CHAPTER 21
THERESA

I tried to smile, but my head was pounding. I didn’t want to be in the hospital. I wanted to be home. Or in a hotel. Or somewhere with just Grant and I. Being in this hospital room made me a sitting duck for whatever anger was going to come from Hollis. And I knew it would come. I knew how my brother worked. He was probably on the phone with my father telling him what he saw, which meant I could expect to incur the wrath of them both.

I hoped they would let me recover a bit first before bombarding me with their unwanted opinions. I almost felt sorry for Grant, but I knew he could, and would, handle himself. He’d told me the night before that even though Hollis was his oldest and best friend, he wasn’t giving me up, even if it meant that friendship was over.

Waking up in Grant’s arms had been the most amazing feeling. I drew in a deep breath before I winced at the pain in my head. Grant’s fingertips started stroking my hair again, and it almost sent me back into a slumber.

Almost.

“Just coming to check some vitals,” someone said.

I felt my IV tube moving.

“When can I go home?” I asked.

My eyes finally peeled themselves open to see the nurse looking quizzically at me.

“Well, you’ve sustained a decent concussion, so the doctor wants you here a little longer so he can keep an eye on you. Are you experiencing any double vision or a headache?” she asked.

“It’s fine,” I said as I pushed myself farther up Grant’s body. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” Grant said. “Yes, she’s in pain. Is there something you can give her?”

“There is. Let me go put in a request for it. I’ll be back in a few minutes. You might as well get comfortable because you’re not going anywhere anytime soon,” she said with a pointed look.

“Great,” I murmured.

Grant’s fingers caressed my hair, lulling me back to sleep. But when darkness overtook me, all I saw was Ike. I saw the anger in his eyes, and I could hear the disgust in his voice. Whore. Slut. All the names he called me. I felt myself pinned back against the wall, and I could hear his buckle jingling behind me. I could feel his hand clamping down on my throat and cutting off my air supply.

I jerked awake and felt a pair of strong arms around me. I tried to push them away as I sat up on the bed. My head wasn’t pounding anymore, but I still felt sick to my stomach. Bile was creeping up the back of my throat as someone slid from my hospital bed.

“Theresa. Open your eyes. It’s me.”

Grant.

I could hear his voice.

I felt his hands on top of mine, trying to soothe me. I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was blurry, and the bright light made me close them tightly again, but there he was. Grant. The big, bad-boy who was so tender with me.

“Look at me,” he said. “You’re safe.”

I opened my eyes again and I reached out for his shirt and pulled him back to me. My back fell onto the hospital bed, and I urged Grant’s body to cover me. I didn’t want to see Ike anymore. I didn’t want to dwell on him any longer. All I wanted was Grant. His voice. His touch. His smile. His protection. I wanted his muscles draped over me and his voice in my ear and his presence surrounding me for as long as I could have it.

For as long as he could promise.

“It’s okay. Come here. I’m here, Theresa. I’m not going anywhere.”

His voice was low, and it sent shivers up my spine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he snaked his behind my back. I could feel his muscles twitching, blanketing me as he sat on the side of my bed again. I buried my face into the crook of his neck and sniffled, trying to keep my tears at bay.

“Please stay with me,” I said breathlessly.

“They’d have to drag me out of here in chains,” Grant said.

I laid my cheek on his shoulder as he cradled my body. The rhythmic sounds of monitors beeping were the only sounds filling the room. I hugged Grant as tightly as I could and committed to memory the feel of him. This was how a man should treat a woman.

I never wanted to let go of him.

Suddenly, rapid footsteps were echoing in the hallway. I panned my gaze over to the door and saw a tall figure appear in the doorway. I felt Grant tense next to me as I lifted my head up and blinked to try and rid my eyes of their blurriness.

But when I heard his voice, anger welled within me.

I was going to kill Hollis.

“Didn’t I tell you once to stay away from my daughter?”

“Dad? What the hell are you doing?” I asked.

My throat burned with every word I spoke. The swelling around my neck and throat was causing pain every time I swallowed. My voice felt like nothing but a whisper and sounded like sandpaper.

“You stay out of this. You clearly aren’t capable of making decent decisions on men,” my father said.

“Says the guy who approved of Ike for years,” I said.

“I knew the past couple of years with him were rough, and I made that known. And now you’re in the hospital clinging to yet another man not worthy of your time!”

My vision cleared as my father approached the bed, the blatant anger on his face nearly making me sweat. He stepped close to Grant and pointed a finger at him.

“So much for your promise that you never touched my daughter,” he said softly.

“And I didn’t back then,” Grant said.

“Get the hell away from my daughter.”

“You made decisions for her years ago, but you won’t make them now. Theresa wants me here so this is where I’m staying.”

“I threw you out once, and I’ll throw you out again. You were terrible for my daughter then, and you’re terrible for her now. And I won’t have you ruining whatever it is that’s left of a future for her!”

I felt tears rushing down my face with every word he spoke. Pain rushed in my chest, and it was getting hard to breathe. My grip on Grant released, and he stood from the bed, his fists clenched at his sides. He was standing toe-to-toe with my father and they were gearing up to face off. I could hear Grant breathing through his nose as he tried to keep his temper under control.

And the anger in me boiled over.

This wasn’t happening any longer. I was making my choice now, and if my father and Hollis didn’t understand it, then they didn’t have to be a part of my life any longer. I was a grown damn woman, and I was done letting anyone tell me what and who I was going to be – not even my father or brother.

“I would never do anything to jeopardize Theresa’s future,” Grant said.

“Then prove it. Walk out of here and leave her alone. She needs strength and stability, not a wandering playboy,” my father said.

