Page 104 of Midnight Racers

The doctor walked in and shone bright lights in my eyes while asking me questions and examining my bruises.

“You were very lucky,” he said. “You’re a bit bashed up, but it looks like you’re going to be fine.”

Seeing Flynn had brought everything back into focus. I bit my bottom lip, looking at the doctor and then him since I hadn’t told him about the pregnancy.

“The baby’s fine as well,” Flynn replied, as if looking inside my mind. His hand found mine and squeezed it gently.

“We’ll keep you in for another few days just to keep an eye on you,” the doctor said, writing on my chart before handing it to the nurse. “Try to rest, and maybe all these people will leave my hospital since you’re awake.”

“I’ll go and let the guys know you’re awake.” Flynn dropped my hand and left the room. My heart sunk because what I needed right now was for Flynn to tell me that everything was going to be okay. I craved his reassurance because I was vulnerable and the only person to make me feel better was the father of my child.

Mum helped me sit forward again and lifted the glass to my mouth so I could suck from the straw. “He’s sat with you while you were unconscious,” Mum said. “He seems a genuinely good guy.”

I slumped back and closed my eyes. “Doesn’t change the fact he doesn’t want me.”

“You need to speak to him, Charlotte. No one made him stay with you, he did that because he wanted to.” She gave me that Mum look that all children of every age feared. The one that made you feel as if you were five again and she was disappointed in you.

“Yeah, I know.” I sighed, returning my attention to the ceiling.

“Your dad has been here. I tried to phone Dale but his phone is off.”

Honestly, I didn’t think I could stomach my brother right now. Give me fifty years, and I might reconsider my option.

The nurse reappeared again with toast and tea, leaving it all set out on the table.

“Have they upgraded the National Health Service?” I asked, eyeing the plate with a monogram. The teapot contained the same symbol on the front of it.

“Flynn had you brought to a private hospital. You’ve had personal treatment from that doctor that was in earlier. He even had an obstetrics consultant come over and check on the baby.”

My brow furrowed as I nibbled on a piece of granary toast with lots of butter and jam on it. Eating my toast exhausted me, although the sweet, milky tea revived me in a way the water hadn’t been able to. I fell asleep as Mum chatted about a case she was working on.

I woke up and the lights were dimmed, and the room empty. I needed to use the bathroom, but my head swam as I tried to sit up.

“You’re supposed to press the button if you need help,” Flynn said from beside the window. I hadn’t seen him dressed in black in the shadows.

“I need the bathroom.”

He moved with his normal lithe precision, like a black panther pacing across the room. “Put your arms around my neck,” he commanded, his arms already moving around me to lift me out of the bed.

“I can walk,” I protested, my body screaming in pain even though he was gentle.

“Sure,” he muttered. “The problem emerges when you don’t remember to walk back again.”

I probably deserved that after running away to hide at Mum’s house.

He set me on my shaky legs in the toilet. “I can pee by myself,” I said, feeling suddenly embarrassed because this stranger wasn’t the Flynn I knew. He was cold and distant, and I had no idea how to reach him.

I watched as he turned, his broad shoulders disappearing out the door. I gripped the side of the sink, and stared at myself in the mirror. I was a mess with two black eyes and swelling to my nose and upper lip. My hand shook as I tried to touch my mouth.

Flynn rushed over to lift me back into bed when I stumbled out of the bathroom a few minutes later.

“You don’t have to stay,” I said, slumping back into bed in exhaustion since a trip to the toilet felt like I’d run a marathon.

He dragged his chair over beside the bed. “We took a vote and decided someone stayed with you until you were fit to go home.”

I picked up he said go home and not come home. It looked like I was no longer welcome at Flynn’s house.

“I’m in a hospital, I doubt anything will happen to me here,” I muttered, trying to turn my back to him because I was slowly dying inside.

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