My vagina throbbed with pain, and I realized I had to use the bathroom. I took a deep breath and reached my feet down to touch the cold tiles. Then I held on to the IV pole and walked slowly out of the bed.
“Cammie!” Dusty exclaimed with a hint of panic. I glanced up to see him striding from the bathroom toward me, arms extended, half-naked, nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, water dripping from his long hair. “You gotta stop doing this shit to me.” A huge grin stretched his mouth. “You up for real this time?”
“What?” I lost my footing and stumbled toward the floor. His strong arms caught me before impact.
“What the fuck you think you’re doing?” he growled as he placed me back on the edge of the bed.
A hulking figure came through the bedroom door, his eyes down, his shoulders slumped. He held what looked like a saline bag. Dusty yelled at the old man, something about not leaving me alone.
The guy looked at the two of us. “I was getting a new one. Looks like we don’t need it anymore.” He turned on the lights and came closer. Gray peppered his hair and trimmed beard. Full sleeves and neck tattoos. Mostly skulls and roses. He was definitely a Night Skull.
My head snapped at Dusty. Immediately, I regretted the nausea caused by the sudden move. “Am I in Rosewood?”
He took a deep breath and just nodded. I looked around, confirming it was indeed Dusty’s room.
The older Skull’s blue eyes shone at me. “It’s okay. Don’t worry. You’re safe and finally up after eight days in a coma. Let’s check on you. Can you tell me your name?”
My eyes narrowed at him. My mind struggled to grasp what was really happening here. Why the hell was I in Rosewood, the place I swore never to come back to since it killed my sister and almost took my own life? And how long had I been down here…sleeping? “Cameron Delaney. What’s yours?”
He chuckled. “Owl or Doc. The club’s on call doctor.” He pulled out a pen light and looked into my eyes, and then listened to my heartbeat for a few seconds. “Welcome back, Cameron.” The bed sank beside me as he sat. He pulled my good hand out, pressing against it as he asked me to press back.
After I did, and he confirmed to Dusty that my uninjured arm was good, the doctor asked me to smile.
“Smile? Why would I smile for you?”
He chuckled again. “Just to make sure your facial muscles are working.”
I raised a brow and flashed him a quick smile. My jaws and lips hurt like hell. Then Owl’s hands were all over me, and Dusty kept asking if I was all right with every part of my body the doctor checked.
“Well, shit. You look pretty good to me. The question is how do you feel, princess?” Owl asked.
“Feel?” I had no idea how I felt. My memory was fucked up. Everything seemed…dry. Stilted. On hold. “I feel like I wanna pee. Really need to use the bathroom.”
I tried to stand again, but Dusty’s wet body pressed against me. “You don’t need to get out of bed for that, sweetheart.” He pointed down to a bag attached to me. One filled with yellow liquid that could only be one thing.
Heat snuck up to my cheeks in embarrassment. I’d been pissing myself in front of my boyfriend for God knew how long. “Shit.”
“It’s okay, baby. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’ve been out for eight fucking days. The most stressful, fucked up days of my life. Now that you’re up, I wouldn’t care if you took a dump right here, not just piss in a bag.”
I scrutinized Dusty’s face. His excitement was beyond my conception. I got that he was relieved I was awake; I was out for so long after what I, in spite of not remembering its details, was sure was a day from hell. But I was also sure he’d had more fucked up days—like the ones he had in my bunker. And my being in Rosewood was nothing to be happy about.
“I’m not gonna go in front of you.” My gaze shifted to Owl. “Or you. Take the catheter out.”
“Slow down, princess. I know these things are a pain in the crotch, but let’s keep it till we’re sure you can move fully on your own. You still need your rest,” Owl said.
“You said I was fine, and I was just about to leave the bed bymyself.”
“But you almost fell down.” Dusty squatted and held my arms. “Cammie, please. Just till morning. Give your ol’man some peace of mind.”
Princess. Ol’man. Rosewood. What the fuck was I doing here?
I stared at Dusty. His care and concern fell empty on me for the first time ever. Was I still mad at him for Samuel? Memories flashed in my head, trimmed. Yeah, we broke up over it, but it left me devastated. I knew I was still in love with him, but I didn’t quitefeelit. “Fine. Just till morning. But I still need to go in the privacy of a bathroom.”
He sighed, yielding. “Okay, let’s get you on your feet. Just put one arm around me and the other one around Owl, and we’ll get you up real nice and slow.”
I winced in pain as they pulled me up. A grunt forced itself out of my mouth as I engaged my abdomen and thigh muscles. I stood on my feet, a little wobbly, but I stayed upright.
The pain was too much, yet what really caught my attention was that when I felt the warmth of Dusty on my right, I didn’t feel a chill run along my skin like always.