Page 52 of Drowning in the Deep
Daemon came around to open my door for me, but rather than helping me out of the car, he scooped me into his arms and carried me inside. I heard voices and thought I recognized a few of them, but I buried my head in his chest, rather than trying to see who they were. All I wanted right then were some strong pain meds and a place to rest. I had no idea if this warehouse could accommodate either of those wishes, but when I heard Daemon say to someone, “I’m going to put her in the back in bed,” I knew that I would be able to rest soon.
I thought it was Tilda’s voice I heard saying, “Should I call a doctor?”
“I think we should get Janis to take a look at her first,” Daemon said over his shoulder. “If we can keep from getting more people involved under the circumstances, that’s probably better. She’s really tired, though. I’m gonna give her something for the pain and let her sleep.”
“It might be hard for him to get here right now,” Tilda answered. “A lot of shit’s gone down tonight.”
“You think?” Daemon’s tone was sarcastic, and something told me my father’s mansion going up in flames wasn’t all that he’d been up to.
When my body hit the thin mattress of a twin bed in what appeared to be yet another storage room, all of those thoughts faded. Immediately, I curled up, glad that Daemon was there to take care of me. He placed a soft blanket over my body and carefully brushed my hair away from my face. “I’ll get you something for the pain,” he promised.
I didn’t want to let go of him. Instinctively, my hand shot out to linger on his leg for as long as possible before he pulled away. I knew I needed the medicine, but I wanted him to stay with me.
Once again, I drifted off only to be awoken a few moments later by some pills being thrust toward me, along with a glass of water. The moment the first drops of water hit my tongue, I wanted to down it. I was so thirsty, my throat was dry, and my tongue was swollen. But I took my time, letting the water lubricate everything before I took the pills and managed to swallow them down. Then, I finished the glass of water, handed it to him, and lay back down. “Thank you.”
Daemon sat down beside me on the edge of the bed. “I’ve got a bunch of shit to handle. You should sleep. You’ll be safe here. I promise.”
I didn’t feel like that was a possibility, though, unless Daemon was with me. The idea that he was about to go back out into the other part of the warehouse and get to work on mobster stuff sent a chill down my spine. I held on to him tighter. “Stay with me.”
I was begging. I could hear it in my voice. I didn’t care. If he left, I’d fall back into a fit of nightmares and other demented dreams, but as long as he was with me, I’d know it. I could sleep soundly wrapped in his arms.
“Elisa.” The way he said my name let me know he was annoyed with me. But he didn’t leave. Instead, he helped me adjust on the small bed so that he could slip in beside me. It was dark in the room, and my eyes were still fucked up, but I felt him next to me, the blanket between us because he didn’t throw it over his body, and I curled into him, resting my head on his chest.
Daemon’s arms wrapped around me, holding me close. I wanted him to stay there with me indefinitely, but at the very least, I needed him there until the sun came up. Then, when the shadows were exposed, and it was more difficult for danger to lurk, I’d be more comfortable with the outside world. At least, that was what I told myself as I started to drift off.
The medicine helped me not to fall into another fitful nightmare, but every time Daemon shifted beneath me, it woke me to the point that I dug my nails into him, trying to latch onto his body so that he couldn’t get away from me. A few times, I heard him sigh, as if it was killing him to have to stay in bed with me when he had important things to do, but he didn’t get up, not until someone knocked on the door what must’ve been hours after I’d talked him into staying with me.
I whimpered as he slid out from beneath me, not because of the pain, though it did hurt a little, but because I wasn’t ready for him to leave me yet, not even to walk to the door.
Daemon chuckled under his breath. “Elisa, it’s been six hours. Let me see who’s at the fucking door.”
I rolled over slightly, noting I could see a little better now. The swelling in my eyes seemed to have gone down, and a small amount of light filtering in from beneath the door told me it was probably daytime. Daemon’s comment sank in. If it had been six hours since I’d gone to sleep, it had to be daytime.
“Hi, Janis,” Daemon said, pulling the door open. “Thanks for coming.”
“Yes, sir, of course.” Janis’s voice immediately had me sitting up in bed, a smile forming on my face, even though I still felt like shit. Just knowing he was there made me instantly feel better. “Oh, dear.”
“I look awful, huh?” I asked, cringing a little.
“Well, dear, I’ve seen you look much better. But not to worry. As long as we don’t have any gunshot wounds or broken bones, I can help.” He came over to me, and Daemon pulled in a chair for him from somewhere as Janis inspected my injuries.
“I think my nose is broken,” I told him. It hurt more than any other part of my body, but then, that also had something to do with the hot sauce that had been sprayed up into it.
“Yes, I think it might be, but it doesn’t appear to be dislodged. There’s some swelling right now. Once that goes down, I’ll be able to tell for sure. Hopefully, we won’t need to do any rebreaking to move things around.”
His words made a lump form in my throat that I couldn’t swallow around for a moment, but then, I thought maybe if worse came to worst, I could have plastic surgery and cross that milestone under anesthesia. I did know a good doctor, after all, and while Drake wasn’t a plastic surgeon, I was confident he could help me.
I probably should’ve asked Daemon to call him to come and treat me now, but Janis seemed to know what he was doing, carrying around a black medical bag like an old-timey doctor, and I didn’t want to get Drake involved unless I had to. Asking my brother to cross that line, to become part of the syndicate working against my father, would be madness for both of us. It was best to keep him out of this if I could.
Janis went about cleaning my cuts and bruises. It stung a little when he wiped antiseptic on the larger wounds, but I gritted my teeth and suffered through. If my father had taught me anything over the course of the last few days, it was that I was a hell of a lot tougher than I realized.
Tilda came into the room a few minutes after Janis arrived, and she brought me some water and something to eat. I thanked her and nibbled on a croissant while Janis went about his work.
When Janis was nearly done, I realized that Daemon was no longer in the room. I’d been so focused on what Janis and Tilda were doing, I hadn’t noticed. “Daemon?” I shouted, panic rising up inside of me. “Daemon!”
“What?” He was laughing as he came back into the room, shaking his head. “I was just out in the hallway. Jesus Christ, Elisa.”
“Sorry,” I muttered, glad he’d come back so quickly. He came over to me, and I wrapped my arms around him. “I feel safer when you’re here.”
