“Go right ahead,” Glory answers. “I’ll be here a few more minutes to finish this, then I’ll be out of your hair. You should be discharged in the morning. We'll keep you overnight for observation due to the restriction of oxygen, but until then, you can do as you please. If Noah wants to grab you some real food, I suggest going now.”
“What do you want?” he asks me before I can get a word out.
“A milkshake.” I laugh. “And fries.”
“You’re going to dip them, aren’t you?” He shakes his head when I shrug my shoulders. Super hot fries are perfect for dipping in a milkshake.
“Chocolate, please.”
Nodding his head in reply, Noah leaves, and silence invades the room again. The only sound, that of Glory’s pen as she writes her assessment.
After another minute, she places everything into a sealed envelope and hands it to the nurse that was with her before turning to face me.
“Do you want a hand getting back into your bed?” I respond with a nod. Movement is hard with all the bruising and the broken wrist.
Helping me slide off the exam table, Glory supports me with an arm under my elbow and her other around my waist until I’m sitting on the bed again. After ringing for assistance, she sits beside me until the nurse comes in and removes the exam table.
“I know the news of not being sexually assaulted is good, but I want you to remember that you are still going to experience feelings connected with everything else. Nightmares might be frequent, jumpiness around loud or strange noises is to be expected.” She touches on all the things I was trying not to think about. “This is going to be a long road to recovery for you, Ember, and I encourage you to speak to someone when you feel the need. Don’t bottle things up because you think you can fight past them or you don’t want to burden your loved ones.”
Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I nod, but I can’t speak because I don’t know what to say.
“It’s okay to not be okay. Just remember that.” Patting my hand, my nurse stands to leave, and I feel a moment of panic about being alone. “Your family is still outside, waiting to see you. They refused to leave until they could. Can I send them in?”
“Yes, please,” I croak out.
A minute after she leaves, Kol and Arsen enter the room tentatively. “Kid.” Arsen, my oldest brother, stumbles on his own emotions as he sees me. “What the fuck did that asshole do to you?” he growls.
“I’m okay, Arsen,” I try to comfort him as he sits next to me.
“The fuck you are. He’s lucky I didn’t find him, or he’d be six feet under.”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to say things like that.” My heart warms at the thought, though.
“Noah gave him a good beating before I could. You’d be proud.” Kol beams as he sits on my other side.
“She said you weren’t–” Seeing my big brother stutter out his words has tears springing to my eyes again. “You weren’t raped?” I shake my head no. “Good. That’s good, kid.”
“It doesn’t feel that way,” I confess. “I have this sinking feeling in my heart that this is still going to get worse before it gets better.”
“It will.” Kol places a gentle hand on my knee. “You remember how you helped Thea when she struggled to tell me what was going on with her? She had those horrible nightmares. A high wind would make her jump.”
“I remember.” Helping my best friend through that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
“She got through it all because of you, Em, so it’s our turn to help you. Don’t hold back from us.” Leaning forward, he kisses my cheek as Glory enters again.
“Alright, boys, Noah is coming down the hall, and I’d like to have our girl here in bed and settled within the hour, and she still needs to shower. So out with you. Come back in the morning.” She doesn’t give them a chance to respond before turning and leaving. Noah enters before the door can close completely.
“You good?” His eyes never leave me, and even though I was freezing a minute ago, he warms me up just by being in the same room.
“Yeah, Noah. I’m good.” And I realize that I really am. For now. Tomorrow might be a different story, but with the three men I love most in this world at my side, I know I’ll get through anything life throws at me.
7
Noah
Three times, Ember woke up with nightmares of her attack. Screaming, kicking, pleading for the life of our baby. Each time, I was there to assure her that she and the baby were fine. Each time, she cried herself back to sleep.
I stayed awake all night watching over her, holding her in my arms, and whispering in her ear when she would become restless. After helping her shower and facing all the damage her attacker inflicted on her body, I felt a rage far worse than when I found him with his hands around her neck.