Chapter 4

4

SEDONA

T he warm, soothing sensation of his tongue still tingles against my neck. The places his hands wandered are warm from his touch. And there's a void in my chest only Victor Cullen can fill. I'm throwing every rule out of the book by allowing what I did. And it's never felt this good being so bad.

Yet, I have a feeling this could be the beginning of something beautiful. I'm compromising myself, my morals, and potentially my career for this.

But those things are meaningless with whatever we have blossoming.

"Tom." I snap back to reality with my new patient, choosing to start our interaction the same way I did with Victor. "Can I call you that? Or would you prefer Mr. Reeves?"

"Tom." He's a giant of a man, and every time he moves, his chair squeals under his enormous size.

"Why do you think you're here today?" I press my pen into the paper to write down whatever Tom answers.

"I dunno." He shrugs his massive shoulders, and a sigh barrels through his chest.

"Do you know why you're in the Alcatraz rehabilitation center?" I ask. Going from quick wit and sexually charged banter to the normal day-to-day is harder than I expected.

Tom shakes his head. "Who are you? Where's Dr. Lissa?"

"Dr. Lissa isn't well, and I'm stepping in for her. Her notes say that you have people talking to you. Can you tell me what they say?"

Her notes actually say that Tom suffers from schizophrenia and often has conversations with himself. It was during one of his episodes that he ended up killing two people, who he thought were hallucinations. He doesn't recall the incident.

"No." He shakes his head. "They wouldn't like it."

"What if I told you I can help you with the voices if you trust me?" I smile. It breaks the concern on his face momentarily.

"They tell me to do bad things sometimes." He turns away from me, fixing his eyes on the desk. He takes a few deep breaths, but I don't interrupt while he takes it in. "Like this."

In a flash, Tom throws himself forward and snatches the keys on my desk before I can grab them. Shit. I must have left them there after I uncuffed Victor.

Remember what they taught you, Sedona. Stay calm. Press the button and pull the trigger. Treat the patients like wild animals. Don't panic, and don't show fear.

I shove my hand under the desk, find the handle of the tranquilizer pistol, and fire the needle. Right beside the gun is the small box that houses the emergency button, and I press it.

Sirens blare outside in an instant, and the fluttering in my chest ceases for a moment. But it's quickly replaced by actual terror as Tom turns his head up to me.

"Ouchy." Tom looks at the dart sticking out of his stomach. "You hurt me."

Fury floods his face, and his brown eyes burn fiercely. At first, I assume the concoction is taking longer to kick in because of his sheer size, but I quickly realize it's not taking at all. He continues to fiddle with the keys until his hands come free from the chains.

"You hurt me," he roars as he charges towards me. "Now, I'm gonna hurt you."