Chapter 4
1124 Words
I have never found it so hard to stay awake as I did on our way to the hospital.
Gregory ended up playing 20 questions and nudging me every time I started to drift off.
Sitting on the hospital bed, the doctor looks over my injuries and asks many many questions. Both to me and Gregory.
I did end up getting five stitches on the side of my head.
I hope the scarring won't be too bad.
I’m glad Gregory’s here with me, even though he is a complete stranger. I’m surprisingly very comfortable around him.
“I’m looking for Snow White, where can I find her?” I hear from behind the slightly ajar glass door.
Hearing Princeton's worried voice, Gregory peaks out and signals him to where we are.
As soon as he comes close enough to the bed, he sighs with relief.
“What happened Snow? You look like shit.” He says, gently placing his hand on my cheek, rubbing his thumb lightly on the now very apparent bruise.
“Thanks, I feel like s**t,” I say with mock humor.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. But have you seen yourself in the mirror?”
I shake my head no.
“Well, you might want to brace yourself when you do.” He says, rubbing the back of his neck.
“So tell me, what happened?” He asks again.
“Well, I decided to walk to your place, you know, clear my mind because you were so cryptic when you told me you wanted to talk about something this morning. It drove me nuts all day! You know I hate when you do that! It gives me an upset stomach every time!” I chastise.
“Sorry I made you so worried. Keep going” He says with a sympathetic smile.
“Well, while I was walking, I kept having the eerie feeling someone was following me. Actually, it’s been happening for the past three days.” I say, my blank face turning into a frown.
“But Gregory said he’s been watching me for the same amount of days. It could have been him the other days. But that's beside the point” I say, shaking my head, but regret it as dizziness takes a hold of my senses.
“Easy there, Snow. Don’t move too fast. The doctor confirmed you do have a concussion.” Gregory chastises with a deep frown.
“Anyways, I kept looking behind me, but no one was there. Until someone was. I got scared and started running.” I laugh.
“I thought I was being stupid and looked back when I slowed down but turns out, I was right. That man was chasing after me.” I say, taking a deep breath, trying to stabilize my hammering heart.
“He pulled my hair back and I fell down. H-He then d-dragged me down the alley…” I say, biles rising into my mouth at what happened next.
“H-He pushed me up the wall, a-and chocked me…H-He put his h-hand u-up…up m-my…” I say, tears pouring down my cheeks.
“Hey, it’s ok. You can stop now.” Princeton says, taking me into his arms not too tightly.
Shaking my head against his chest, I keep going.
“He t-took my underwear off… H-He tried to..H-He was going to..” I whisper out.
“Ssh. It’s ok. Well, it’s not. But it will be. I will make sure that man never gets out of jail! He will NEVER come within five-thousand feet from you! I promise.” Princeton says, rubbing my back while I sob uncontrollably.
After calming down a little, the police came in and asked me the same question Princeton had.
“Soren has already brought the culprit to the station. He won’t be getting out anytime soon. Thank you for your cooperation, Miss White.” The police officer says, saluting both Princeton and Gregory on his way out.
Letting out a sigh, I rest back against the fluffy pillows Lance keeps fluffing. It took me a while after I talked about what happened to notice he was also there. I feel bad for ignoring him. I did apologize for it, but it only got me chastised for even thinking he would be mad for something so stupid.
Lance had a golden heart. Princeton is lucky to have him as his partner.
“We’ll leave for the night. You need to rest. We’ll be back in the morning.” He says, fluffing my pillows one last time, making me smile.
“Okay. thank you.”
“Gregory will stay with you for now. And either Bash or Sloan will take over in the morning.”
“Who?”
“My associates” Gregory clarifies.
“Oh,” I say, my frown deepening, looking down at the floor.
Walking closer to my bed, he kneels down.
“Hey, it’s ok. They are just as capable to protect you as I am. I will stay here for the night, and will be back tomorrow evening before you get discharged.”
“Ok…” I whisper, tears forming in my eyes again.
I try turning to hide them, but Gregory stops me.
“You don’t need to hide how you are feeling. You have been through so much tonight, and it wouldn't be natural if you weren’t upset. I know this must be scary, but you are well protected. Try and ease your mind for now. I will be sitting in that chair if you need me.” He says, pointing at the chair in the corner of the room.
“Are you going to sleep there?” I ask worried he won’t be comfortable.
He smirks and shakes his head.
“I won’t be sleeping tonight. I’m going to keep watch and make sure you are safe.”
“But won’t you be tired?!” I exclaim, sitting up to fast and getting dizzy again.
“Woaw, easy their tiger. Don’t sit up so fast! You’ll hurt yourself” He chastises, helping me settle back down.
“Are you sure you won’t sleep?” I ask, still worried.
“I won’t. I’d be doing a piss poor job in keeping you safe if I were to sleep on the job now, wouldn’t I?” He says with what looks like a smile, but it was gone as fast as it was there. Or maybe I only imagined him smiling.
Getting comfortable, I look at him settling on the chair. He takes out his phone and type furiously.
Before I knew it, my eyes struggled to stay open and my mind drifted off to a very restless night.
- Writer
