The next time I came fully conscious, it was to a rattling noise near me. I groaned and slowly fluttered my eyes open. The moment bright lights greeted me, I squeezed my eyes shut again.

“How are you doing, love?” A female voice came my way. I felt a warm hand about my shoulder as the woman continued. “Is there anything I can get you? Water? Tea? Coffee?”

I nodded with my eyes still shut. “Wa-water,” I managed to articulate, my throat dry and scratchy. It hurt.

“Sure,” the woman said. “Just hold on a second.”

As I heard her footsteps moving away, I tried opening my eyes once again, and this time, I got used to the bright light that shone into the room.

With my vision still a little blurry, I searched about the place, wondering how long I had been asleep.

When the woman returned with a glass of water, I asked, “How long?”

She helped me sit up and then guided the glass of water toward my lips.

She must have understood my question because she said, “You’ve been in and out of consciousness for three days now. But it’s only to be expected, considering your injuries.”

I greedily swallowed the cool liquid as it smoothly went down my throat. God, I had never been this thirsty in my life, and it was so good just to have water soothing my throat. It felt heavenly.

Once I was done, the woman asked, “Hungry?”

I nodded along with a weak smile. “Yes,” I said. “Very.”

She chuckled. “I’ll get you something to eat, then. I’ll just be a few minutes, all right?”

I nodded, having just realized she was actually a nurse. When she was gone, I rested back against the pillows and turned my eyes to gaze out the window.

The scenery outside was indeed beautiful. From here, I could almost see the whole city of Los Angeles, with buildings and hills and mountains in the distance, along with small dots of cars moving along roads that intertwined intricately within the city.

So I had been in and out of consciousness for three days? I must have been quite exhausted after what had happened.

Suddenly, I wondered about Andy and Matt. Had they already returned to Vegas? I hoped not because I wanted to see Andy and…

James. It was then that I remembered last night when James had been here with me. Then again, was it really last night? Or the night before? I didn’t know, but I did know that James had been here with me, comforting me, and it made me happy.

I was grinning like an idiot, thinking about James and how he came to save me like a hero in a movie, when the nurse returned with a tray of food.

She said, “I’m glad you’re smiling. You must be feeling a lot better, right?”

I nodded, suddenly realizing my body wasn’t as sore as it had previously been. It was probably the painkillers they had given me, of course.

“Wh… what’s yo-your name?” I asked, surprised that I could almost speak normally now, considering my throat was still a little sore. I was surprised, too, that my mouth and jaw didn’t hurt all that much. After all, I was sure I had a broken jaw when Herbert had hit me. But of course, it had been three days since, so it might have healed? I didn’t know. Or maybe I never had a broken jaw in the first place.

“Nancy,” the woman said. “And here’s your first meal of the day.” She placed the tray in front of me and made a show of lifting the cover as if she were a chef and the food was from a five-star restaurant, which amused me.

The meal sitting before me looked quite appetizing. There were mashed potatoes along with sausages. In a smaller bowl, there was chicken soup, which pleased me because it was exactly what I needed right now. Something comforting and, of course, easy to chew.

“Looks good,” I said. “Thanks.”

“Take your time and enjoy your meal, honey,” Nancy said. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”

I nodded, and she left.

Alone, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. God, it felt as if I hadn’t eaten in such a long time. The chicken soup was delicious, and so were the mashed potatoes and sausages. Once I was done, I felt very satisfied and lay back in bed, feeling quite tired suddenly.

Gosh, I had only been up for about an hour, and the mere action of eating had already exhausted me, which didn’t please me. I wanted to be well, healthy, and fit again because I wanted to be with James and Aria. God, I missed them. But of course, it’d take time, this healing process, and I obviously couldn’t do anything about it.

After placing the empty dishes on the side table, I sighed as I relaxed back against the pillows piled high behind me. Since there was nothing much else for me to do, I closed my eyes again.

I was about to doze off when Nancy returned.

“Sorry to disturb you, honey,” she said. “Just need to take your blood pressure. It’s routine stuff.”

I nodded. Once she was done, I asked her about my condition. For the next ten minutes, she explained to me that I had been lucky I had no broken bones or internal injuries from the incident. Most of my wounds were superficial and would be healed within a couple weeks. Then she proceeded to tell me that James had made such a big fuss when we first arrived, making sure I was put on the top-priority list. She said he had been by my side all three nights, which made my heart glow with delight.

By the time Nancy left, my face had warmed at the thought of James. Suddenly, I wanted to see him since, technically, I hadn’t seen him for three days, and considering we were officially in a proper relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend—not as master and mistress as we had previously been—three days was a long time. But of course, he was probably busy with work, as per usual.

I dismissed the thought of James for a moment since I needed to use the bathroom. Sitting myself up, I then slid my feet onto the floor, and, pulling the IV line along with me, I slowly, with legs that weren’t steady, headed into the bathroom.

When I was done a few minutes later, I went over to the basin to wash my hands. That was when I raised my head and finally had the courage to look at myself.

Staring back at me was a girl that I barely recognized. Her face was pale white with dark bruises from the sides of her cheeks to her nose and eyes. She looked quite horrible.

Yes, this girl, Mia Donovan, was ugly with all these bruises and wounds about her face, as Sophie Wilson had said.

God, if I looked this dreadful now, I must have been a lot worse three days ago when James had rescued me at that abandoned warehouse.

I leaned forward to take a closer look at myself and felt a little sick at the sight. Then, because I couldn’t help myself, I touched the tenderness of my cheek and groaned, “Ouch!”

