Page 120 of My Fiancé's Brother
I let out a harsh breath. The relief was so intense that stars swam before my eyes.
“Hey,” she reached over and squeezed my arm. “They say that the man is suspected of hurting a lot of women. He’s going to go to jail for a long time. You don’t have to worry about him, okay?”
She handed me a cup, directed me to the washroom and told me to hang tight.
In the washroom, I studied my face. My nose trailed crusty blood. My upper lip was swollen. My cheekbones had started to swell and bruise. I sported bruises on my neck where he had choked me. I peed in the cup, left it in the little window box, and then washed my face and my hands.
I walked back to my bed and shut the curtains. I took off my hospital gown. My bra and shirt had disappeared as evidence, so I pulled Jackson’s hoodie back over my body. It hung down to my knees. It smelled faintly of him. I put my knees up on the bed and lay my head on my knees. I needed to go home.
Jackson’s voice sounded from outside the curtain. He came in. Our eyes met.
I worked my throat. His sympathetic look made me want to burst into tears.
“Thank you for saving me,” I said in a tiny voice.
“I should have killed that asshole,” he walked over to the bed. I moved my feet, and he sat down on the side. He picked up my hand. I looked at his knuckles. They were swollen and bloody.
“Your hands, Jackson!”
He shrugged and stared at me. “Do you want me to call Matt?”
The only person I wanted to be around right now was Jackson. “No.”
We stared at each other. I tried, but I couldn’t read the expression in his eyes.
The words tumbled out of my mouth, “I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t have my phone. I didn’t even see him. I was in my own little world. One minute I was daydreaming and then the next minute he attacked me. All my defenses, all my training was useless.”
He squeezed my hand. “Emily, you are 5-foot-nothing, and you barely weigh 100 pounds. The guy outweighed you by at least a hundred pounds. Only a bullet between his eyes could have stopped him.”
“You stopped him.”
He swallowed. “I saw Chloe running towards me and then I heard you scream. I swear my heart stopped. When I saw that asshole on you, I fucking lost my mind.”
He stared straight ahead. I could see the rage and frustration on his face. “If you hadn’t stopped me I would've killed him.”
I looked at his huge hand, holding mine. “They say that he hurt a lot of women.”
“Emily.”
I looked up into his green eyes. “Please tell me what he’s done.”
He fought to control his emotions. “They say they have tied his fingerprints to the rape and murder of nine women.”
I had a flash of that man and the cold rage in his eyes. When that man attacked me, I knew he would kill me.
“He strangled them.”
“Yes.”
“Will you please hold me?”
He moved down the bed and then lifted me against his chest. I shut my eyes and clung to him. How was I going to live without this man? I had absolutely no idea. I felt Jackson’s big arms wrap around me. This was the one place that I felt safe.
I shut my eyes. I wanted to go home.
Voices sounded outside the curtain. Two men talked quietly in front of my curtain.
“Hey, Doug, what are you here for?”
