Chapter Seventeen

 

“Your hand should heal quickly,” the doctor said as he finished wrapping it with gauze. “I’ve covered it in burn salve, which I want you to do twice a day. Keep the hand wrapped in gauze until the blisters are healed over.”

I nodded as he spoke. I was in the spa where it was calming and relaxing. I had to leave the center since the cops were gathering the evidence and they didn’t want the doctor in their way. By the time he arrived there were two giant blisters on my palm, which he aspirated with a needle. It hurt like hell, but once it was done, I got instant relief.

“I’m sending a prescription for an antibiotic to the pharmacy. They’ll deliver it when it’s ready. I want you to take all of it. Hands are germy and we have no idea what he used on the cross or who else touched it. We don’t want to risk an infection setting in and you losing your hand.”

“Oh, just what I need,” I groaned. “I’ll take them.” A thought crossed my mind and I swallowed, knowing I had to ask the question in front of Sawyer. “Um, do the antibiotics…I mean will they have the same effect on my IUD as they do on the pill?”

He glanced up from where he was typing into his computer. “Excellent question. I wish more women were able to think on the fly the way you do. The IUD doesn’t work the same as the birth control pill, so antibiotics don’t affect it. You’ll be fine to take the antibiotics and continue your reliance on the IUD as birth control without a worry. The antibiotic I’m giving you isn’t one that interacts with hormones anyway. I’m prescribing a broad-spectrum antibiotic and you’ll only need a week of it. By then the hand should be healing up nicely. I’ll be back next week to look it over, but if it starts to hurt worse, fills with pus, turns bright red, or smells foul, call me immediately. It’s imperative you keep it clean and don’t break the skin open. You’ll have to avoid using it as much as possible.”

“Sure, I can’t imagine it will be hard, it’s only my dominant hand after all,” I said sarcastically.

He glanced up at me and sighed. “I know. It’s going to be a bit of a pain for a week or so. I’m sorry. I get so angry when I have to treat abuse victims. These animals don’t deserve to live.”

“I’m not an abuse victim,” I sputtered angrily. Sawyer squeezed my shoulder to calm me.

Dr. Rak gave me a small smile. “Yes, you are, darling. Yes, it’s escalated past the point of most domestic abuse, but he’s playing the same kind of psychological game. I’m glad you have Sawyer and Gideon on your side. They’ll catch this guy and make him pay.”

I glanced up at Sawyer over my shoulder and he caressed my cheek, an expression on his face I couldn’t describe. “We will. I’m angry and sick we let him hurt you again. I promised you I’d protect you, but I failed.”

Dr. Rak shook his head. “You can’t guilt yourself, Sawyer. What you have to understand is, these types of people aren’t predictable. Everyone here is doing all they can to protect her. I’ve done all I can for now as well. You know what to watch for and I expect an update every few days. I’ll be back in a week unless you need me before then.”

“Thanks, doc,” I said, giving him a wave.

He closed the door behind him and I stood, falling into Sawyer’s arms. “I thought he’d never leave,” I sighed. “I wanted you to hold me.”

His arms were wrapped around me, but he was stiff as a board, and his chest was heaving as we stood locked together. I glanced up at him and his eyes were closed, his lips pinched, and anger radiated from him.

I stepped out of his arms. “Sawyer?”

“I don’t deserve to hold you, Rose. I promised to protect you and where was I? Off playing. I can’t deal with the amount of anger flowing through me right now.”

“Sawyer, this isn’t your fault. Like Dr. Rak just said, you’re doing everything you can to protect me, but if he wants to get to me, he will. You have a life and a job. I don’t expect you to be next to me all day every day. We’d go crazy.”

He shook his head. “We should have had a better plan. Something to protect you. We know he’s volatile and unpredictable. Dammit,” he said, his hand in his hair. After a few moments, his hand dropped and his eyes opened. “I have to go cancel some plans. I’m going to walk you back to Gideon’s office. Wait there for me and I’ll get you in time for the brace fitting in an hour.”

I took a step toward him and he took one back. “What plans do you have to cancel? Your surprise?” He nodded and I shook my head. “No. Don’t cancel them, Sawyer. I’ll be done earlier than we planned since they’re coming here to fit the brace.”

“I have to. I was planning to take you into town. I can’t risk taking you off the property right now. He’s out there somewhere.”

I threw my hands up. “He’s always been out there somewhere! Maybe we’re finally close to getting him out of our lives.”

“Or he can take you out of mine,” he whispered.

I approached him and put my arms around him, pushing him up against the wall. “I still have a little fight left in me and if he tried, he’d fail. I’m too much in love with you to let him win. Sure, maybe he got a point today, but the cross appeared unassuming, until it wasn’t. I won’t make the same mistake twice. I have to take some responsibility in this too, and I dropped the ball today. I saw the box had no packing or return label on it, but I was caught up talking to Kate. Warning bells should have gone off, but they didn’t. If we sit here and pass the blame around then we’re wasting energy we could be spending on each other. I love you, Sawyer, and I won’t let Jarrett come between us.” He relaxed a bit and stroked my hair, his lips finding my temple, no longer able to pretend he didn’t need me as much as I needed him. “I could use a distraction tonight,” I whispered.

“How about if we meet in the middle? Instead of taking you to dinner in town, I’ll make you dinner in my apartment then we can take a walk on the beach.”

I caressed his face as I held his gaze. “It sounds perfect to me. Is it safe though?”

“I’ll make it safe,” he promised. “I’ll have security on the beach if I have to. We’ll want to test your brace out, and a moonlit beach is the perfect place.”

“It’s a date,” I said, smiling. “I’m nervous about the brace, so it will take my mind off wearing it for the first time.”

