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They were still dressed in their gear. Carl and Richie stood by the bedside and stared at a sleeping Juliet. Her face was battered and bruised, and so was her throat, which was where she’d sustained the most damage. Richie had gone into complete soldier mode. He had been on a mission to kill, and Monte, BJ, and the others knew it. They didn’t stand in his way, not after the home invasion and the injured guards that were left at their home. Carl had been right beside him, his adrenaline pumping through his veins just like Richie’s as they hunted their woman’s captors. When Richie saw Pierce trying to rape Juliet, he had lost the last bit of control that would have allowed Pierce and Robert to live. Carl went after Robert, killing him on the spot, and Richie took out Pierce. Just one twist to his neck and the man would never harm Juliet again.
“So what did the doctor say?” Susanna asked as she caressed Juliet’s hair from her face. The tears hit her eyes, and she began to cry.
BJ held her from behind.
“She’s going to be okay. She’ll have a bit of a recovery ahead of her, but the damage isn’t permanent.”
“What about the emotional damage? What is she going to do? She hasn’t slept well and without nightmares for years,” Susanna said as she wiped her eyes.
“Her monsters are dead. There’s nothing more for her to fear.” Richie took Juliet’s hand and caressed it. It was so tiny and fragile.
“The doctor called it laryngotracheal trauma. She’ll have difficulty speaking for a while and a hoarse voice for a good amount of time, too, but hopefully not permanently,” Carl told them.
“Well, we’ll leave you guys alone with her. Mason and I will talk with the feds. I’m sure they’ll want your statements, too.”
“When we get around to it. We’re not leaving her side,” Carl stated.
Richie stared at Juliet. She looked so fragile and lost in the hospital bed. A few times she had awoken, drowsy from the painkillers, and had difficulty swallowing. He would never forget the sounds of her screams, the way she fought to defend herself, nor how close Pierce Mellbrook had gotten to taking her. He closed his eyes and tried to stop the images that continued to haunt him.
He felt Carl’s hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, she’s alive, they’re dead, and we’ve got her. She belongs to us, Richie. She needs us.”
“And I need her.”
* * * *
After a week in the hospital and confirming that no permanent damage was done to Juliet’s larynx and trachea and they ruled out the need for surgery, she was ready to go home. So were Richie and Carl.
She wasn’t able to talk, and it hurt her throat badly when she tried to speak. She couldn’t help but feel scared and timid. She was weak, had lost some weight, and needed to be taken care of at home.
“We’re going to our place, Juliet. Matt and the guys fixed the master bedroom up for us,” Carl told her, and she shook her head.
“What? You don’t want to go back there with us?” he asked. A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Oh, baby, please don’t cry. I don’t want you to feel any pain. We thought you would love to be with us.” He caressed her thigh. He sat in the backseat with her while Richie drove the truck.
“Scared,” she whispered in a raspy voice then laid her head on his shoulder. Carl caressed her arm as Richie placed a hand on her thigh and caressed there, too.
“It will be fine. We’re going to take care of you. We love you. Remember that, Juliet.”
She closed her eyes and hoped the fear would pass. Perhaps going back there and facing what happened that terrible night last week would help in her recovery. She knew that Carl and Richie were aware of the nightmares she had. The doctors had given her something to help her sleep at night so she wouldn’t wake up screaming and hurt her esophagus more.
As they pulled into the driveway, they saw all the men working.
“Oh my God, look at the place,” Carl stated, and she looked around, amazed at all the new windows and the planks of lumber being added to a new deck.
“They redid it all, Carl. The guys redid everything so it would be like new,” Richie added. She realized that Richie and Carl were having just as difficult a time as she was, returning here.
This was their home. She never saw the ultimate damage, just heard about it from Susanna and the girls when they visited. They said it looked like a war zone, and she remembered it sure did sound like one that night. She swallowed and cringed from the pain as Carl stepped out of the truck.
He lifted her up into his arms and carried her toward the front steps.
“This looks incredible,” Richie said as he shook Matt’s hand.
“Thought you guys would appreciate it. It’s like coming home to a brand-new place. We even changed the front around and upstairs entirely. I hope you don’t mind, but we kind of redid the master bedroom,” Matt stated with a smile.
“Mind? Are you fucking kidding me? It looked like Swiss cheese, just like the living room,” Carl said.
