the cloth and finally had that side of her face and neck clear of blood. He started in on the left side, cleaning around the ice bag. More blood caked her on this side because of the head wound. He didn’t bother trying to get the blood out of her hair. That would come later.

  He uncurled her hand from around the blanket and cleaned the blood from between her fingers as well. Then he slowly lowered the blanket until her chest was bare. He squeezed out the water from another cloth and began to clean the dried blood between her breasts and her upper chest. Bruises marred the skin around her ribs on the left side. He cursed under his breath and swallowed down the bile that suddenly filled his throat.

  “I need you to stand up if you can.” He held out his arms for her to grasp. “Use me to pull up on if you need to.”

  He watched her stand. She favored her left side. The blanket fell the rest of the way off. Relief flooded him to see that she still had on panties. It was a good sign that the bastard hadn’t raped her.

  “Jenna?” Tina called through the door. “Can I come in? I have something for you to wear.”

  “Come in.” Jenna had a towel around her chest, holding it up under her arms.

  Tina walked in holding a pair of sweat pants and an overlarge T-shirt.

  “I figured this would go over your head easy. It’s one of your sleep shirts.” Tina held the items tightly to her chest. “You look a lot better now that the blood is cleaned off.”

  “I feel better. Tell Riley I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Jenna pleaded.

  “Nope. I agree with him.” Tina shook her head

  “Traitor.”

  He needed to check her ribs to be sure they were stationary. He was going to hurt her checking, but it had to be done.

  “I need to check those ribs. It’s not going to feel good.”

  Jenna looked dubious. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to feel of them to be sure they aren’t moveable.”

  “They’re fine. I’ve had broken ribs before, and it doesn’t feel like that.” Jenna held the towel tighter and took a step to the side—away from him.

  “Too bad. I’m checking.”

  Riley stood in front of her and placed one hand under the towel to touch the skin over her ribs. He checked them for movement. He watched her face as he did. She ground her teeth and winced, but she didn’t make a sound.

  “Sorry, but they feel stationary. Are you hurt anywhere else?” He asked.

  “No.”

  “Tina?” He turned to her.

  “I don’t think so. You can see the bruises on her arms,” she said.

  “Steady her
while I help her step into the sweat pants.” He knelt and held his hand up for Tina to hand them to him.

  She dropped them into his outstretched hand and let Jenna hold on to her shoulders. Jenna lifted first one foot then the other and stepped into the sweats. He pulled them up her legs and over her hips. He noticed another bruise on her hip. Once he had the waist band settled, he took the T-shirt from Tina and helped Jenna get into it. He held it as low as he could to keep from putting added pressure on her ribs. She managed to get into it without crying out. A good sign, he figured. Maybe she wasn’t hurt as badly as she looked.

  “I’ll put her socks and shoes on while you move my car up closer to the door. The keys are on the bar in the kitchen.” Tina knelt in front of Jenna and began rolling a sock on her foot.

  “Don’t let her move till I get back.”

  Riley grabbed the keys from the counter and walked outside to move Tina’s car as close to the kitchen door as he could get and still open the car doors. Then he hurried back inside. He knew how stubborn Jenna could be. But she was subdued now. The bastard had beaten it into her. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on the son of a bitch. He wanted to pick her up so she didn’t have to walk, but he knew that would hurt her worse. Instead, he stood aside and let her walk out of the bathroom on her own two feet. She moved gingerly through the bedroom and into the kitchen. By the time she reached the kitchen door, she was panting.

  “Tina, you better call Logan and let him know where you are.” Riley helped Jenna climb into the backseat.

  “I’ll call him once we get to the hospital. He should be on his way home by then,” Tina said.

  “I’m going to let you sit in the back with her. Let her put her head in your lap. I’ll drive so I can get us there as fast as possible without throwing her around.” He climbed into the driver’s seat once Tina was inside the car with Jenna’s head safely in her lap.

  He kept checking his rearview mirror to see Jenna lying in the backseat.

  “How are you doing back there, baby?”

  “I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth.

  He turned his attention back to the road and concentrated on getting them there fast but without jarring her. He pulled into the emergency room entrance, and after throwing it in park, jumped out of the car to open the door. Tina eased out from under Jenna’s head. Riley moved her aside and helped Jenna to sit up and ease out of the car. He let her hold on to him as she stood up.

  A nurse rolled a wheel chair out to the car, and Riley helped Jenna sit in it.

  “What happened?” the nurse asked as she wheeled her into the emergency room entrance.

  “Her ex-husband beat her up,” Riley answered.

  “How long ago?”

  Riley looked at Tina to answer that.

  “I’m not sure. I found her about forty-five minutes ago.” Tina looked at Jenna.

  Jenna swallowed and said, “About six or seven hours ago.”

  Riley closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath through his nose. She’d been hurting all that time and hadn’t called a soul. He wanted to shake her for not calling him.

  “Why the hell did you wait so long to call somebody?” Riley demanded.

  “She didn’t call at all. I found her when I came to pick her up to go shopping,” Tina said.

  Riley followed behind the nurse pushing the wheelchair.

  “Sir, we need her information at the check-in desk,” the nurse said.

  “Tina, you know more about her than I do. You answer their questions. I’m going with her.”

  “Sir, you can’t go back there with her until they finish the exam. I’ll come get you when they finish.”

  Riley stopped the wheelchair and looked down at Jenna.

