Flaming Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 2) (17 page)

“My family sees
you
, Becky. What they did to you, isn’t
you
.
You
are the woman their son is in love with.
You
are the woman who came to that refuge center and sat down on the ground and did whatever you could to make a small defenseless animal feel comfortable.
You
are mine, Becky. Mine. That’s what they would’ve seen.”

He let her cry against him again. God. If only her tears could wash away the feeling of those men touching her. If only they could wash away the feelings of helplessness and humiliation she was feeling.

Finally, Becky pulled back again and shyly looked up at Dean.

“You’re in love with me?”

“God, yes. I know we have a long road ahead of us. You have to get some help too, so you can deal with what happened. We need to get you moved down here. We need to spend time together, just the two of us, and really get to know each other. But ultimately, I know deep in my heart, you’re mine. You belong to me and I belong to you. I hope to Christ you’ll learn to feel the same way, but I want you to know up front where I’m coming from. I’m not leaving you. I’ll be at your side as we deal with this together.”

“I want that too,” she said, looking into his eyes.

She leaned forward and placed her lips lightly on his. Dean didn’t want to hurt her and he gently ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, avoiding her stiches, and then pulled back.

“What did the doctor say? Are you allowed to leave?”

“I think she wants to come back in and talk to me some more. I already talked to the police…they took pictures,” her voice cracked, but she bravely continued, “and said they’d be in touch.”

Dean nodded. “Okay, we’ll deal with them when they get back in touch with you. Are you allowed to get dressed?”

Becky nodded. “Are you going to help me?”

Dean shook his head. At seeing the shock and hurt in Becky’s eyes at his negative answer, he quickly said, “The marker and the words don’t matter one whit to me, sweetheart. Don’t get me wrong, I want to literally kill them for hurting you, for doing that to you. But don’t think for one second I don’t want to look at your gorgeous body. I want to spend hours examining you and making sure you’re all right. I want to take my time and check out all the nooks and crannies of what makes you, you. I want to lay you down and make love to you for hours and worship your body,
but
I want it to be at a time that
we
decide. In our bed. I want the first time I see you to be special for us both. I don’t want it to be in a hospital room wondering if someone is going to walk in. I’ll see what those assholes did to you Becky, make no mistake, but now isn’t the time. Okay?”

Becky could only nod. God, every time he opened his mouth he slayed her with his sincerity and emotion.

“I’ll just go and get my family while you get dressed. I’ll send in a nurse to help you navigate around that sling. We’ll meet you back here to talk with the doctor and I’ll take you home.”

Becky slowly got dressed with the nurse’s help, thinking about all that had happened to her in the last couple of days. She’d had such extreme highs and lows she was amazed she was still standing upright. One thing was clear, however, Dean wanted her. She smiled and waited for him to return for her.

Dean returned and Steve, Bethany and Jonathan crowded into the small room behind him. Each of them gave her a huge gentle hug and didn’t demand answers, she was thankful they were tactful enough to give her some time.

Finally, the doctor came in to talk to all of them.

“You’re Rebecca’s family?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Dean answered for all of them, “Yes, I’m her fiancé, and these are her future father and mother-in-law and brother-in-law.”

The doctor looked to Becky for confirmation and she could only nod. She shouldn’t have been shocked by Dean’s words, but deep down she still was. She hadn’t been a hundred percent sure he was serious about the entire being together thing, but obviously he was.

Dr. Sumner ran down the list of injuries Becky had. When she was done, Becky could see Dean and his family were looking a bit queasy.

“Honestly, guys,” she said, trying to make them feel better. “It sounds a lot worse than it is.”

“No, Becky,” Jonathan disagreed, “it sounds just as bad as it looks. You’re coming home with us, aren’t you? You’ll let us take care of you while you heal?”

Dean answered for her, “Yes, she’s coming with me.”

The others just nodded their heads as if it was a foregone conclusion all along.

Dr. Sumner wrote out a couple of prescriptions. One for pain and one for antibiotics. She encouraged Becky to go to her own physician for a follow-up in a few days. Becky was about to explain that she wasn’t from around here and didn’t have a doctor when Bethany piped up.

“Becky, I have a great physician. I’ll make you an appointment. If you like her, then you can set up further visits with her.”

It was settled. Becky was on her way home with Dean and his family. There was no place she’d rather be.

Becky knew the time had arrived to talk to Dean’s family. They’d been so great to her. Very patient, and they didn’t ask her why she hadn’t come to them or anything. She owed them an explanation, but she only wanted to do it once. She didn’t think she had the strength to go over it more than one time.

When they arrived back at the refuge center, which was also Steve and Bethany’s home, they settled her on the couch and ran around trying to get her everything they thought she needed to be comfortable. Bethany brought her a pillow and a soft fleece blanket. Steve brought her a large class of water and Jonathan hovered nearby as if waiting for her to ask about needing something. Dean sat next to her on the couch and held her hand, not saying a word, but providing some much needed support just by being there.

“I wanted to talk to you all if you’d let me,” Becky told them with only a hint of emotion making her voice crack. “I want to explain what I was thinking and why I didn’t immediately come to you.”

“Oh, honey,” Bethany said immediately. “We understand.”

“No,” Becky said quickly. “You don’t, but I’m hoping you will after I’m done.”

Understanding this was apparently important to her, they all sat down around the couch to hear what she had to say.

“After I left the hotel I didn’t know what to do. All sorts of thoughts were racing through my head. I thought I could just leave and pretend that nothing had happened. As time went on I started to hurt more and more. Everything hurt.”

She could feel Dean tense beside her, but she tried to ignore it and continue.

