Chapter 187

Asher made the call. He found himself new clothes. Since my pants were ruined beyond repair, he loaned me a pair of sweatpants. Then he held me in his arms until a knock sounded on the door.

After several minutes, policemen came into the room. They asked me questions, like what happened, and when, and where. I handed them Lamar’s phone with the recording.

They watched it, their faces grim. Asher stood beside me for the entire uncomfortable duration. His arm around my waist was, toward the end, the only thing keeping me upright.

The police said they would escort me to the hospital to be looked over and have my injuries documented.

“I’ll come, as well,” Asher said.

The head policeman gave him an unreadable look. “Not without her consent.”

“I want him there,” I said.

The policeman nodded.

At the hospital, I was brought into a room where Nancy was waiting. She looked me and the baby over.

She apologized when she said, “I have to take some photos.”

I understood. It didn’t make it easier.

Nancy glanced at Asher standing beside me while I was in the bed. He’d held my hand since the moment we entered, and didn’t seem about to let me go.

“Would it be easier if Asher waited outside?” she asked.

Asher’s gaze flew to my face.

“No.” I squeezed his hand.

“Very well.” Nancy positioned my legs to take pictures of the bite wounds.

Asher kept his eyes on my face. I could cry with how sensitive he was with my feelings.

Nancy poked and prodded for a while. After the photos, she cleaned my wounds, and then inspected the baby. Finally, she put the camera away and pulled the blankets up over my waist.

“The baby is okay,” she said, and I exhaled a relieved breath. “And you are too, Cynthia, other than a few scratches and… those bites. They might bleed for a while. They will need to be regularly disinfected, and the bandages changed.”

“I understand,” I said.

“I am worried, however, about the strain from your stress level,” Nancy said. “We will need to find some way to manage your levels. Excessive stress isn’t good for you or the baby.”

How was I supposed to do that? Worry and fear felt so ingrained in me now. Did I have any hope’s prayer of keeping myself calm? Especially with all that has happened?

Everything felt so hopeless.

“Hey.” Asher brought my hand to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on the back of my palm. “Focus on me. Trust me to protect you.”

I sniffled. I could try to do that, but… Asher and I weren’t magically back together. With everything that happened between us before, I wasn’t even sure he wanted to be here now.

Hadn’t he said we shouldn’t even be friends?

Nancy spoke again, this time while looking straight at Asher. “She will need help feeling safe. Whatever that entails.” She looked back to me. “Cynthia, you can be honest with me –”

“I want him to stay.” Maybe it was selfish. Maybe we weren’t really friends anymore. But, “I only feel safe with Asher.”

Nancy closed her mouth. When she nodded, I swore she was hiding a tiny smile. It was gone when she said, “You will have to stay overnight for observation.”

I looked to Asher at once. “Will you stay?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he replied.

Nancy placed her hand on my shoulder. “Rest. I’ll be back to check your vitals a few times in the night, but you’ll be safe tonight.”

My heart rate spiked. “What about the investigators?”

Asher began to growl.

Nancy shook her head. “Irene is keeping them occupied. And they don’t have to clearance to simply come into the patients’ rooms. While you are in this room, they will not bother you.”

The words only gave a modicum of comfort. That those investigators were even under the same roof as me made me nervous, especially knowing that they had my blood.

Had they done the DNA testing on it yet? Have they tracked down my name? My location? My face?

I leaned into Asher. He stepped closer to me.

I needed him close now, not just because he helped me feel safe. Without him, I was in danger of conjuring apparitions of him to fill the space of my longing.

If I were to create one here, and the investigators were to see it… They wouldn’t need to investigate anymore. They would have their proof.

“You need some rest,” Nancy said. Then she said her goodbyes and departed.

A bit of guilt clung inside of me. I was asking a lot of Asher, wanting him to stay. He was kind to agree, but I couldn’t help but wonder if this was what he really wanted.

Consent was important. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to stay with me if he didn’t want to be.

“Asher,” I started.

He shushed me. Leaning down, he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “I can see those wheels turning, Cyn. Whatever you are thinking, I promise I want to stay with you.”

“I’ll be okay,” I lied. “It’s okay if you have to leave.”

“You might be okay, but I wouldn’t. I’d be pacing the hallways like a ghost. I’d probably spend the night out in the hallway if you didn’t let me in here with you. I’d rather be in here with you.”

His words made fresh tears spring to my eyes. I knew it was pregnancy hormones, but I hated how easily I seemed to cry anymore.

“So you are doing me a favor, by letting me stay,” Asher said. “Not the other way around.”

I closed my eyes. In my chest, my heart danced at his words. He could make me so happy, without even trying.

How I wished our breakup hadn’t been real. Like this, I could almost pretend it had been a nightmare.

The past few hours hand been a nightmare too.

I pushed the thoughts of it away, focusing on the here and now. Asher, beside me. His warm hand holding mine.

“Where will you sleep?” I asked.

He looked around a room, then pointed at a hard-looking plastic chair. “There’s my bed for the night.”

“You can’t sleep on that. You won’t be able to move tomorrow.” He’d be impossibly stiff.

“I’ve slept in worse places,” he said.

I didn’t doubt that, but I didn’t want him to suffer when he really didn’t have to.

I began to scooch over on my narrow hospital bed.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“You will sleep here, beside me.”

Both of his brows lifted sky-high. “Cyn, there’s hardly room for me.”

“You can fit. You might have to hold me though.”

“I don’t mind that. In fact, I’d welcome it.” His lip twitched into an almost smile. Too quickly, it disappeared and worry crinkled his brow. “Are you sure that would be okay? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Didn’t he understand? My body was keenly aware of the difference between Asher and Lamar. Where Lamar made my stomach churn, Asher gave me quiet comfort.

My heart had already begun the mating bond with Asher. It would never mistake him for another.

“I’m sure,” I said. I held out my arm, welcoming him into the space beside me.

He waited a moment, as if giving me time to change my mind. When I didn’t, he lowered himself onto the bed beside me.

To fit, he cradled me in the shelter of his arms.

“Rest,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”

With his urging, I closed my eyes and hoped his closeness would keep the nightmares at bay.