Retrieving my hands, I said, “It’ll heal.” Nodding my head, I reaffirmed. “Yep. It’ll be fine. They’re only bruises, so it’ll heal in no time.”

Positive thinking, I told myself. Also, James didn’t look as though he were repulsed at the sight of me when I woke to see him last night. Or the night before… or whenever that had been.

Returning to the bed, I sighed in relief at the fact that I could now rest again. That little walk was already too tiring for me.

I snuggled myself into a comfortable position, intending to take another nap.

Suddenly, I felt this sense of happiness, and I honestly didn’t know why. I mean, considering what I had recently been through with the kidnapping, beating, and near rape, I shouldn’t feel bright and cheerful like this. Perhaps it was the thought of James and that I instinctively knew he’d come to be by my side tonight. I started giggling.

Yes, I giggled like a schoolgirl.

“Sounds like you’re having a good time being cooped up in hospital,” came a manly voice.

The moment I heard that deep timbre, my heart raced and I felt overjoyed. So much so that I wanted to burst out crying.

I turned my head, and the sight of James standing not too far away nearly broke me down. I somehow managed to hold in my emotions and greeted him with a, “Hi.”

He came over to sit on the side of the bed. “Hi there, sweetheart. I came as soon as Nancy contacted me.”

So Nancy the nurse had phoned him when I woke, and he must have dropped whatever he was doing to come to be with me right away.

Because I couldn’t help myself, I rose up and buried my face against his chest. I felt his strong arms wrap around me, and I sighed pleasantly. I felt warm, comforted, and safe in his arms. Yes, especially after what had happened.

God, I wanted to say so many things to him. Thank you for coming to rescue me, and, I’ve missed you so much, and, I want you close to me, and all those sorts of things, but instead, I said, “I love you.”

James flashed his gorgeous smiled, his Prussian-blue eyes twinkling with amusement. “I love you, too,” he said, which made my heart leap with joy. Then he lowered his head, and his lips touched mine.

He kissed me gently, and I knew he was being careful so the action wouldn’t hurt my tender flesh. Even so, it felt wonderful. Even when it was just that light brush of lips, it was still intoxicating, and God, I wanted him to go wilder on me, more passionate. I even encouraged him by opening my mouth, but then he terminated the kiss and moved back.

He chuckled, and I was sure he was amused at my show of disappointment.

“You’re not properly healed yet,” he said. “We’ll wait until you’re better.”

Of course I wasn’t properly healed yet, but… God, I just wanted him to kiss me some more. Damn, I acted like a spoilt girlfriend, didn’t I?

I rested my head against his chest as I asked, “So when I get better, you’ll kiss me properly?”

I heard him chuckling, and his chest rumbled quite nicely against my ear. “Yes,” he said. “When you’re well again, I’ll kiss you properly.”

I didn’t see what type of expression he made as he said those words, but the deep, seductive tone in his voice told me there was deeper meaning. That, unsurprisingly, made my insides squirm in both excitement and anticipation.

Just because I didn’t want him to think I was thinking about our future proper kiss, I changed the subject and asked him about my brother.

“He’s fine,” James replied.

“He’s still here, right?”

“Hmm.”

“I want to see him and talk to him about…” I trailed off, staring out the window at the bright-blue sky in the distance.

What will we talk about? Obviously, many things, and none of them had anything to do with the subject of Herbert Weston and our dark, broken past. Yes, there was our bright future to talk about, plenty of it.

“I’ll tell him you’re well enough to receive visitors,” James said.

“Thanks,” I said, moving out of his arms. “When will the doctor discharge me? Do you know?”

“In a couple days,” he said, caressing my bruised cheeks. “Once they’re certain you’ll be all right.”

“I feel fine,” I said, my head held high. “Well, maybe a little sore, but it’s only inflammation after what happened.” I stopped short because I didn’t want to make any reference to the kidnapping or Herbert Weston and Sophie.

I changed the subject again. “How’s Aria? I mean, I haven’t seen her and—Oh God, what did you tell her? About me being gone without telling her?”

Damn, and here I was trying to avoid the subject of me being kidnapped by Herbert Weston.

James was stroking my hair now and said, “I told her you’re staying with your brother for a couple days. She and Savannah begged to visit you.”

When James mentioned Savannah’s name, I smiled in delight. “Savannah is in L.A?”

James nodded. “She and William came as soon as they received the news.”

“I see.” I lowered my eyes, thinking how frightened Savannah must have been when she found out I had been kidnapped.

“I can’t wait to see her,” I said, smiling. “And Aria as well.”

James nodded. “I’ll bring them in tomorrow.”

“And what will you tell Aria when she sees me in the hospital with bruises like this?” I chuckled in amusement.

James smiled, too, though I didn’t miss a hint of something else in his eyes, an expression I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Anger? Fear? Worry? God, I didn’t know.

He said, “I’ll think of something.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “I can’t wait to see them tomorrow.”

“Rest, and I’ll see you tonight,” he said.

As I nodded again, he kissed me on the forehead, and a moment later, he was gone.

Alone, I felt that something didn’t sit right with me where James was concerned. Why? Was it because of what I had noticed in his eyes? I also didn’t miss the fact that he didn’t seem so self-assured and confident, his usual arrogant, on-top-of-the-world billionaire self.

Was it fear, worry, or anger I had seen? And did it have something to do with me? But why? Because, after all, I was fine now, wasn’t I?