I needed his strength right now. I needed him.

 

“Melanie?”

Something nudged my arm. I opened my eyes, and a blur stood in front of me.

Jonah.

My Jonah.

I opened my eyes wide. He was not my Jonah. At least not yet. It wasn’t like me to be so presumptuous. But after the near-death experience I’d just had, I didn’t want to waste one more moment not telling him about my feelings.

“God, Melanie, what happened? They wouldn’t tell me anything at the nurse’s station.”

I was fatigued and groggy. “Give me a minute.”

“I’m so sorry. I probably shouldn’t have woken you. But I just have to know that you’re all right.”

I fumbled for my remote control and adjusted my bed so I was sitting up. I didn’t even want to think about what I looked like. I hadn’t had a shower in over forty-eight hours, and I had been to hell and back.

No. I had not been to hell. Gina Cates had been to hell. Talon had been to hell. I had not.

Jonah was seeing me at my worst right now, and that was as good a way as any to tell whether we had a future.

“What happened to your hands, sweetheart? Why are they all bandaged up?”

“I cut them. On glass.”

His eyebrows rose. “How? How did that happen?”

I cleared my throat, which was still dry and parched. “Like I said. It’s a long story.”

He pulled up a chair next to my bed and took one of my bandaged hands in his. “Is this okay? It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“No. It’s fine. They must be giving me lots of ibuprofen. I didn’t want any narcotics. I wanted to be awake when you…you…” I yawned.

“I’ll stay here. I’ll sit here all night if you want, if this is too much for you right now. You need to sleep, so sleep.”

“No, no. I want you here. I want to be awake. I want to look into your eyes, feel your touch. I need to know that you’re here, keeping me safe.”

“Keeping you safe? Melanie, what is this— Oh my God. I went to your loft. Your neighbor said you weren’t there when the police came. I figured you were okay. What happened?”

“I’m so sorry, Jonah. I’m so sorry I sneaked out of your house the other day. I don’t know what came over me. I was embarrassed, and a little bit frightened. But it was all so stupid.”

“It’s okay. I was angry at first, but I’m over it. I’m sure you had a good reason for leaving. But tell me what happened. Why are you here? Thank God you’re—”

“Please.” I held up a hand to stop him. “I need to say this. I didn’t have a good reason for leaving. My reasons for leaving were stupid and infantile. It was self-indulgent. I should have faced up to what we’d done, what I’d done. I was there of my own free will. I wanted you. I shouldn’t have left.”

“Look, Melanie, I accept your apology, okay? Just tell me how you ended up here in the hospital with your hands all cut up.”

“I was…attacked.”

He stood, his eyes burning. “What?”

“Please, sit down. I need to feel you next to me. I’m all right now.”

He sat back down, his demeanor still tense and rigid. “What the fuck happened, Melanie?”

“When I got back to my place, I took a shower to wash the chlorine out of my hair. While I was in the shower, an intruder entered my loft.”

“Oh my God, did he hurt you?” Rage flared in his eyes. “I’ll fucking kill him.”

I shook my head. “No. I mean, yes. He hurt me a little, but not in the way you mean.”

“If he put one bruise on your beautiful body…”

“He only kicked my ankle after I twisted it. Other than that, the only thing he did was tie me up and inject me—”

“Inject you? Inject you with what?”

“I don’t know. Something that knocked me out, or so I thought, anyway. My blood test didn’t show anything, so whatever it was left my system quickly. My guess is that it was Rohypnol.”

“Rohypnol? You got roofied?”

“Probably. We don’t know for sure. But it’s gone now.”

“God.” Jonah raked his fingers through his hair. “That’s the date-rape drug. Are you sure he didn’t…”

I shook my head. I’d wondered the same thing, but the doctor had done an examination, and there were no signs of sexual assault. Plus, I didn’t have any pain down there. “I checked out clean.”

“Thank God.” He pulled at his hair again. “I can’t believe any of this. How did you cut your hands? Is that why you’re here?”

I let out a little cough. “I’m here because…I was exposed to a lot of carbon monoxide.”

“What?”

“The man who took me, he tied me up and pushed me into a closed garage with a running car. He…” My voice shook. Tears formed in my eyes. “He wanted me to die like my patient did.”

Jonah stood again, his jawline tense. “Her parents are behind this. I’ll fucking kill them.”

“That’s my thought as well, but we don’t have any proof.”

He sat back down. “I’m so sorry. That’s not what’s important now. What’s important is that you’re okay. Tell me, sweetheart, how were you able to escape?”

In my crackling voice, I relayed the story to Jonah. Several times he tried to interrupt me, but I gestured for him not to. Finally, I said, “Somehow I remained conscious. My adrenaline was really moving. Dr. Hernandez says that although I didn’t inhale enough to kill me, I should’ve been unconscious.”

“Oh my God, baby. Oh my God.” He closed his eyes and then opened them. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“I tried to. When I was hiding in my closet. I called 9-1-1, but it was busy. Can you believe that? Busy. Anyway, after that I tried to call you. It was Tuesday evening. But you didn’t pick up.”

His eyes widened into circles. “Oh my God,” he said again. “Oh my fucking God.”

“What? What is it?”

Chapter Eleven

Jonah

The call. The call from Melanie when Talon and I were about to leave for Denver to see Wendy Madigan.