Misha: Lanning's Leap (5 page)

If the woman answered, Ha
n didn’t hear it. When the door opened and closed again, she hoped that it was the man and not the woman leaving. He was a prick, and Han decided that she didn’t like him.

“Will you speak to me?”
Han turned to the soft voice. “I’m thinking you simply don’t know what to say rather than not speaking to him. Am I right?”

“I don’t want him to hit me.” She
didn’t know why she’d said that to this woman, but she felt like she could talk to her. “When do you think I can leave? I have to find a job.”

“You will be coming home with me when you’re
released. The boys, my sons, all have a place of their own in the house but nothing that they actually own. Misha is looking into houses now. What do you prefer in a home?”

“Safety.”
Again, Han had no idea why she’d said that to her but changed the subject. “He said they were going to take the bandages off today if I stayed awake. Do you know…can you tell me how to tell them I’m awake now?”

“I will take care of that for you.” She heard
the woman move about the room. Then she heard her talking to someone. When she hung up the phone, she came back to her. “I don’t know if you remember me telling you my name or not, but I’m Maribel Lanning. You’re Hannah Oliver, correct?”

“Yes.”
Han moved slowly on the bed so that she could stretch out her good leg. “I don’t know why I’m here. Shouldn’t I be at County?”

“You’re here
because my son made arrangements for you to be here. He wanted you to have the best care possible.” Han didn’t understand that at all. The man she’d met seemed to wish her gone. Han hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud until Maribel spoke. “He doesn’t want you gone, but he doesn’t understand you. You’re something new for him to deal with.”

“I want to go home, not be dealt with.” The door opened again
, and she heard several people this time. One of them had a deep voice and said his name was Doctor Hudson. He also explained what he was going to do.

“I’m going to take the bandages off slowly. I don’t think there is any reason for them to hurt
, but there might be a few sticking places. I want to give you something for pain now so that when I get closer to your skin, it will already be working.”

“No. Please. No drugs. They cost a great deal and…
.” She didn’t want to cost any more than she had to. She’d eventually have to pay this man back, and she was pretty sure it was already a fortune. “I’ll be fine.”

The first layers of gauze
, he told her, were just there for padding. As he got closer and closer to her actual skin, Han could see more light. When he paused for several seconds, she knew that someone else had come into the room.

“Is she hurting?
” She knew the voice and tensed up. She moaned a little before she could stop it, and he spoke again. “Give her something, damn it. She’s too stubborn to ask for anything on her own. She’s trying to piss me off, that’s all.”

“Get out of here.” She heard her voice and almost didn’t recognize it
, but she was mad, too, now. “Get out of here and don’t you dare come back. I hate you.”

There was a sharp intake of breath
, then silence. She could hear things moving around and then the door opening again. Someone took her hand, and she pulled back. The laughter made her think it was Misha again.

“It’s Carter Lanning. You and I met the day you were slapped by the broad at the counter.” She still didn’t let
him take her hand. “You know, I think you might have been able to handle her on your own. You sure did Misha.”

“He’s a bully.” Carter laughed
, and she felt herself relax a little. “I want you to keep him out of here. He thinks…I don’t know what he thinks, but I don’t want him around me again.”

“
That might not be possible, love. I’m pretty sure that he’s going to be hanging around you a great deal from now on. And I think you two might be more suited than I first thought.” He laughed again, and the doctor told them it was time to finish. He asked her if she wanted anything for pain and she told him no. She would do this now even if she had to suffer for days.

The light was blinding when he got to it
, but someone turned the lights down and it got a little better. She knew she must have looked horrible, and the look on the face of the man next to her confirmed it. She asked them all to leave her, please. Everyone left but Carter.

“You look better. Not to say you look perfect
, but you look better than when I saw you at your house.” Han didn’t say anything. Her mother had beaten her badly this time, and Han was terrified. Carter sat down on a chair with the back to his chest. He stared at her for a long time.

“You should leave now.” He nodded but
didn’t move. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me now, but I’d very much like to be alone to make some arrangements.”

