Page 6 of Her Avenging Angel

Chapter Five

Raven clenched hisjaw and did his best to help the girl up. He recognized the look of determination in her eye and would do everything he could to help her do what she needed to do. The last thing he wanted was to do anything that would damage that resolve. She would likely need it. Recovery, both physically and emotionally, wouldn’t be easy. He didn’t know how she’d been so matter of fact when she’d told them she’d been raped. Just suspecting it had made him want to kill the fuckers responsible. Now that he knew for sure, their days were numbered. He just needed to know how many and who, then he would find them. They would pay for what they’d done to this tiny, impossibly strong spirit in front of him.

He helped her to her feet, took her IV bag from Freud, then shuffled with her into the bathroom, making sure she didn’t fall.

“When we found you, you had no clothes. That’s one of my shirts and I have plenty if you need more. But if you’ll let us know what sizes, we’ll send someone out to get you something of your own,” he said as they made their way into the bathroom. Once they were inside, he searched her face. “You okay to do this yourself? I can help, or I can step outside and only come back in to help you back to bed.”

“I can do it.” her voice shook a little, but she didn’t acknowledge it, so neither did he.

Raven hung the IV bag on the towel rack on the wall, making sure she had enough line for whatever she might need to do, then made sure she was steady on her feet before stepping out of the bathroom and pulling the door shut behind him. He stood just outside the door so he could hear if she called out or fell. Freud pushed himself to his feet.

“I need to get something. I’ll be right back,” the club’s medic said before leaving the room.

Raven watched him go, but didn’t say anything. He was ready to cause mayhem over what this woman had been through—he couldn’t imagine how the doc was feeling. He felt things like this more deeply than most of the brothers. Raven believed it was a hazard of his career. First Freud had been a medic in the army, and once he’d gotten out he’d become an EMT. He’d done that until his back wouldn’t let him anymore. Now he kept his certifications but mostly used his knowledge for the Angels. Freud hadn’t returned yet when he heard her call out behind him.

“Okay, I’m ready.” Her voice was muffled slightly by the door, but he had no trouble hearing her.

“All right, I’m coming in,” Raven said. He didn’t want to scare her any more than she had to be already. He opened the door and stepped inside. She looked exhausted, even worse than she had before she’d insisted on this trip. “You want to walk back or let me carry you?” He wanted to just pick her up and take her back to bed without anything else. He wanted to be able to tell her to rest and get better without having to worry about how she might feel like a prisoner. But he knew neither of those was the smart option, at least not now.

“I’ll walk,” her voice was soft, as if it had lost much of the strength she’d had before.

“All right, whenever you’re ready.” He moved to her side, unhooked the IV bag and watched as she limped and inched her way into the bedroom, ready to catch her should she fall. When she reached the bed, she stood there a moment, staring at it. Raven looked back and forth from the bed to her and back several times before saying anything. “Is there something wrong?”

She glanced up at him, eyes wide, as if she’d forgotten he was there.

“No. Nothing’s wrong.” She shook her head quickly, as if she didn’t want to offend him.

“Sweetheart, nothing bad is going to happen to you here. If you want or need something, you just have to let us know.” Raven tried to keep his voice gentle, but he wasn’t sure he’d succeeded when she moved away from him and refused to look at him.

“Don’t call me that,” she said after a moment, her voice so soft he barely heard it.

“I’m sorry. It was just something to call you until you could tell us your name. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He paused, watching her. “Want to tell me your name?”

She stared at him for a moment, eyes wide. He didn’t know if she was trying to decide if she could trust him with her name or if exhaustion was catching up to her and it was taking her brain that long to process what he’d said. Or maybe it was something else entirely, something he didn’t have a clue about.

Raven wished he knew what to do, what to say, to make her feel more at home. To make her feel safe. He took a deep breath and waited. Eventually she would say something.

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