“God, Melanie, what happened? They wouldn’t tell me anything at the nurse’s station.”
I was fatigued and groggy. “Give me a minute.”
“I’m so sorry. I probably shouldn’t have woken you. But I just have to know that you’re all right.”
I fumbled for my remote control and adjusted my bed so I was sitting up. I didn’t even want to think about what I looked like. I hadn’t had a shower in over forty-eight hours, and I had been to hell and back.
No. I had not been to hell. Gina Cates had been to hell. Talon had been to hell. I had not.
Jonah was seeing me at my worst right now, and that was as good a way as any to tell whether we had a future.
“What happened to your hands, sweetheart? Why are they all bandaged up?”
“I cut them. On glass.”
His eyebrows rose. “How? How did that happen?”
I cleared my throat, which was still dry and parched. “Like I said. It’s a long story.”
He pulled up a chair next to my bed and took one of my bandaged hands in his. “Is this okay? It doesn’t hurt, does it?”
“No. It’s fine. They must be giving me lots of ibuprofen. I didn’t want any narcotics. I wanted to be awake when you…you…” I yawned.
“I’ll stay here. I’ll sit here all night if you want, if this is too much for you right now. You need to sleep, so sleep.”
“No, no. I want you here. I want to be awake. I want to look into your eyes, feel your touch. I need to know that you’re here, keeping me safe.”
“Keeping you safe? Melanie, what is this— Oh my God. I went to your loft. Your neighbor said you weren’t there when the police came. I figured you were okay. What happened?”
“I’m so sorry, Jonah. I’m so sorry I sneaked out of your house the other day. I don’t know what came over me. I was embarrassed, and a little bit frightened. But it was all so stupid.”
“It’s okay. I was angry at first, but I’m over it. I’m sure you had a good reason for leaving. But tell me what happened. Why are you here? Thank God you’re—”
“Please.” I held up a hand to stop him. “I need to say this. I didn’t have a good reason for leaving. My reasons for leaving were stupid and infantile. It was self-indulgent. I should have faced up to what we’d done, what I’d done. I was there of my own free will. I wanted you. I shouldn’t have left.”
“Look, Melanie, I accept your apology, okay? Just tell me how you ended up here in the hospital with your hands all cut up.”
“I was…attacked.”
He stood, his eyes burning. “What?”
“Please, sit down. I need to feel you next to me. I’m all right now.”
He sat back down, his demeanor still tense and rigid. “What the fuck happened, Melanie?”
“When I got back to my place, I took a shower to wash the chlorine out of my hair. While I was in the shower, an intruder entered my loft.”
“Oh my God, did he hurt you?” Rage flared in his eyes. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
I shook my head. “No. I mean, yes. He hurt me a little, but not in the way you mean.”
“If he put one bruise on your beautiful body…”
“He only kicked my ankle after I twisted it. Other than that, the only thing he did was tie me up and inject me—”
“Inject you? Inject you with what?”
“I don’t know. Something that knocked me out, or so I thought, anyway. My blood test didn’t show anything, so whatever it was left my system quickly. My guess is that it was Rohypnol.”