Chapter 9: His quiet care
1083 Words
Tiana didn't sleep much despite being tired. Every time her eyelids fluttered shut the darkness behind them turned hostile. Shadows twisted into memories, hands she couldn't see reached for her and she jolted awake with a choked gasp.
Jake was there every time.
He didn't touch her. Not once. But he sat in the armchair beside her bed like a guard chained to duty, shoulders rigid, eyes glued to her as if watching her breath was the only thing that kept him grounded.
Marco had told him to rest. Jake just ignored him. He couldn't bring himself to rest knowing she didn't even feel safe in her sleep.
By morning, Tiana's eyes were half open, exhaustion clinging to her like another wound. When she shifted slightly from the bed the pain pulled a hiss from her lips.
Jake stood up instantly.
"Tell me where it hurts, " he said voice thick with worry he tried to hide.
She shook her head weakly. " It's fine... I'm fine. "
He clenched his jaw. "You're not, "
Marco entered quietly carrying a tray with clear broth and pain medication. He paused when Tiana's body stiffened.
She shrank back instinctively knuckles whitening around the blanket.
Jake moved quickly, but carefully. He stepped into Marco's line of sight placing himself like a wall between them.
"It's just me, " he said voice dropping. "And Marco isn't coming near you."
Marco set the tray on the side table and stepped back several feet. " I won't touch you, Tiana. I just need you to eat and take your medication. You can do that on your own. "
She stared at the tray suspiciously, then reached out with trembling hands.
The spoon clattered against the bowl.
Jake's heart squeezed painfully at the sight. He strode to her bedside and crouched slowly, lowering himself until he was eye level with her
"Let me help. "
Her throat bobbed. " I can try."
"You don't have to." The softness in his voice surprised even her.
She hesitated.
Then she nodded.
Jake picked up the spoon hands steady even though his insides were anything but. He lifted the broth towards her lips, slow and careful. She flinched, she couldn't help it, but she didn't move away.
She let him feed her.
Each small swallow seemed to take effort, but she managed. Jake didn't miss the way her eyes brimmed with tears every time she dared look at him. As if she couldn't understand why he was being gentle with her. As if she had expected cruelty in every gesture.
Guilt gnawed at him.
His men had done this.
His orders had put her in their path.
That knowledge burned through him like acid. But never again. From now on he was going to take care of her. He was going to make sure nothing bad happened to her ever again because he didn't want to feel the way he did again. He didn't like seeing those bruises on her, the tears, the flinching, her eyes that seemed to hold more pain than anyone knew. He just didn't like it.
When she finished her broth, he set the tray aside and gently adjusted the blankets around her. She tensed automatically, but he didn't touch her skin.
He didn't push her boundaries.
He simply made sure she was warm.
Her breathing steadied.
"Try to sleep. " He murmured.
She shook her head, fear seeping into her expression.
"If I sleep, I'll see them. "
Jake exhaled slowly and leaned back in the chair.
"Then I'll be here when you wake up ."
"You won't leave?" She whispered.
"Never. "
Her eyes glistened. That word never held more weight than any promises she'd ever been given.
Minutes passed. Eventually, her breath slowed, her lashes lowering despite her attempts to fight it.
When she finally drifted into a restless sleep, Jake watched her with a shattered expression he allowed no one to see.
He reached out not to touch her, not to intrude, but to brush a stray lock of hair away from her forehead without letting his fingers make contact.
Marco returned quietly stopping at the doorway when he saw Jake's face.
"She's stable, " Marco whispered. " But the trauma..."
" I know," Jake murmured
"Jake, " Marco said carefully. " This wasn't your fault. There is more to her than what happened yesterday. "
Jake's head snapped towards him.
"What do you mean?" Jake asked alarmed.
"She has bruises that are older than the ones she sustained during the kidnapping, " Marco explained. "Her trauma... her trauma is too extreme to have only been caused by the kidnapping. "
"What are you trying to say ?" Jake's voice cracked, his chest tightening. He didn't like where this conversation was heading. It was too raw.
"I'm saying, Jake... That girl must have gone through years of abuse. I'm guessing s****l abuse since she seems to flinch around men though she seems to trust you. She is going to need therapy, a lot of it."
Jake could feel the headache threatening to consume him. His breath shattered.
Sexual abuse?
That night.
That was why she was on that road that night. She was escaping, running for her life.
And he had left her, alone, hurt vulnerable and didn't even know anyone.
He didn't even bother to come back until it was late, just like he had been late yesterday.
Now she was here, hurt, severely traumatised by the same demons she was running away from.
Jake scrubbed his hands through his hair before gripping it tight it hurt.
"I can arrange a therapist. Preferably a woman and she can start once Tiana is ready. "
Jake nodded his eyes turning to her.
Just what happened to you little one?
He felt something twist inside him, something raw.
Something dangerous.
He would protect her.
From his enemies.
From her past. From his own men.
Even from himself.
As long as she was under his roof, under his care, nothing and no one would touch her again.
He leaned forward elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on her sleeping form.
"You're safe now, " he whispered, a vow more than a reassurance.
"Even if it kills me. "
And in the quiet hum of the hospital suite, she murmured something in her sleep, so soft he barely caught it.
"Don't leave. "
Jake closed his eyes.
"I'm right here," he breathed. " I'm not going anywhere. "
- Writer
