Page 18 of Speechless
He’d have to become her tormentor, yet again. A role he neither relished nor appreciated. Digging deep into Jenna’s flesh to clean out every last speck of dirt and grime, flushing them out, was going to cause her pain he couldn’t imagine.
With a fingertip, he traced one long cut. If he could sedate her for an hour, he could clean and stitch all four lacerations without worrying he was hurting her. By the time she came around, he’d have her system pumped full of painkillers and antibiotics for a second time.
He just needed to get the right dose of sedation to keep her out long enough to get the job done.
“Connor?”
The toothbrush clattered into the sink as Jenna jumped, smacking her hip against the counter before she bolted blindly, slipping from Connor’s restraining arms like a wraith. He cursed viciously under his breath, not wanting to scare her further with an outburst when she was already cowering in the corner with her arms over her head.
“Connor, you in there?” Caleb shouted, followed by three hard bangs on the bathroom door. “Sarah said you were up here.”
Moving cautiously, Connor snagged his robe from the hook on the side of the shower and draped it over Jenna’s naked form, tucking it around her. She flailed at him, her hands curved into claws. Capturing both slim wrists in one hand, her pulse hammering through the thin skin, Connor lifted her head so their eyes met.
The Jenna he knew wasn’t there.
“You’re okay, Jenna. It’s just Caleb. Breathe, baby. Breathe past the panic and trust me to care of things.” He could have been talking to a brick wall for all she responded. There was no flicker of recognition at the sound of his voice, no lull in the ferocity of her struggles. “Jenna, stop.”
Teeth bared, eyes wild, she launched at him as Caleb pounded on the door again. Close to losing his temper with his brother and sorely tempted to bellow back at him, Connor wrapped his free hand loosely around Jenna’s throat, squeezing slightly.
In his strictest, most sternno bullshittone, Connor commanded, “Jenna,enough.”
She faltered for a second, something flickering to life in the mossy depths of her eyes.
Caleb’s impatience kicked the fight back into gear, but Connor sensed a change in the dynamic, the slightest shift of her mind. Ignoring his brother, he stared at her with every ounce of dominance he could muster, feeling her hands flex in his hold. “Jenna, calm down. Take a long, deep breath and listen to me. Listen,” he repeated harshly, “tome.”
Submission won. Training—if what was done to her could be called training—overrode her natural fear instincts.
The moment she came back to herself, horror etched over her features.
“Good girl, Jenna,” Connor told her earnestly. “Good girl, baby.”
She yanked at her hands; he let them go, let her curl into herself and—unsurprisingly—self-comfort with her thumb in her mouth. He offered her comfort as well, pulling the robe halfway over her head to give her shelter.
Leaving her in the corner with part of his stupid heart, Connor stormed across the bathroom and ripped the door open just as Caleb’s fist was about to make contact yet again. Silently, too furious to say a word with Jenna in earshot, Connor slammed his hand into Caleb’s chest and sent him stumbling back across the hall.
With one quick glance at Jenna, Connor stepped into the hall and shut the door with a faint click. That small gesture used the last of his self-control.
“Don’teverpull that shit again.” Sharp as a blade, cold as frost, Connor clenched his fists to keep himself from swinging at his sibling. “You’re the fucking sheriff, Cal. I know it’s a goddamn desk job nowadays but don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how difficult it can be handling nervous victims. Abuse victims. Have you lost your fucking mind?”
Cal had the foresight to look ashamed. “I wasn’t thinking, okay? You don’t know what kind of shitstorm this is dropping on my head, Connor.”
“I couldn’t give a shit what’s dropping on your head or mine,” Connor shot back. “The only thing I’m concerned about is that young lass in there who’s just been fucking traumatized by my asshole of a brother. She’s been through enough, has more to go through yet, without you acting like an ignorant fucker and putting the fear of God in her.”
“All the more reason for me to do what I’m here for. The sooner we get her ID’d, the sooner she gets shipped home to whatever family’s missing her.”
“You think I don’t know she needs to find her family?”
“I think you’re getting attached to a victim you have no business hooking onto,” Caleb returned evenly. “I saw you with her yesterday, Con. It has all the hallmarks of the relationship you had with—”
“Don’t you fucking dare bring that bitch into this conversation. For one, you know the hell she put me through, the goddamn lies she spewed to ruin my life, my reputation, my career. Lies you believed.” And the bitterness was still there. “Jenna has my attention as a doctor and as a human being. She deserves to be treated like a fucking person, Caleb; she’s gone too long being used as anything but.”
“Told you this, did she?”
His fist was raised, was arcing through the air before Connor realized he acted on instinct. Arguments always evolved into fights between the three brothers. Sometimes words just didn’t have the same impact as spilled blood.
Inches from Caleb’s smug face, Connor managed to drop his arm. He refused to go back to Jenna bloody and bruised. She’d seen too much violence, suffered through enough of it. He wouldn’t rub her face in it as well.
With a deep, calming breath, he quelled the urge to fight. “You tell me what you need, and I’ll get it for you. I don’t want you anywhere near her, not after this.”