Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Imogen

This wasn't happening.

I wasn't in the back seat of Asher's car while he drove it like he stole it, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles went white. He didn't race down streets, then wrench the wheel to take corners at speed, the tyres squealing in protest. Lucas wasn't in my car, driving at a more sedate pace behind us. Kyle wasn't sneaking sidelong looks at the backseat. No, at me, as we drove. I wasn't being rushed into the city like I was having a heart attack or something, and I definitely wasn't holding my injured wrist against my chest like a wounded bird. That feeling of unreality grew and grew as we pulled up out the front of here.

I was definitely not being taken into one of those big, grey bland-looking office buildings that ringed the central business district, the mirrored windows now reflecting the moon's cool gaze back to us.

Asher did not bring the car to an abrupt stop in a park out the front, his breath coming in and out in noisy exhales. I didn't watch him fight some unseen war with himself, his muscles trembling, right before he wrenched his door open.

"Gotta go."

I didn't watch him stride towards the front door, the glass panels sliding open to reveal an athletic looking woman who was obviously waiting for him.

"Asher…" Kyle shot me a sheepish look. "He takes this kind of thing hard. We usually see the aftermath of…" When his eyes dropped down, so did mine, taking in the now purpling bruise around my wrist. That didn't happen. It didn't. "Not an attack happening in real time."

Attack. Assault. Abuse. These were all big, big words, conjuring the weeping women and blank-eyed children I saw in movies, not this. Me, my heart beating way too fast, even as it felt like I hovered in a strange haze. It softened everything, made Kyle, the car all slightly out of focus, even as a sharp-pitched whine started up inside my head.

"Fucking slut. How long have you been taking it from each one of them?"

Phil's insidious voice could be heard inside my head, bringing with it the memory of his vicious sneer. I shoved that aside, all of it, pulling the car door open only to find Kyle there waiting.

Not too close, I noted that, his gaze was far softer than Asher's was, but somehow that wasn't what I needed. He held out a hand for me to take, right as Lucas pulled up in my car. He leapt out of the driver's seat, and I think that wasn't just because my car really needed some work. Long legs brought him by my side in seconds, his eyes scouring my body, looking for clues, but of what?

"Are you OK?" That edge to Lucas' voice had my teeth locking tight. "Imogen?"

"Let's get you inside," Kyle said, stepping in and stopping any further questions, somehow knowing I wouldn't be answering any of them. "You can meet Ursula and then we'll get someone to look at that wrist."

Yes, that was what I needed, but in some ways that idea was threatening. The sore muscles were like a tether, the only thing keeping me grounded, my teeth gritting together each time I moved. If someone looked at it, fixed it, then what? Then what? My hysterical thoughts were what had me moving towards the door. The woman was waiting for me, a ready smile on her face as I approached, right up until the point she saw me holding my wrist against my chest. The way it faded, something darker rising in her eyes, replacing the good humour. Yeah, that's what I needed to see.

"He hurt you," she said, not specifying who, and I realised then that it didn't matter. I did. "Come inside. I'm Ursula." She went to offer me her hand, then thought better of it with a rueful smile. "Ginny's the nurse we've got on staff tonight, and I think she'll be able to help."

"A guy grabbed Imogen by the wrist and wrenched it," Lucas told the tiny nurse. "You need to check her hand, her arm, the socket." His head whipped around to stare at Kyle. "We need x-rays. What if its broken?" His gaze slid almost reluctantly to me, his eyes widening when he saw the way I was holding it. "Is it broken? Imogen?"

"I—"

"Calm down, dipshit," Kyle hissed. "You're fine, right, Imogen? No breaks? You would've told us if it was broken."

"Out."

Ginny was five foot nothing, but she stabbed a finger imperiously at the door of her consulting room.

"What?" Kyle couldn't have looked more shocked if she'd slapped him. "No, I?—"

"Out." I watched her stare each man down and frankly envied the fire I saw there. "I haven't had a chance to even introduce myself to the patient and you two are arguing about stuff you know nothing about. You." She glared at Lucas. "I still am getting spotty internet in here, which makes it very difficult to retrieve medical records. You want to be useful? Go and sort that out."