“Nervous? It won’t hurt,” he said, his head cocked to the left.

“I know,” I said shrugging. “It also might not help and then what?”

His hands stroked my arms tenderly. “Then we go back to Dr. Keoki and try something else. I’ll never give up on you, Rose.”

“I love you,” I whispered. “Thank you for being here with me and not being scared away by the mess my life is right now.”

He held my chin and kissed my lips tenderly, but with a passion of a hungry man. “I love you, too. I wish I had been here with you today. I don’t like seeing you hurt. Nothing is going to scare me away. I couldn’t breathe without you.”

His lips back on mine, he massaged them into believing he would always be here. His words permeated the haze in my mind and when he ended the kiss, I took his hand.

"Come with me to Gideon's office for a second, would you? I want to talk to everyone."

“Okay,” he agreed, then opened the door to the hallway. After checking for lurkers, he helped me walk the short distance to Gideon's office, since my hand hurt to use my second crutch. Niko, Gideon, Kate, and Flynn were gathered in a group speaking in hushed tones. Kate hurried over to me.

"How's the hand?" she asked, inspecting the bandage job.

"Fine. Dr. Rak cleaned it and gave me antibiotics. I'm sure in a few days it will be fine."

"I feel wretched for not opening the box. I should have been the one to inspect it. I was here to help you."

I groaned. "You were here to help me set up a daycare center, not take the abuse meant for me by a crazy ex-boyfriend, Kate!" I exclaimed. "This isn't your fault. Besides, the last thing you need is a burned hand to introduce bacteria to your body and have it go straight to your heart."

I glanced around and the three men had their heads buried in the iPad. Since I couldn't clap, I whistled to get their attention. "Gentleman," I said when they looked up. "I'm fine, but I wanted to come and thank you for always looking out for me. I know it's not an easy job and I'm grateful to all of you for everything you're doing. That said, I've had the man I love and my best friend say the same thing to me in the last ten minutes. They think it's their fault I got hurt again. Anyone else feel this way?”

I didn’t have to look hard to see the truth in Gideon’s and Niko’s eyes. They blamed themselves too, and would push harder and faster to get Jarrett.

I shook my head. “It's no one’s fault except Jarrett’s. I want to make it incredibly clear to all of you I won't allow any one of you to accept blame for his actions. I brought this maniac here and put all of us in danger. I'm the only one to blame for the mess we’re in. But, it’s time to stop acting, and feeling, like a victim. It’s time to start working together to get him out of my life. Out of our lives."

Gideon set the iPad down and approached me. "I'll speak for all of us when I say you're absolutely right. We have to stop blaming ourselves, and I’m talking about you too. It’s wasted energy we could put toward finding a resolution."

"I’m trying," I said, nodding once. "It’s harder for me knowing what he’s capable of, but I want everyone safe. The only way to keep everyone safe is to catch him. I don't want to discourage him from coming after me. The sooner he's caught, the sooner we can move on."

Niko leaned on the desk. "We were talking about the safety aspect you mentioned. We agree, the only way to get rid of him is to let him come at us. We'd like to hook you up to several panic buttons. If you see him, push one. If he grabs you, push one. It’ll be loud and hopefully he'll take off. If not, you'll be tracked. I also want one on Kate."

"I can accept those terms," I agreed.

"Good, because it's necessary," Gideon insisted. "You can't run and it's concerning if you have no way to alert anyone. I also want you armed. Guns are out, but a knife will do."

"I'm not comfortable with a knife. I work with babies," I said adamantly.

"It stays in your bra. We’ll have your bodyguard show you how to use it."

"Bodyguard?" I exclaimed, glancing around the room. "A bodyguard will scare him away."

Niko shook his head. "We've contacted a female friend of mine from Honolulu. Her son was my patient. She will be here tomorrow under the ruse of a new assistant to help you with the center."

"I don't want to take her away from her family," I insisted. "It's unfair."

"Her son and husband are coming and staying comped. She will only be with you when you aren't with Sawyer. When you're in your apartment we want Sawyer with you,” Gideon explained.

“Without question,” Sawyer agreed from behind me. “Is my apartment okay?”

Niko nodded. “Of course, as long as you’re together. Her bodyguard will be in her office at eight every morning. You can drop her off there and do your own work once she’s safely with Cassy.”

Gideon motioned at his calendar. “I wanted you with her full-time, but I can’t afford to have you out of the kitchen for an extended period of time. We have the cook-off coming up and the hula competition.”

Sawyer shook his head. “I have to work; there’s no question. This is the perfect solution.”

“How long will I have a bodyguard?” I asked.

“As long as you need one,” Niko answered. “I’m confident this will be over in a week or less, though. He’s here somewhere and the cops are on high alert. I have a contact at the station who is going through flight manifests looking for any flight he may have come in on. Once we have flight information we’re hoping to locate him and bring him in safely.”

I glanced around the room at the faces of all my friends, and the man I love. “I’ll do whatever I have to. Let’s get him out of our lives so we can move on.”

Flynn picked up his own iPad and strode toward me. “Are you going back to Snowberry when this is over?”

I noticed Sawyer stiffen immediately and I lifted his hand, twining my fingers in his. “No, Flynn. I’m done with Snowberry. My parents are gone and the house has been sold. There’s nothing for me there now. As long as you’ll all have me, I plan to stay on here at Kupid’s Cove.”

Gideon smiled and winked. His hand squeezing Sawyer’s shoulder as he visibly relaxed. “We’ll have you for as long as the good Lord allows, Rosie. You’re the driving force behind getting the daycare up and running. I need your steady hand at the helm. You have a home here for as long as you want to stay.”

My head swiveled toward Sawyer and I smiled, our gazes locked. “Good, because I’ve found my home and I’m never letting him go.”