Page 2 of Little Hearts

The voice came out of nowhere.

A moment later a body accompanied it. A man rushed toward them, and his fist slammed into the jaw of the man holding her down. Instantly he released her. Aggie drew in several deep, shuddering breaths. The knife clattered to the ground, the two men scuffled, then the man who had been about to kill her ran.

When a figure loomed over her, she screamed. Well squawked would probably be a better word since her throat was too sore to produce much of a sound.

“It’s all right, you're safe now. You're safe now,” a man repeated as he cupped her uninjured cheek in his hand.

Aggie relaxed immediately. This man had just saved her life. Her eyes fell closed as a sudden rush of exhaustion hit her. With it came an onslaught of pain from her face, neck, and wrist.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

The man’s voice was soft and soothing, reassuring her, but she was too overwhelmed to answer. She’d nearly died. If he hadn’t turned up when he did, her attacker would have killed her.

“Ma’am, I need you to open your eyes for me, so I know you're all right.”

His patient insistence spurred her to at least comply with that. Her eyes opened slowly to meet his, which were a very dark blue. His hair was as black as the night sky above him, his smile a little crooked, and he had a dimple in one cheek, close to the corner of his mouth. Her heart rate that had been slowing down now sped back up, her knight in shining armor was cute.

“There you go.” His smile deepened as did the dimple. “Where else are you injured?” he asked as his fingers gently touched her scraped cheek.

“My neck hurts,” Aggie murmured, her voice hoarse and croaky, and barely comprehensible.

“I bet it does.” His smile turned sympathetic, and his gentle fingers moved from her face to her throat. “What else?”

“My wrist,” her voice was a little stronger this time. Carefully, he lifted her left arm and she moaned as pain rocketed through her.

“Sorry,” the man apologized immediately. “It’s probably broken. I'm going to call the cops and an ambulance,” he informed her, speaking slowly as though she might have trouble understanding him.

The reminder of the cops brought her out of her ‘attracted to the cute guy’ haze and panic immediately swamped her. Had her attacker really left? What if he came back? Aggie tried to sit but her savior held her down. She struggled against him, frantic to get away from here, to get someplace safe. Her chest was tightening as shock took hold, that she was unable to draw a proper breath added to her fear.

“Shh, calm down.” The man began to stroke her hair. “He’s not coming back, I scared him off. You need to stay still until help gets here. You're shaking,” he announced, shrugging out of his jacket and covering her with it.

He was right, she was shaking. Shivering uncontrollably. The temperature was still in the nineties, and yet she was as cold as though it was the middle of winter. Of its own volition her uninjured hand reached for the man’s, she didn’t even know his name, but he’d saved her life, he was definitely a good guy, and right now she needed someone to comfort and reassure her. Her eyes found and glued themselves to his while he pulled out a cell phone and made a call. Aggie could hear his voice, but she couldn’t make out any of the words.

When he was done, he returned his phone to his pocket. “My car is parked at the other end of the lot, I'm just going to grab a blanket, you're still shaking pretty badly.”

“No!” She clutched at him in terror. She didn’t want to be alone right now. She wasn't sure she could cope. “Don’t leave me, please,” she begged.

“All right,” he soothed. “All right, I’m just going to hold you in my arms while we wait so my body heat can help warm you a little. Is that okay?” When she nodded, he warned, “This might hurt your wrist.”

Aggie didn’t care. All she wanted was to feel safe. It did hurt as he carefully gathered her into his arms, cradling her against his chest as though she were a baby. “What’s your name?” she asked, speaking softly to aggravate her bruised throat as little as possible.

“Nick. Nickolas Sleigh,” he added. “What’s your name?”

“Agape Candella, Aggie.”

“You can relax now, Aggie. You're safe with me, I won't let anyone hurt you. You're safe,” he repeated.

“Because of you.” She stared up at him with open adoration. “You saved my life.”

* * * * *

10:38 P.M.

“How about I step outside for a moment,” Nick announced as a doctor entered Aggie’s small, cramped emergency room cubicle.

“Oh?” Aggie’s big, blue eyes instantly filled with panic.

“So you can have some privacy while the doctor checks you out.” He flashed her his best smile. “I’ll be right outside,” he promised.

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