“You’re not going to like me any better than you do Misha when I tell you
what’s going on.” She turned from him and tried not to cry. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like very much of anything that happened to her from now on. “You’re not going back to your house, and no one is going to put you in a mental ward. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“She can.”
Han turned to him when he didn’t say anything. “She’s had me declared unfit to live alone. I can’t do anything but what she tells me to do. I’m not…I have a mental issue.”

“Don’t we all.” She thought he was trying to be funny
, but it wasn’t. He looked at her. “No one is going to hurt you again, Han. I promise you this. Misha is upset, yes, but he’ll never hurt you.”

“Why does he figure into my life?”
She could tell he was hiding something, and she didn’t press. If she wasn’t supposed to know, it was more than likely for the best. “I want you all to leave me alone. I don’t know how I’ll pay him back for making sure I had good care, but I do appreciate it very much.”

“
Que ferez-vous quand elle vous fait mal à nouveau
?”

Han answered his question in the same French that he’d asked her
with. She didn’t know what she’d do when her mother hurt her again. Deal, she supposed. “
Je vais faire de mon mieux et essayer de rester en vie. C'est tout ce que je peux faire.
”
Telling him she was going to do the best she could to stay alive was a stupid answer, but it was really all she could do. Turning her head from him, she continued in English. “I’m very tired, Mr. Lanning. I’d very much like for you to leave now as well. Tell your brother…tell him that I’m sorry I lost my temper with him, but…but I’m not being stubborn, just…I’m just me.”

“Hannah, look at me.” She turned and could see that he was hurt by her words. She was
not used to people caring so much about her, but he spoke before she could tell him she was sorry. “My brother is your mate. I know that you have no idea what that means, but it will come clear to you when he talks to you. And you have to let him talk to you. He can keep you safe like no other person can, and he will…. He might be pissy about it, but he will keep you safe.”

“I don’t want him to.” Carter shook his head and stood up. “I’ll pay him back for having me cared for
, but I don’t want him to come here again. It’s not necessary for him to. I want to thank you for what you’ve done for me, both before and now, but I have to do what’s right for me.”

Carter leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. When he left her, Han
lay there for a long time, just thinking about nothing in particular. Then she knew what she had to do. Reaching for the phone with her good hand, she called the only person she knew to call. Her mother. Han knew for some reason that she was going to suffer like she’d never suffered before when she went home this time.

Chapter
5

Misha came down to breakfast to find his mom sitting at the table with a half cup of tea in front of her. She was staring off into space, and he reached for her cup. It was as cold as if she’d put ice in it. He touched her arm and called to her twice before she looked at him.

“She’s left the hospital.”
Misha started to stand up, but she told him to sit down. “You have no one to blame but yourself on this, so just sit there and listen to me. Her mother called me about an hour ago to tell me that I was to give you a message. Would you like to know what it is?”

“Yes, please.”

Instead of answering him, she stood up and moved to the counter. He didn’t say anything as she filled the kettle up with water and set it on the stove. As she moved back and forth between the sink and the stove, he could see that she was getting angrier and angrier with each step.

“Her mother told me that her daughter was going away for a time.
I’m just betting where that might be. But she said that I was to never contact them again, and that if we tried to send her the bills, she’d sue us.” His mom turned on him so quickly that she splashed tea on him from her cold cup. “Do you know how badly I wanted to jump through the phone and tear her throat out? In all my years as a leopard, I’ve never once wanted to kill before. Not even your father when he…I wanted to kill her.”

“I’m sorry
, Mom.” She slammed her cup on the table and it shattered. With a quick glance at her hand, he could see that she hadn’t cut herself, but he still worried about her. “I’m going to get her to come here.”

“And do what?
Should she sit around so you can take cheap shots at her? That will make for a wonderful relationship for you both. You snapping at her like she’s a child and her hurting because you hate her.”

“I don’t hate her. I don’t even know her well enough to dislike her.” That
had come out wrong, and he tried to salvage it. “She’s my mate. I will do whatever it takes for her to be safe. Her mom won’t be able to hurt her again so long as I live. I promise.”

