“How is she?” I said gruffly, nearly coming apart at the seams as I went to the side of the bed. She looked so fragile. Her blond hair was a mess around her beautiful face. She had a bandage on the side of her cheek and jawline with another that ran down her arm. She was under a blanket so I couldn't tell what else may be wrong.
Amanda had joined me on the other side of the bed, “the doctor just confirmed that her two ribs are just fractured with no evidence of internal bleeding. They gave her something for the pain and she's been asleep for about 30 minutes. She was cut on the face and arm but there was no need for stitches.”
“Does she know who did this?”
“Yeah, she told the cop that it was a guy who approached her twice and frequented both Sailors and Indecent Proposal.” Amanda frowned.
“He’s dead when I find him,” I seethed.
“Look, this scared the bejesus out of me too, but the last thing she needs is you going all war games on her. She cares about you,” Amanda said and I looked at her, taking in her soft expression and eyes that seemed to stare me down despite how much bigger I was than her.
“Jake?” Sutton’s raspy voice called out.
“Yeah baby, I’m here,” gently taking her hand in mine, I smiled down at her. Her brows furrowed. The pain meds must be strong.
When I heard the scrapping of the chair, I noticed Amanda had pulled the one she’d been sitting on beside the bed. “Hey, I’m going to wait outside in the lobby.”
I nodded my head and moved to the other side of the bed, sitting down and taking Sutton’s other hand in mine.
“I want you to move in with me,” I said, rubbing my finger along her hand.
“What?” Her eyes opened; more alert.
“As soon as possible, I’ll start making room in my closet and drawers. Oh, and I’ll have a key made. We can have all that done so you can get your stuff in tomorrow,” I continued talking without acknowledging her question.
“Storm, I’m not moving in with you over this,” she said, frowning at me.
“Yes, you are Sutton. That’s non-negotiable and you're going to stop dancing,” I said, my tone had an edge that wasn’t there before.
Sutton broke her hand away from my grip, “get out of here.”
“No!” But I didn’t touch her respecting she wanted me not to.
“You’re not going to carry me around like I’m a fragile fucking doll, Storm. And no one is ever going to tell me what I can and cannot do,” her voice was stronger. My declaration was pissing her off and the color was coming back to her cheeks.
My chest had a tight sensation at the thought of losing her and I damn sure wasn’t going to stand by and not tell her, “I can’t lose you.”
She paused and her eyes tore into me, scouring every inch of my face so I continued, “I love you Sutton, and riding over here knowing you were attacked made me crazy. I still want to break some shit, but I’m trying to hold it together. Don’t tell me I can’t protect you. I need to protect you.”
A tear slid down her unbadged cheek, tenderness in her eyes, “you love me? We just met?”
“Nah baby, you and I don’t need a calendar to tell us what our souls already know,” I said, not caring if someone could hear me say such sappy shit. For my girl, I’d give her the world.
She continued to stare at me, a storm cloud in her eyes so I forged on, “you don’t have to say it back until you're ready. But I love you and I am going to protect you. We can figure out the how as we go.” Willing to concede that I could lighten up a little on my demands.
“I love you, that’s not it,” she said.
“What is it then?”
“I’m afraid of what you’ll do if you find Ray.”
“Ray, who the fuck is Ray?”
“It’s what the guy who attacked me said his name was. The way your acting makes me scared you're going to try some vigilante shit, and it's not that he doesn’t deserve to be punished, but if you kill him and go to jail. What then?”
“I can promise you that I won’t take undue risks, but he will not hurt you again,” I said, firm on that last part.
Sutton sighed heavily and winced a little and the rage I was feeling was starting to come to the surface again.
“Can you promise to just take this one step at a time for now?” she asked.
“For now,” I nodded.
“Okay,” she smiled and I kissed her, resolved that Sutton was mine and no motherfucker would touch her again.
The End