Page 28 of Speechless
Because shehadfound him, one way or another.
They hadn’t seen the look in her eyes, the shadows that crossed her face when she was expectant of a swift backhand. They wouldn’t have a clue how to keep her in bed when she retreated back into what that bastard had made her become.
“Let the professionals deal with her,” Caleb urged.
Connor rose from the chair, stood straight and proud. He didn’t meet Sarah’s eyes again, but he stared directly into his brother’s without hesitation. “I’m sorry for what you went through, Caleb. I wish you’d told me sooner.”
“Connor.”
He lifted a hand to silence Sarah, then ran it through his hair. “Professionals can’t help her, Cal. Not at this stage. They know their jobs, they’re damn good at them, but they’re overworked in a system where one-on-one doesn’t come into the equation. Jenna needs one-on-one care. It’s essential she builds trust in humanity before she gets thrown back into the circus her life will become.”
“You’re not a psychologist, Connor. You’re not a speech therapist, a social worker. You’re not what she needs!”
Anger rose, swift and keen. “I have skills she needsnow, Caleb. It’s my hands patching her up, my hands keeping her quiet in the dark when the nightmares rip her to pieces. My voice keeping her together when the stress of all this shit sends her into a meltdown. Trust me, you send her into a hospital, it will kill her.”
“How overdramatic do you want to be?”
“Overdramatic? Her heartrate goes through the roof when a stranger comes near her. Times that by two people, three, however many fucking strangers they call to hold her down while they drug her up to the eyeballs. If she doesn’t have a heart attack before they get the drugs in, likelihood is they’ll overdose her in an effort to keep her constantly calm and sedated.”
“Guys, you might want to keep your voices down,” Sarah interrupted.
“There’s no need. Caleb is just leaving.” Connor was prepared to haul the sheriff out to his car personally if needs be. “He has work to do and so do I.”
Caleb shook his head. “Stubborn fucker. I can report this, you know. If your superiors find you’re acting unprofessionally, you stand to lose a lot more than a skinny wraith. Don’t make me take it that far, Connor.”
The threat of a report took his temper to boiling point. Theskinny wraithcomment blew the lid off his fury and sent logic scattering to the wind. His knuckles smashed into Caleb’s mouth and pain bit into his hand along with his brother’s teeth. Something cracked, Caleb grunted, and Connor reared back to strike again.
Caleb lifted his hand to block the blow; Connor smacked the defense aside with a snarl and let his fist flatten Cal’s vulnerable nose with a savage crunch and nasty spray of blood.
“Connor, no!” Something small and ridiculously agile landed on his back, shimmying up him like a monkey up a damn tree, and grabbed the fist he pulled back for a third shot. “You made your point!”
He was mad enough to try shake Sarah off, but she clung tight, one arm around his neck and the other looped around his arm. “No one insults her that way. She’s a fucking person, not a possession!”
“He didn’t mean it, Con. Did you, Caleb? Tell him you didn’t mean it.”
Wiping at the blood on his face, with one of his front teeth missing, Caleb spat more blood inelegantly on the floor. “Goddamnit, Connor.”
“Tell him!”
“No, I didn’t fucking mean it. I didn’t think he’d lose his fucking head over it either.” Disgusted, Caleb glared. “I could have you up for assaulting an officer.”
Adrenaline filled his veins, a potent drug affecting all his senses. “I’ll put you in the ground, brother.” The emotional stress of the past two days rolled inside him like a tidal wave of destruction. “Try take her away from me and we’re done, Caleb. We’re fucking done.”
“Connor, calm down. No one’s taking anyone away. You need to go get cleaned up and cool off before you go near Jenna. If she sees you like this, you’ll scare her,” Sarah murmured in his ear. “I’m going to take Cal next door and fix him up. This is the end of it, you hear me? Both of you. No more arguing, no more brawling.”
Growling, Connor fought to release the energy bloodlust had gathered. It took longer than he thought to shake it off, to be able to loosen his fists and relax. His right hand stung like a bitch, no doubt, but looking at Caleb’s face, he wouldn’t be suffering quite as badly as his brother.
“Shake hands. No more bad blood.” Still in place perched on Connor’s broad back, Sarah waited until they clasped hands, shook once. Satisfied they’d managed to divert a disaster, she slid down to the floor and brushed herself off. “Oh, fuck me.”
The three of them froze, almost comically to Connor’s mind, and he automatically stepped toward Jenna. She sat on the side of the exam table, pale and sweaty, hunched over.
“Don’t, Connor. You’re covered in blood. Take Caleb, go get washed up. I’ll get her settled down again.” Hurrying forward, a bright smile on her face, Sarah waved a hand at him. “Now, Connor.”
“Fuck,” he hissed. Torn between seeing to Jenna and not scaring the shit out of her, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, nudging Caleb along ahead of him. “Sarah, Cal needs the goddamn samples!”
“I’ll get them,” Caleb muttered, but Sarah was already in the doorway with tubes in one hand and a haphazard set of printed photographs in the other.
“Nice seeing you, Caleb; don’t hurry back.” She shut the door with a snap, and Connor heard her talking to Jenna in a cheery, over the top tone that told him Jenna wasn’t amenable to Sarah’s company.