Grant laughed and took another step toward my father. “That goes to show that you don’t know shit about me, Glen. I may have been a rough and tumble kid, but I’ve worked my ass off to make something of myself, with no help from anyone, thanks to you,” Grant said, his voice rising in anger and tinged with hurt.

I reached my arm out and knocked the table beside me over. The metallic plate on top of it crashed to the floor, reverberating around the entire room. I couldn't yell over them, and I was tired of dealing with the struggle. I was tired of the fighting and the bickering and the constant need for control. I was hurting, both inside and outside.

I was ready to speak my mind. “Can both of you just please shut up?” I asked.

My father turned his gaze to me as Grant sat back down on the edge of the bed.

Hollis picked a crappy time to walk into the room.

“Your anger isn’t with Grant, Dad. It’s with Ike. Ike’s the one that put me in this hospital.”

“Theresa—” my father started before I held my hand up to stop him.

“As for you sending Grant away back then? I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive you for that. That day nearly ruined me, Dad. I walked around the entire block four times trying to find him so I could convince him to come back. You tossed him out the moment you thought he would ruin your plans for me. But it wasn’t your worry over me that prompted your actions. It was the possibility that you couldn’t control my future.”

“That is nowhere near what I—”

“Shut. Up,” I growled.

My father was shocked into silence, and I saw Hollis’ eyebrows raise. I forced myself to continue.

“I’m a damn adult. I have my own place, and I pay my own bills, and I make my own decisions. If you and Hollis don’t like the choices I make, then so be it. But you can’t control me. Ike couldn't control me, and neither can either of you.”

“Don’t you dare compare us to that loser,” Hollis piped up.

“Theresa, you have no idea what you are saying right now,” my father added.

A small smile crested my lips as I leveled my eyes at the two of them.

“Get out,” I said.

“I’m not leaving you here by yourself.”

“I won’t be here by myself. I’ll be here with Grant. But you and Hollis? You two are gone. Now.”

And before my father could make a rebuttal, a nurse shoved past him and came into the room with more medication. She screwed the plunger into my IV tube and gave me something to help with my throat. Then she proceeded to pick up the table I’d knocked over to try and get their attention. I reached out for Grant and curled my fist into his shirt, trying to cling to him and the soothing warmth of his body.

“Gentleman, my patient needs rest. I don’t think I need to remind you that she’s been through quite an ordeal and has a fairly significant concussion. She should be sleeping, not fighting with all of you. Now, one of you may stay the night with her, but the rest of you need to get going.”

“I’ll be staying,” my father told her.

“No, you won’t,” I said. “Grant will.”

My father’s eyes grew hard on mine as my hand slipped into Grant’s. I felt him curl his fingers around me as he looked at me. I wasn’t backing down from this. I didn’t care how much it hurt them. My father and my brother couldn’t push me around any longer. I knew that they thought they were protecting me in their own misguided ways, but I was done letting them. I was living my life however I saw fit, starting now. Starting with taking a stand in this damn hospital room.

We all stared at one another as the nurse drew in a deep breath.

“All right. I’ll get him something to make him comfortable. In the meantime, the two of you? Out.”

“I’m not leaving her here with him,” my father said.

“And I’m staying in the waiting room,” Hollis said.

“Unless the two of you want to be escorted out by hospital security, you will leave and not come back until visiting hours resume tomorrow at ten in the morning,” the nurse said.

“The sign says eight,” my father said.

“Well, I said ten. After all, my patient needs her rest.”

My eyes connected with my brother, and I challenged him for the first time in my life. His eyes were boring into Grant’s, and I could feel the tension rising in the room.

“This is insane. Grant, she’s my damn little sister,” Hollis said. “You’re my best fucking friend.”

“Out,” the nurse said again.

“This isn’t about you and me, Hollis. Our friendship has nothing to do with this. I care about your sister, I always have. And I care a hell of a lot about you too. I don’t want this to ruin our friendship, but I’m not leaving her. Not even for you,” Grant said.

Hollis stood there looking dumbfounded as the nurse went to call Security.

My father held up his hand and shoved Hollis out the door. “We’ll go. But this isn’t over,” he said, pointing at Grant.

Finally, the two of them left and Grant let out a deep breath.

I lay back down in my bed and slid my hand away from Grant’s. I turned over on my side and pulled the blanket up to my chin. I was horrified, and in pain, and angry. I knew it was going to be a fight for Grant and me to be together and I hoped in the end that Grant would find me worth it. He shifted on the bed, and his hand came down onto my hip, and he slowly began to stroke my leg.

“Sorry,” I said.

“For what?”

“For them. For all the horrible shit my father said to you. Again.”

I felt him stand from the bed and walk over to the chair in the corner. I closed my eyes and willed all of it to go away. Every single part of it. The hospital. Ike. My family. I wanted to wake up in my own apartment in my own bed waiting for Grant to come see me.

I was ready for this nightmare to end.

“You don’t have to apologize for them. Look, I know they are driving you crazy, but they do love you. Very much. They just don’t know how else to show it. I’m a big boy, I can handle anything they throw at me if it means I get to be with you.”

I turned over in my bed and took stock of Grant. He sat with his knees spread wide as he slouched in the chair. His elbow was resting on the arm of it, and his fingers were stroking the stubble on his face. He looked incredible, equal parts rebellion and sex.

I bit down on my bottom lip as a chuckle fell from his.

“When you’re better,” he said, reading my thoughts with a grin. “Right now, you need to rest.”

I had no problems taking my cue from him. Because I knew all he wanted was the best for me.