Page 24 of Vengeful Pawn

I give her a thumbs up because nodding isn’t in the cards for me right now.

She releases my hand after another squeeze, and the door whooshes open and closed as she leaves. My memory struggles to come up with what happened that landed me in the hospital. There’s this sense of urgency I feel to my marrow, but I can’t figure out why. The more I try to remember, the harder my head pounds, until all that’s left is a ringing in my ears that makes things ten times worse. It’s not until hands on my wrists pull them away, and I realize that I was digging my palms into my eyes, trying to stem the pounding.

“Princess.” Hendrix’s smooth voice makes me sob as he draws me gently into his chest. “Sshh, baby, everything is okay now. You’re fine, the baby is fine. I’ll take care of you.”

“What happened?” I ask between sobs as my chest threatens to explode.

Hendrix pulls back, and there’s quiet tension in the room as a warm cloth gently wipes at my eyes. I blink a few times until my vision clears, well, mostly. Apparently, I have at least one black eye because my sight out of it is deplorable, and it feels tender as I blink.

“You don’t remember?” Hendrix finally asks, his gaze unwavering from mine.

“I’m trying, but my head pounds when I think too hard.”Could I have a concussion?And hearing my voice now, there is something wrong with my throat. It hurts to speak, to swallow the little saliva in my mouth, and my voice is hoarse.

“Let’s get the doctor or nurse in here, and then I’ll get you an explanation, okay?” He helps me lie back down, taking as much of my weight as possible so that the places where I currently ache don’t tense or stretch.

Hendrix then leaves the room quickly. Coral sits in a chair in the corner, appearing pale and absolutely terrified.

“Coral?” The girl’s head snaps up, and I offer a hand, reaching for her. She immediately moves closer, careful of where she’s touching, until I pat the bed beside me. “Lay with me,” I encourage, and after a few minutes, she’s cuddled into my side, her head resting on my shoulder and her arms hugging mine to her chest.

I feel the rigidity in her body as she struggles to hold it together. “I’m sorry, Mia.”

“I may not remember what happened, Coral, but I’m certain it’s not your fault.” Patting her arm is all I’m able to do, but after a couple of minutes, she relaxes again, and by the time Hendrix is back with a doctor, Coral is out cold.

“Miss Dion, I’m Doctor Jules Perry. How are you feeling?” The woman is tall, wears large glasses, and has blonde hair in a messy knot on her head. The lab coat hides her figure, but I like the way her eyes focus on me.

“Like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

I cough from the apparent damage to my throat, and Hendrix brings over a cup with a straw, offering me a drink of ice-cold water. I thank him.

“That’s to be expected.” She grips my wrist to check my vitals before writing notes in my chart. “Do you remember what happened?”

“I’ve tried,” I reply. “But my head starts pounding, and I have to stop.”

“That’s to be expected. You have a grade 3 concussion, and based on the information provided to me, you were likely unconscious for nearly ten minutes.”

“Does that mean I’ll never remember?”

“Not at all. It just means you need to rest and focus on healing.” I’m almost afraid to ask what my injuries are.

“Healing…from what, exactly?” Hendrix squeezes my hand, and fear strikes my heart. “The baby…I felt it moving before. I wanted to die, but he or she was moving. Is something wrong?”

“No, not at all. Shockingly.” Frowning at the doctor’s comment sets off a new wave of nausea. “Breathe in and out slowly.” Listening to her instructions, she waits until the feeling has passed. “So, here’s the damage.” She sits on the bed at my feet. “Three bruised ribs, a small spleen laceration, which we fixed with surgery. The concussion…you have ten stitches in your head for that. Also, multiple bruises on your face, arms, and legs.”

“Oh my god.” I press my palm to my chest, trying to ease the rising panic. Being clueless about what happened is killing me. It clearly had something to do with Coral, but apparently, nobody was with me or has any idea what occurred.

“Just breathe, Mia. Everything is going to be okay.” Jules offers me an oxygen mask to help regain my control and ease the panic. “You are going to be fine. The baby is fine. We’ll talk about restrictions until you give birth in a little bit. For now, just relax with your husband and daughter, and I’ll be back to check on you in a little while.”

I wait until the doctor leaves before addressing Hendrix. “Daughter? Husband?”

Red tinges his cheeks as a crooked smile lifts one corner of his mouth. “It was the only way we could get in here.”

Staring down at Coral, the sweet, tortured, thirteen-year-old girl, I can’t bring myself to dismiss the idea. “And they believed you with our ages?”

“It’s not like they asked her age. She’s kind of small; it could be believable.” He shrugs and makes me smile.

This man is so complex. There is no doubt he’s as deadly as they come, but he’s got a soft heart for us.

“She could be…” I say.

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