Page 49 of Rescuing Nathaniel

Employing the same tactic she did that time, she used the fact he had her arms pinned to her advantage and grabbed hold of his penis, twisting, squeezing, and digging her nails in all at the same time.

With a muted growl of pain, he released her, and she scrambled away from him. She had to get to the door. If she could get out of the room and scream, he’d surely cut his losses and run.

But the man recovered quicker than she would have thought, moving to block her exit. His eyes danced with fury, and she was pretty sure that if he didn't need her alive and healthy for his buddies to pick apart, then he would have attacked her.

Instead, when he lunged at her, she darted for the call button. As she pressed it, Ava opened her mouth and screamed as loudly as she could. Never in her life was she so glad to be in a busy hospital with people everywhere. There was no way that her cries for help wouldn't be heard, and no way that people wouldn't come running.

The man knew it too.

With a muttered curse, he flung open the door and ran out just as a doctor, two nurses, and a security guard all came running in.

Relief had her knees giving out, and Ava sank to the floor, curling into a ball as the reality of what had almost happened sank in.

She’d done it.

Saved herself.

This time at least.

But it was clear the ring didn't intend to give up on her so easily, and Ava had zero doubts that it wasn't a matter of if but a matter of when they’d be back.

* * *

March 5th

3:43 P.M.

The commotion upahead had a knot of anxiety forming in Nathaniel’s stomach.

One that had nothing to do with the fact that he was back at the hospital to see Ava.

While he still wasn't sure that this was the best idea, there was no way he could have stayed away after he’d learned that Ava had kicked her parents out. At least not without having a conversation with her about it and what it meant.

So that’s what he was there to do.

Terrifying as it was, Nathaniel knew he had to put on his big boy pants and stop being a coward. Ava had opened his eyes in a way he hadn't been expecting. He couldn’t help but feel he owed it to the woman who had fought so hard to live and yet hadn't hesitated to throw him out of the way and take a bullet meant for him, to at least talk openly and honestly about what happened next.

It would just be a whole hell of a lot easier if he knew how to put into words what he wanted to have happen next.

As he drew closer to Ava’s room, he realized that the commotion was centered around her room.

That knot of anxiety swelled until it was a shaft of physical pain.

Something had happened.

To Ava.

Had she relapsed? According to Rocco and his team, she was doing well physically, and would likely be discharged either tomorrow or the next day. That didn't mean that something hadn't changed. After all, she had lost a kidney and then been battling infection, plus the physical toll hiking through the jungle had taken.

Or maybe it wasn't a physical issue.

The ordeal she’d just lived through was some pretty major trauma, no one would blame her if she’d had a breakdown. You could only be strong and hold it together for so long before the millions of tiny cracks running through your soul caught up with you and you shattered.

He should know, he’d been staving off a shattering for most of his life.

Jogging the last few yards to Ava’s room, Nathaniel barreled past the guard standing in the doorway who looked like he was going to try to stop him and then skidded to a stop when he saw her sitting on the bed, curled in on herself, with a doctor standing beside her taking her pulse.

“Ava?” The word came out as a panicked squeak, very un-SEAL-like, and he didn't even have it in him to care. Something had happened to her, and he wasn't going to relax until he knew what it was and fixed it somehow.

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