Page 95 of Sheltered

“I’m here,” I assured him, even though I couldn’t quite believe I was saying those words.

He kissed me once more, sat back down, and asked, “How do you feel? Are you in any pain?”

I took a second to consider his question. “My leg is throbbing a bit. I might have a headache, too.”

Nodding, he said, “The doctor said that was a strong possibility. We’ll call someone in here to see if they can give you something.”

“Not yet. Can you tell me what’s going on? How long have I been out?”

“It’s early Sunday morning,” he confirmed. “Your brothers went to your salon and called your appointments for the next week to let them know you were in the hospital. You were in surgery for a few hours on Friday when you got here, and you were in and out of it yesterday, only opening your eyes a handful of times for a few seconds. Your parents were here all day yesterday, kicking me out at one point and forcing me to go home, grab a shower, and get something to eat. I’ve been spending my nights here by your side.”

“Do you know who did this to me?” I asked him.

He nodded. “You told me when I found you in the salon.”

“You were the one who found me?”

“Yeah,” he murmured, shaking his head. “I’ll never forget that day for the rest of my life. God, I thought I was never going to hear your voice again.”

I knew it.

I knew he was going to go there to make sure I was okay. And I knew it was going to kill him if something happened to me.

Luckily, he didn’t have to face that horror.

“I’m sorry,” I lamented.

“Baby, you didn’t do anything wrong. This was my fault. I’m sorry. I should have done things differently. I should have… fuck, it kills me to say this, but I should have pulled back from you until I managed to get this case solved. You never should have been in the position you were in.”

Blaze’s voice was ragged. He blamed himself for the actions of someone else.

I pulled my hand from his and touched his cheek. “It’s just as much your fault as it is mine, Blaze. I was merely apologizing because I hate to think about what you went through these last couple of days. But you aren’t responsible for what happened to me. That woman is the only one responsible.”

He nodded slowly and shared, “She’s been arrested. They took her in that night, and once they told her you specifically named her and had survived, she confessed to everything. Of course, she didn’t feel any remorse and wholeheartedly believes she did the right thing to avenge her father. I’m not going to get into the details of what he did right now, but just know that he deserved the punishment that was handed to him. His actions impacted a lot of people.”

“I believed that was the case when she told me why she was doing what she was doing,” I said. “I’m glad she’s been arrested. How did you know something was wrong?”

“We got a note at the office, and I just had this gut feeling. But let’s not worry about all those details right now. Let’s just focus on you getting healed up so I can take you home.”

I held his gaze and felt the corners of my mouth tip up. “Am I going to be okay?”

“They expect you to make a full recovery,” he said proudly.

A full recovery.

I thought I was going to have some permanent damage that I’d have to learn to live with.

But I was going to be fine.

“I love you, Blaze.”

His fingers tightened around mine, his eyes getting wet. “I love you, too, Harlow.”

“Will you call the nurse in, so we can ask about pain medications? And while we wait for her, will you kiss me and try to make it all feel better?”

Blaze let out a laugh as he reached for the call button. “There isn’t anything you could ask me right now that I wouldn’t do for you.”

“That’s good to know.”