  “You tell them everything. Do you understand? Let them do their job. If that means staying here, you’re staying.”

  Jenna nodded her head and looked down. Riley cursed under his breath and stood up to let the nurse continue to the back. He stood there with his hands on his hips and worked to regain control of his temper. Knowing that she hadn’t trusted him enough to call him for help both hurt and angered him at the same time. He wasn’t mad at her but mad at himself for acting like an ass toward her. Finally, he returned to where Tina was giving the clerk the information they needed. He only half listened.

  “Okay, that’s everything for now. We do need a copy of her insurance card and driver’s license when you can get them to us.”

  “I’ll get them to you as soon as I know what they plan to do with her,” Tina promised. She stood up from the chair and followed him to the waiting room.

  Her skin appeared pale, and it was obvious she was worried about Jenna.

  “Better call Logan and let him know where you are and what’s going on.”

  “You’re right. I’m going to step outside where I can hear better to call him. Come and get me if they come out and are going to let us back to see her.”

  He watched her walk through the sliding doors. All he could do now was wait. Normally he was a patient man, but this was not one of those times.

  * * * *

  Jenna let the nurse help her undress and slip on the ugly green hospital gown. Then she stepped up to sit on the stretcher. Every movement aggravated the pain in her side and hip. She didn’t think Riley had noticed her hip, thank goodness. She figured it was black and blue, as well. She looked around the room. It looked like every other emergency room she had been in over the years. The last three times had been here.

  The events of the night before came flooding back to her. Somehow her ex had gotten inside her house. It had to have been through the front door since Tina had come in that way. He’d pulled her out of bed by her hair, yelling at her almost incoherently. Then the beating had started. Her head must have hit the corner of the night stand when it turned over to put the cut on her forehead. She had finally managed to curl up into a ball, trying to protect her belly and head. The return of her neighbor from his night shift interrupted him. Jenna had screamed the best she could for help. Even though he hadn’t heard her, Gregg didn’t stick around to find out. She lay there for hours, too scared to move. Finally, she’d gotten to the bathroom and held a cloth to her head until Tina had found her.

  The return of the nurse cut into her musing. She had her lie down on the stretcher, but she raised the head of it until she was in a semi-reclining position. She took her information of what had happened.

  “Did he rape you?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “I’m going to take you to get an X-ray. Any chance you’re pregnant?”

  Jenna shook her head then wished she hadn’t. The pounding got worse. The nurse unlocked the wheels on the stretcher and wheeled her through the double doors and through the emergency room toward the back. They turned a couple of corners then entered the radiology suite. For the next thirty minutes, they moved her around, taking X-rays of her head, neck, chest, and hips until she was crying. Finally, a radiology technician wheeled her back around to the emergency room and into her room.

  Sometime later, a doctor arrived to examine her.

  “Looks like you need something for pain. Let me check your X-rays.” He left the room but returned a few minutes later.

  “Well, you have a slight concussion. I’ll let you have some Tylenol but nothing stronger. I don’t want to mask the symptoms of a possibly more serious problem. I’m sorry I can’t give you anything stronger right now. I’ll give you something to help decrease the swelling, and that will help with the pain, as well.”

  The nurse flitted around, setting up a tray. The doctor sewed her head up, putting in three stitches. Then the nurse applied a bandage.

  “You’ve also got two cracked ribs. They don’t look too bad, but you’re going to hurt for a while. Your hip is fine, just bruised.” He checked his chart and then looked back at her. “Are you sure we don’t need to do a rape kit?”

  “I’m sure. He didn’t rape me. He was more interested in hitti
ng me.” Jenna touched her head gingerly. “When can I go home?”

  “I noticed you have some friends out there waiting to see you. I’m going to allow you to go home in about two hours. I want to watch you for a little while longer. You need to be woken up every two hours to be sure you’re okay.”

  “I know the drill,” Jenna said.

  “I expect you do. I saw the old breaks on your X-rays. I’m going to refer you to a counselor for domestic abuse.”

  “He’s my ex-husband. I’ve already been through them,” she said.

  “Okay then. Stitches come out in seven days. You can come here or go to your personal physician. If you have any of the symptoms on the paper the nurse is going to give you, come back immediately.”

  “Okay.”

  “The police are out there to speak with you. I’m going to let them in then your friends can come back.”

  He left, and two policemen walked through the swinging doors. One stood maybe five feet six inches and had black hair. The other one was a good four or five inches taller. His hair looked a dark shade of brown. Jenna spent the next thirty minutes going over the details of her attack. They listened and wrote notes in their little notebooks.

  “So he is out of prison now. You need a restraining order on him,” the shorter one said.

  “I plan to. I don’t understand why someone didn’t warn me he was up for parole and then that he got out.”

  “I don’t know, either, but we’ll be taking him back for assault. They should send him back for violating his parole,” the taller one promised.

  “You don’t need to be alone until we catch him.”

  “Don’t worry, she won’t be.” Riley walked in.

  Jenna closed her eyes and counted to ten. Tina walked in followed by Logan. Between Riley and Logan, she didn’t stand a chance at going home. Fine, she would stay with Tina.

  “You are?” the shorter one asked.

  “Riley. I’m a friend.”

  Logan strode forward and held out his hand. “I’m Logan, and this is my fiancée, Tina. We will be sure she is taken care of.”

  The taller one said, “She needs to file for a restraining order against him.”

  “I’ll see to it,” Riley said.