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“He is, but tell him to hold himself together, Hannah needs him. I’m taking her to the clinic right now.”
“Mrs. Cordova said to bring Hannah to the compound if she’s well enough to travel. She has her private physician waiting and can get him any diagnostic equipment he needs.”
Mark cursed and I continued to cry, hurting too much for any type of conversation. “Hang in there, Hannah, we’ll take care of you.”
Chapter 15
I had no idea how much time had passed, the world was a haze of pain that I finally escaped by fainting, but what must have been many hours later, I woke up in a very nicely furnished orange and cinnamon-brown room that seemed blurry. I blinked, and that simple action sent a wave of pain through me. Swollen…my whole face felt tight and swollen. Next to me, a monitor beeped, and when I raised my right arm to touch my cheek, I winced at the poke of the IV in my hand.
“Hannah?”
Leo’s familiar voice instantly soothed me and I croaked out, “What happened?”
“Here, drink this.”
I groaned as he supported me, lifting me enough that I could grasp the straw between my swollen and throbbing lips. The water hurt my throat, but the pain was dulled to a manageable level. As the cool liquid hit my belly, my thoughts cleared a little bit.
“Joy, Kayla…are they okay?”
An angry growl escaped him and I looked up at Leo sitting in an orange suede chair he’d pulled up next to the bed. “They’re fine.”
“Who were those men?” I tried to clear my groggy thoughts. “Why did they do that to me? It was you…they hurt me because of you.”
The guilt and pain on his face confirmed it and my heart broke.
The door to my room opened, admitting Judith and her husband Jose. Wearing a conservative amber-silk dress, Judith’s eyes were red as she took me in with tight lips. I watched her, strangely impassive as she stood next to my bed, like I was watching a memory rather than participating in the present. Jose joined her, dressed in a sharp navy suit, and his face was filled with a sympathy that didn’t reach his eyes. He was wary of me, and he had a right to be. I wasn’t feeling very stable at the moment.
“Hannah,” Judith said gently. “How are you?”
“Get him away from me,” I said in a whispery, trembling voice as a harsh sweat broke out over my skin in a stinging rush.
“Pardon me?”
I held her gaze, letting her see as much as I could through my battered features that I fucking meant it. “Get Leo out of here, now.”
“Hannah,” Leo said in an agonized voice, but I couldn’t even look at him.
My throat hurt, bad, as I shouted, “Get your torture master the fuck out of here!”
“Hannah,” Leo tried again, touching my arm, and I lost my fucking mind.
“Get out!” I screamed into his face. “I hate you! You lied to me about everything. Looking at you makes me sick! Get out!”
I struggled to sit upright, crying out when my right arm, which I just noticed was bandaged at the wrist, sent a bolt of pain through me so sharp, it cut through my hysteria.
Leo lifted me and I went wild, screaming and hitting at him even though it hurt. My IV tore out of my hand and my blood spurted across the pretty burnt orange and cream bedspread. Cursing, Leo attempted to press the sheets to my hand, but I writhed against him, not able to stand his touch. How dare he act like he cared?
“What the fuck?” a man said in a loud shout. “What is going on?”
I screamed, a high-pitched sound that came from the center of my shattered heart. “Get him off of me!”
Abruptly I was released and I collapsed back into the bed, sobs racking me as I closed my eyes. Strong hands held me down, but they weren’t Leo’s—I knew his touch—so I didn’t fight. A feminine hand smoothed my hair from my sweat-soaked brow.
“Look what you did to her,” a man rasped from somewhere to my left. “Look what you and your fucked-up protégé did to her.”
“Fernando—”
“No—fucking look at her! She’s nothing but a kid and you let him have her, let him brainwash her. You screwed with her head so good she couldn’t even say that she knew him. It makes me sick!”
Judith shouted at him in Spanish, but I could truly give a fuck. My fragile mind and heart had been struck a severe blow, one so harsh I didn’t think I could recover from it. There was the sound of a scuffle as a new IV was placed into the vein at the crook of my elbow.
A few seconds later, cool relief flowed through my bloodstream and my sobs tapered off as blissful numbness washed through me. I knew people were still talking around me, and that I should pay attention, but I just couldn’t make myself care anymore, about anything.
