Page 50 of Rescuing Nathaniel

When her gaze snapped to meet his, relief flared in her round blue eyes, and it hit him right in the heart.

She was happy to see him.

More than that, she was relieved.

Whatever had happened she believed he could make it better.

“You came,” she whispered, almost in awe. “How did you know?”

“I didn't know … I don’t know,” he said as he strode across the room to stand on the other side of her bed.

“You were coming anyway?” While she looked and sounded confused by that, she clearly liked the idea. A lot, if the way her lips curled into a smile that chased away some of the fear in her eyes was any indication.

“Yeah, Aves, I was coming anyway,” he told her softly, enjoying the warm smile she gifted him even as anxiety over what had happened continued to churn in his gut. “Now can you tell me what happened?”

As he scanned the room, he saw there was a gurney along with her bed, two nurses fussed around Ava, and the doctor was watching her gravely. It didn't appear she was sicker than he’d been led to believe, so the only other explanation had to be that she’d had some sort of breakdown.

Only that didn't seem true either.

While it was obvious that Ava was upset and scared, she didn't seem hysterical in any way, and no one had sedated her or anything. Maybe they’d already given her some drugs and the effects were kicking in?

“They came for me, Nathaniel,” Ava whispered.

“They came for you? Who came for you?” There was a clear answer to that question, but it was one he wasn't interested in entertaining. It was too terrifying.

“Them. The traffickers.”

Her words filled him with dread unlike anything he had experienced before.

How could they be back? Why would they be back? It was a huge risk to try to get their hands on Ava again, and one he wouldn't have thought they would have bothered with. It was just as easy to find another victim. Unless they’d already typed and crossed Ava’s bloodwork with potential buyers, and she was more valuable to them than he’d realized.

When he got her home, he’d thought it was over, that she was safe. It had never occurred to him—to anyone—that the organ traffickers would try to abduct her a second time.

It was a mistake, and one Ava had almost paid the ultimate price for.

“How do you know it was them?” he asked, still clinging to a sliver of denial because it was by far the better option.

That earned him an eye roll, which actually went a long way toward soothing the knot of anxiety in his stomach.

“Because I'm not stupid, Nathaniel. And I'm aware of the improbability statistics, that I would be abducted by organ traffickers, rescued, and then there is an abduction attempt by someone else while I'm still in the hospital recovering,” she said, throwing in another eye roll at the end which actually made him smile.

“Sorry, Aves, just freaking out a little,” he admitted.

“Me too,” she whispered, and when she held out a hand to him, he didn't hesitate in the least to grab hold of it.

Smoothing the pad of his thumb across the inside of her wrist, he perched on the bed beside her. It was likely she’d already gone through what happened but he needed to hear it to plan their next move. It also hadn't gone unnoticed that she was wearing a hospital gown instead of her own clothes and he was terrified to know why. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Although the nod she gave him was shaky, when she spoke her voice was calm. “I was taking a shower. It was my first one alone and I took a little longer than I should have. Just as I was reaching for a towel the door opened. I thought it was one of the nurses checking on me because I was a while, but it was a man. He was dressed like a nurse, but I hadn't seen him before, and his eyes … they were cold … unfeeling.”

Not bothering to fight his instincts, Nathaniel moved so he was sitting beside her on the narrow bed and then wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Maintaining his hold on her hand, he kept swirling his thumb across her soft skin in an effort to soothe her.

“I knew it was them. I mean, I hadn't seen his face on the boat, but he was one of them, I just knew,” she said a little defensively.

“I believe you, Aves. I don’t want to because I don’t want it to be true, but I believe you.”

With a nod, she rested her cheek against his shoulder. “I opened my mouth to scream but he grabbed me before I could. I knew if I fought off Rex then I could get away from him, too, so I grabbed his penis and yanked.”

“Rex will be pleased to know your moves aren't only for him,” he said with a small chuckle.

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