"I'll be back." Lucas sank down on one knee before me, tentatively reaching for my uninjured hand before giving it a squeeze. "I've just got a few things… I'll be back."

I nodded, unable to think of anything to say because we had the attention of everyone else in the room right now. This was weird, and I felt a strange sense of relief as he pulled away and walked out the door.

Along with loss.

That had me frowning up until the point Kyle sat down beside me, his arm going around my waist.

"It's OK. Ginny's amazing. I dislocated my shoulder once and she popped it in easily. She'll fix you up real good."

"She also asked you to leave."

I'm not sure how Kyle lasted as long as he did under Ginny's terrifying gaze, but I felt his arm retract.

"I don't have to fix the internet?—"

"Nope, but the kids are waiting for story time."

She shot him a meaningful look.

"Oh yeah, right." Kyle looked down at me. "I'll be back afterwards. Ursula knows what she's doing, and if anyone can help, it's Ginny. You're in safe hands, OK? I'll be back."

The two other women watched him walk out the door, but I'm willing to bet they didn't feel a wrench when he did. I sat with that, an ache that almost matched the one in my wrist.

"Men." The nurse sat down with a sigh and then looked at my wrist. "They want to rush in and fix everything, even if they have no idea what they're doing. So, Imogen, I'm your nurse for today. Would you be comfortable with me taking a look?"

It took effort to uncurl my arm from my chest, the muscles protesting as I moved, but I laid it down on her desk. She acknowledged the effort with a nod, then went to work. I was hissing before she even touched the skin, something that had my cheeks flushing in shame, but apparently it was for good reason. Her touch was light, barely there, and yet still I felt the dull throb intensify as she moved the fingers and my arm experimentally.

"Well, nothing's broken. A lot of bruising and perhaps a strain? We'll give you some painkillers and a soft brace to allow the muscles to rest while the swelling goes down." Her gaze was too keen, like she was staring past my eyes and into my soul. "Maybe something that will help you sleep as well."

"No." Why did I say that? Sleep was the best thing for me. In its sweet oblivion. I wouldn't see Phil, his frenzied eyes, hear his foul words, so it was the best place for me. "I need…" Both Ursula and Ginny seemed to hang on my every word, and that was unnerving in itself. Why the hell did two strangers care what I had to say? "I need to see Asher."

Because in my mind I saw it, the moment when he rode to my rescue. Each man was incensed by Phil's behaviour, but Asher… I could see it then, his feral look of fury that was almost inhuman in its ferocity. He was a wildfire ready to burn down everything in its path.

Everything that would hurt me.

"I need to see Asher," I repeated much more firmly.

"OK, I'll take you to my brother," Ursula said.

Not long afterwards, I had some painkillers in my pocket and a brace and a sling on my arm, but none of that seemed to matter. I followed Ursula deeper into the building, past a room that looked like a commercial kitchen, an adjoining one acting as a dining room, a few families lingering over their meals. Another looked like a library, and in it I saw a cluster of kids sitting on the carpet, listening to Kyle tell a story about a grumpy bear. He looked up as we passed, as if sensing our presence. We didn't stop, not even when we walked past a darkened room full of computer monitors, neon lights playing over Lucas' face as his hands flew over the keys. To my shame, it wasn't him, them that I needed. They were doing civilised things, gentle things, and what lurked inside me wasn't that. Like a snake, it curled in my belly, dripping caustic venom, right up until the point we reached here.

"He…" Ursula let out a sigh as she rested her back against the gym door. Her smile was rueful but heartfelt. "He's wound tight right now."

"I need to see him." Why did those words come out so hard, so fast. "I need?—"

"I'll never stop you from getting near to Asher." She nodded. "I think he needs you too, but… This kind of thing. What happened to you, it's a trigger for him. Just know there's buttons like this." She pointed to a red button stuck on the wall. "Press it and the whole building will come running, OK?"

If I was sensible, that would've given me pause, but it felt like all good sense had been stripped from me. I was careful, planned my escape from Mike with meticulous detail, aiming to do it without help from anyone, and look where that had gotten me. Out of my old place, but still… He couldn't even come down to do his own dirty work, letting Phil stand in for him.

Being sensible got me nowhere, so I reached out with my good hand, frowning at the slight shake there before pushing the door open.