She flinched when he screamed in fury and hit her wherever he could reach. “You fucking bitch, you’ll pay for that.”
She tried to fight him with every bit of strength, and when that failed, she tried to protect herself the best she could, but she knew it wouldn’t take too much more before he killed her.
The doors slid open, and she was shocked to see a few men standing with their guns drawn and pointing at the man behind her.
He tightened his grip on her with an arm around her neck and the gun pointed at her temple. “Fuckers, get the fuck back, or she’s dead.”
The men didn’t move.
She flinched when he tapped the gun’s barrel against what felt like her broken skull.
Blood had covered her face and was in her eyes, making it impossible to see, but she silently called out for Nolan.
The man behind her shook.
“You motherfucker,” she said. “The men are going to love you in prison.” She smiled at his shout of fury, and she suddenly sagged in his arms. It happened so fast that he lost his grip on her. She covered her head as a few shots rang out.
The man dropped onto her and writhed against her, so she assumed he was hurt but not dead. She hoped they kept him alive because she wanted him in prison where he could get even a smidgen of what he’d done to women he’d abused and raped.
The man was pulled off of her, and then arms were lifting her in their arms.
“Hey, sweetheart, it’s Dustin.”
She exhaled and relaxed against him. “Where’s my daddy?” Oh, God, she needed Nolan worse than anything she’d ever felt.
“He’s coming. Right now, we need to get you to the hospital.”
“I want Nolan,” she cried out.
“I know. I’ll stay with you until he can get to you. We need to take care of you. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
She felt him gently set her down on a gurney. Then a few other people asked her questions, cut off her clothing, and pressed something to her head to stop the bleeding. She tried to answer some but could already feel herself passing out, and she didn’t have the energy to fight it any longer.
The last thing she heard was Dustin yelling for someone to get Nolan.
She roused a few times when they got to the ER, looked around, and asked for Nolan every time. No one could tell her where he was and just said for her to relax and that he’d be there.
The next time she woke up, she was in a cubicle with monitors all around her.
Caylee cleared her throat and swallowed a few times until she could talk. “What’s happening?” she asked the nurse standing beside her.
The nurse looked down at her and smiled. “Hey, honey. I’m glad you’re awake. You’re in the ICU.”
“Why am I here?”
“You have a concussion. We’re just watching you carefully for the first twenty-four hours. You must be watched every minute, and it’s best to do that here in the ICU.”
“Has a man named Nolan come to see me?”
The nurse smiled. “Yes, he’s been in here as much as we’ll let him. The rest of the time, he’s in the waiting room.”
“Can I see him?”
“Yes. I’ll go get him for you.”
Caylee closed her eyes until she felt a warm hand on her arm. Her eyes slid open, and she tried to smile. He looked awful. “Hey.”
“Hi, sweetheart.” He leaned over, pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and then raised her hand and kissed the back of it.