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Chapter Ten

Hudson

Two days later, he was at Clover City General, drubbing his heel on the linoleum floor outside a conference room where a bunch of people who didn’t know jackshit were deciding whether Cosy could come home to the loft. Ian had been coming to visit Cosy too, but today they’d decided it would be better for Hudson to come alone.

It had felt like a courtroom in there, like he’d been called to testify. He’d had to talk in front of a high-up administrator of the hospital, Nora the social worker, Eric and another doctor he didn’t know, general counsel for Clover City General, a couple other people too, and answer questions they had for him. Made him want to flip tables and haul ass to Cosy’s room, throw her over his shoulder and kidnap her.

But no, he wanted to do all this aboveboard. Wanted to be better than that shitstick who had imprisoned her. He hadn’t been able to get much more than that out of her about where she’d come from and what had happened to her but that was enough for now.

He needed to be worthy of her trust. So he’d jump through all the hoops, answer all the questions, hand over any information they needed. He didn’t hate so much talking about the club—it was his business, after all, and he was proud of it. But he did hate how these people talked about kink. He and Eric were patient men but educating these vanilla fuckers was liable to make anyone’s head explode.

No matter what happened, he’d be there for Cosy. Visit her every day, spend as much time with her as he possibly could, make sure she actually had some control over her life. It was the least he could do.

His heart sped up when he heard people get up and move around in the conference room. Were they done? Had they decided?

Hudson didn’t mind getting dressed up—he actually enjoyed looking dapper in his bespoke three-piece suits—but even the perfectly tailored clothes he had on felt like they were too tight, like his tie was strangling him. Especially as no one did anything but nod to him on their way out. Then it was just him, and Eric waved him into the conference room.

Trying to make light of a heavy situation, Hudson gave Eric a light punch in the arm. “So, what’s the verdict, Doc?”

But Eric wasn’t buying it. No, the man looked dead serious which he should, but Hudson would’ve felt better, more hopeful at least, if there were some humor in his friend’s features.

“I…I don’t even know where to start, honestly. This girl— Sorry, woman. Cosima. She’s suffered a lot of abuse. I didn’t know the extent of it until we went through her full file today. She’s been hurt badly. Not just recently, either. X-rays showed a bunch of old fractures that clearly weren’t treated properly. I’m talking broken ribs, fingers, an arm. And I don’t know how much of her you saw when she showed up at Hive, but…”

Eric shook his head and looked like he might be sick. Hudson had an inkling of what he was talking about. He hadn’t really seen any of Cosy’s scars at Hive given the low lights but they were obvious on her hands and arms and neck under the harsh fluorescent light of her hospital room.

“And that’s just the shit that left marks. I shouldn’t be telling you any of this but I want you to know what you’re getting into if she comes home with you. She’s severely traumatized, has suffered long term physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. She wouldn’t disclose what all her scars are from but I’m telling you this is the worst case of abuse I’ve seen in my entire career. And I don’t say that lightly—you know I’ve seen some shit.”

Yeah, he knew. He knew because when Eric had a real rough day at his practice, he’d drop by and confide in him and Ian. Ryker too if he were there because Ryker was a good listener. Had the best fucking poker face. So yeah, if Eric was saying Cosy was in a rough way, then she was. Eight years with a fucking monster would do that to a person but…

“But isn’t that the best reason for her to come home with me? You know I’ll take good care of her. And Ian will help out.”

Eric raised his brows.

“Yeah, Ryker will too if we’re in a pinch. He’s not thrilled about the idea but he didn’t put his foot down. You heard her. She doesn’t have any place else to go. Besides, it’s my fucking fault he did this to her.”

Eric gave him a dark look and Hudson held up his hands. “Yeah, yeah, I know. The only person to blame is him, but you know what I’m talking about.”

Eric sucked air through his teeth. “I get it, man. I do. I like being the hero as much as you do. Why do you think I became a doctor? It’s not because of the easy money and all the free time. But… Maybe we should try again to get her to contact her parents?”

Hudson shook his head. “That really upset her. She hasn’t seen them in eight years, they don’t even know her.”

“And you do?” Eric shot back.

Hudson scrubbed his hands over his face and tried to breathe. Eric wasn’t trying to take Cosy away from him, he knew that. His friend was just looking out for everyone and he tried to appreciate it, but all he felt was unnerved that Cosy could possibly be going anywhere but home with him.

“I know she’s hurt. I know she’s vulnerable. I know she literally has nothing. I know she has nowhere to go, and that she’s been isolated and abused beyond what I can imagine for almost a decade.”

He paused to take a breath, get ahold of himself.

“But I also know I have a ton of patience, I’m really good with care-taking, I’ll respect any boundaries she wants to set as long as they don’t compromise her safety, I have a ton of resources in terms of time and money and space, and I’m physically strong enough to take care of anything she needs.”

Eric’s mouth flattened into a thin line and Hudson could sense his advantage. Pressed it.

“You know I’m a responsible guy. I’ll make sure she gets to any and all appointments she needs to, you and Nora can drop by anytime you want to check on her, I’ll ensure she follows any instructions they give her when she checks out of here. Fixing broken things is kind of my wheelhouse. Besides, what else are you going to do with her? It’s not like you can send her to a shelter, she’d get ripped apart. She doesn’t belong in a psych ward. You can’t keep her here forever.”

“I know. And I wouldn’t even if I could. There’s too much noise, too much bustle, too many people here. It’s too much for her. She’s skittish like a little forest creature.”

A V formed between Eric’s brows and he held Cosy’s chart by his side.


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