Page 19 of Ruthless Prince
She nodded. “Yes. You wereunconscious.”
My scalp prickled with horror. “Did Jaredsee?”
My father replied this time. “Only for a second.” He rubbed the back of his head and went on. “He’s fine, don’t worry. Just a little shakenup.”
Guilt gnawed at my insides. Even though it wasn’t my fault, the knowledge that my little brother had seen me in such an awful position made me feel awful. Something like that had to be traumatizing for a nine-year-old.
Dad stroked my hair. “I’m so sorry, Willow,” he said softly. “I should’ve made more of an effort to listen toyou.”
“At least you believe me now, right?” I replied, eyes widening. “You know something is actually happening tome?”
“Yes. Of course we believe that now.” He glanced at my mother. “I should go and get Dr. Georgiou. She’ll want to know that Willow’sawake.”
“What about Jared?” I asked, propping myself up with the thick white pillows behind me. “Can I seehim?”
“He was here earlier, but we didn’t know when you’d wake up, so we sent him home,” Dad replied. “After I get the doctor, I’ll pick him up and bring him back here,okay?”
“Okay. Thankyou.”
He gave me a faint smile and stepped out of the hospital room. Mom watched him leave before returning her gaze to me. “I’m sorry, too,” she said. “I should’ve been there for you. I’ve just been so busy these last few months, and it never occurred to me that someone could be so sick that they’d….” She trailed off midsentence, let out a long sigh, and rubbed her eyes. “I promise, from now on, I’m going to be there for you whenever you need me. I’m going to make sure you get all the help you need and that you’re always safe. Ifyou—”
She stopped talking as her cell phone chirped, and she looked down with a frown. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. It’s the Brazilians again. Sorry, sweetheart, I have to takethis.”
“Wait, what?” My eyes widened. “Can’t you call them backlater?”
She shook her head. “It’s important. Their president is up in arms about this new tariff we’ve been discussing for their meat exports, and I need to deal with it as soon aspossible.”
I gritted my teeth. “Mom, I don’t want to guilt-trip you, but there was a massive security breach at the White House last night, and I was attacked in my bedroom where I was supposed to be safe. I really need you right now. I need to talk about what happened tome.”
She stared at me for a second, brows knitted. Then she let out another deep sigh. “We’ll talk later,Willow.”
“Can this meat tariff situation really not wait?” I shook my head with disbelief. “Is it really more important than your own daughter being attacked by a maskedpsychopath?”
I wasn’t sure why I was so shocked. My mother had always thought being POTUS was the ultimate goal, and now that she’d actually made it, she lived and breathed it. She would never let anything stand in the way of the job. Not even her kids. Literally nothing was sacred to her except the presidencyitself.
Sometimes I wondered just how far she’d gone to become president, though that wasn’t a pleasant thought to entertain. Whenever it popped into my head, I shooed it out immediately. It wasn’t right to think of my own mother like that, no matter what I might’ve seen orheard.
She patted my hand. “It’s going to be fine. You’re perfectly safe here. No one is going to let anything happen toyou.”
With that, she scurried out of the room, phone already at her ear. With a frustrated sigh, I settled back into the bed, my mind filling withquestions.
What happened after I passed out last night? Why did my attacker let me go? When he drugged me, I assumed it was because he wanted to take me somewhere without a struggle, but instead he left me naked and bound on my bedroom floor. Why would he do that? Did he want to humiliate me, or did he suddenly get nervous about beingcaught?
Dr. Georgiou finally stepped into the room, snapping me out of my reverie. I was glad to see her. She’d been the Rhoades family doctor for years, and I needed all the friendly, familiar faces I could get rightnow.
“I’m glad you’re awake,” she said, flashing me a dimpled smile. “How are youfeeling?”
“Pretty bad. My arms and legs are aching like crazy,” I replied. “My stomach hurtstoo.”
She nodded and tucked a wayward strand of black hair behind her ear. “Your wrists and ankles were bound behind your back for a long time, so it makes sense that they’re hurting now,” she said. “I’m guessing you’re also feeling quitestiff.”
“Yeah. Very stiff.” I held my left hand up. “What’s in thedrip?”
“Just fluids. You were quite dehydrated when they brought you in. Poor thing.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “How sore are you on a scale of one toten?”
I chewed my bottom lip. “It’s not the worst pain ever, but it’s definitely noticeable, so… four, Iguess?”
“Okay. I’m going to give you a mild painkiller,” she said, sticking something in the IV bag. “This one doesn’t have any sedative action, so you’ll be fine to talk to the agent in charge of your case when she arrives. Unless you’d rather wait a while and rest. That’s finetoo.”