“I got mad, at myself and at Derek and David. Who were they to do this to me and get away with it? If they’d done it to me, how many others would they do it to as well? Would they succeed in actually raping someone else? Had they done it in the past? I knew I had to stop them. But I was also mad at myself. I’m usually not so pathetic. I should’ve come to you guys right away. I know you would’ve helped me and not made me feel bad. I did know it. But I was embarrassed. I’m still embarrassed that you know what happened. I didn’t want you guys to look at me with guilt or pity.”

She took a deep breath. This next part was hard.

“I’m afraid you’ll look at me differently now. Not just because of what my face looks like or because you know what happened to me, but because I let you all down. For all my talk about getting that little coyote to trust, at the first sign of trouble,
I
didn’t trust you. I really am sorry I didn’t contact you right away, Steve. I mean, I know I should have, but I was a coward.”

Steve got up from his seat and came toward the vulnerable young woman sitting next to his son. He put his finger up to her lips gently to keep her from saying anything until he said his peace.

“You could never be a coward, Becky. You just needed some time to process what happened to you. In the end you
did
contact me. You called me to help you and we came. What I feel for you, what we all feel for you, isn’t pity. We’re sorry this happened. We’re so sorry you’re hurt and you had to go through that awful experience. We’re pissed for you. We’re pissed at those men. But there’s no pity. The only thing we feel when we look at you is joy that you’re here with us, with Dean, and that you’ll be okay.”

Becky sniffed and nodded. She leaned toward Steve hesitantly and put her one good arm around his neck. “Thank you, Steve. Thank you.”

Steve hugged his son’s woman gently, knowing she was still in pain. “I hope at some point you’ll feel comfortable enough to call me Dad.”

Becky leaned back to feel Dean’s hand against her lower back. “I’d be honored…Dad,” she said softly and grinned lopsidedly at him.

Becky turned when Dean said, “I’m just so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you, sweetheart. That this had to happen to you…”

Becky shook her head. “It’s not your fault, Dean. It would’ve happened if you’d been in town or not.”

Dean shook his head, knowing that wasn’t true. “We’re going to have to disagree on that one, sweetheart. If I was in town, the second you left that damn show I would’ve picked up you and brought you home.”

“But the contract…” Becky started to say.

“The hell with the contract. I would’ve brought you to my home, where you would’ve been safe,” he told her, running his hand over her head and cupping her cheek again.

Becky closed her eyes and leaned against his hand.

She didn’t want to admit to what she’d done, but she had to get it all out now. “I screwed up,” she baldly told the group around her.

At the shake of Dean’s head and the frown on Steve’s face, she nodded her head. “Yes, I did. I knew I waited too long to come to the hospital after it happened and I took a shower.” She bowed her head. “I knew I’d be destroying evidence, but I had to…I just had to.” Her voice got really soft. “I did keep my clothes separate and they took samples when I did come in…I just hope it’s enough.”

Bethany was the one who came over toward Becky next and she put her hand on Becky’s leg. “It’s okay, Becky, believe me when I say we don’t blame you and I know I would’ve done the same thing.”

Becky didn’t know how she’d gotten so lucky to have met this family, but she knew she’d be thanking her lucky stars for the rest of her life. They’d been so supportive and she knew she’d be a mess if it wasn’t for them.

“Okay, guys,” Bethany said a bit more cheerily, trying to lighten the mood a bit. “Let’s go. Becky needs her rest. Dean, you stay.”

Dean managed a smile. He loved his mom. She always seemed to know what someone needed, and right now Becky needed some time to process all his family had said and done for her.

Bethany and Steve left the room, but before Jonathan left, he came up to the couch and touched Becky on the shoulder.

“I’ll take care of this for you,” he said quietly. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I knew something was wrong and I came to the hotel that night, but when I couldn’t find you I left. I shouldn’t have, and for that I’ll never forgive myself.”

He turned to leave, but Becky reached up and grabbed his hand.

“Jonathan…please…this isn’t your fault. Please, look at me,” Becky pleaded with him.

Jonathan looked into her eyes and Becky could see how much he was torturing himself over her. She reached up and placed her hand on the side of his face, amazed at how right it felt and how she wasn’t scared, even though this was the first time she’d ever touched this man. She was half afraid she’d never be normal again and never be able to touch another man without having flashbacks.

“Thank you for looking for me,” she told him quietly. “I know you would’ve done everything you could to help me if you could have, and I’ll forever be grateful for that.” And amazingly she
did
know it. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the odd connection she had with Dean or what, but she knew Jonathan would’ve done anything he could have for her.

Jonathan nodded. “Thanks, Becky. I’m going to go to the police station and talk to them about what I know about those two. I’ve watched them for the last month or so through the camera lens and I think I could probably help with some more information. I’m also going to talk to the other camera operators to see if they’d also help.”

At seeing Becky’s face drain of color, he quickly reassured her. “They don’t know all that happened, Becky. All they know is that Derek and David beat you up. They don’t know about…anything else.”

Becky nodded and tried to remind herself she didn’t do anything wrong. “Okay, any help they can give to get those two off the streets is good. I appreciate your help, Jonathan.”

He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, squeezed her hand and left the room.

Becky leaned back carefully so her back was to Dean’s chest. He turned them so they were reclining on the couch. Dean put his arm around Becky’s waist and held her to him. He couldn’t believe he could’ve lost her. If Derek and David had been a bit more sober, or even had gotten their hands on some sort of weapon, they easily could’ve killed her. He’d seen it happen too many times in his line of work to take for granted the close call his
One
had.

He kissed the top of her head. “Relax, sweetheart. I’ve got you. We’ll get this all figured out…later. For now, just relax and know you’re safe. I’ll always keep you safe.”

Becky nodded off to sleep, secure in the knowledge that she was safe in Dean’s arms.