“But you still will leave her open to the pain you inflict on her
, though.” His mom sat down before she continued. “Leave her alone, Misha. I beg of you to. The girl has been through enough without you tearing her apart more. As much as I love you, I want you to be happy, and you won’t with her here or even in your life. I know she won’t be.”

“You think I should just let her suffer at the hands of her mother for the rest of my life
?” His mom said it would be better. “Better for who? Her mother? It certainly won’t be for her. I didn’t see her when they took those bandages off her, but I saw her at the house. Christ, she looked like someone had cut her up and then beat her with something like a cat-o-nine tails. And her back…did you know that her ‘mother’ used a belt on her over and over until she bled so badly that her back looked raw? Mom, how will she be better off if she stays with her?”

“Her heart will not be torn from her chest.”

Misha could hear the pain in her voice
, see the hurt and anguish on her face, and he wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her. Hold her as she’d done him all those years ago.

“Leave her alone, Misha. It’s for the best.”

Misha went to his office and sat at the computer for a long time, just staring at it. When he reached for the mouse, he moved it to do a search before he could change his mind. When he found what he was looking for, he called Rider.

“I need for you to see if we have anyone working at the County Mental Board. I need to have a patient reevaluated as soon as possible.”
Rider asked him if it was Hannah. “Yes. I want…I need to make sure she’s okay, and I can’t do that if she’s not where I can help her.”

“Mom said she told you to leave her alone. I think that’s good advice. You don’t need a mate
, and you certainly don’t need one that you’re going to hurt every time you open your mouth.” Misha felt his cat tear at his skin wanting to hurt his brother. “Just fucking leave her alone, why don’t you?”

“I can’t. I…I tasted her blood and now I can feel her. She’s afraid and hurting right now. They’ll hurt her there and I will feel every bit of it.
When it gets bad, what do you think is going to happen when my cat decides he’s going to find her and protect her?”

“Fuck.”
Misha couldn’t have agreed more. “I’ll call you back in a bit. You should have told me you took her…when the hell did you manage to bond with her? She’s been out or screaming for you to leave her alone since she woke up.”

Misha
didn’t answer his brother. He knew that, really, all he’d done was taste a small bit of her, but it was enough to feel her overwhelming pain. He had no idea if she was hurting now or not, but it got Rider to help him, and he needed that. Misha leaned back in his chair and thought about what he had to do now.

He was looking at a house not far from his mom. It was a nice size if she ever wanted to sell and move in with him, which he sort of hoped she would.
Hannah would have plenty of room to do whatever she wanted, and there were plenty of bedrooms that she could have her pick of…so long as it wasn’t his. He’d have to explain to her how things were going to go as soon as possible. He didn’t love her, he would more than likely never love her, but he might grow fond of her someday. When his phone rang, it was the realtor. Misha took that as a good sign.

The house was his
, as were the fifty acres surrounding the ten that the house sat on. His mother’s house and her property butted right up against his, so that would be great for them all. More room to run. As he made arrangements to sign the paperwork, he made notes on things that had to be completed. Rider called him ten minutes later.

“I have a buddy that’s going to arrange to get in to see her. I’m not saying that he’ll be able to evaluate her
, but he’s going to see her. Mark said that when they have a new patient come in, they do a small question and answer session. I’ve made it so that you can go as well. If you piss her off, it’s going to be finished.” Misha wasn’t sure he could be around her during this meeting then. They never seemed to get along on the best of terms, and he said as much to Rider. “Then how about Mom goes?”

“Mom?”
Misha knew that their mom liked Hannah. And he was reasonably sure that she liked Mom, but how would this meeting go with her there? Given the alternative, she would be better than him. “Okay. But we have to have time to talk to Mom. She’ll need to know what to tell her.”

“I think
Mom can handle more than you can right now.” Misha wanted to snap at him but knew, deep down, that he was right. “I’m going to call Mom now and have her tell me when she can do this. Then when I have it set up, I’ll call you back. And Misha? Please, just shut up. She isn’t going to be happy with this, I have a feeling, and you pissing her off is not going to help her results.”

Misha sat in his office for several minutes before he thought about what he was getting into with a mate. She was going to make demands on him that he wouldn’t like. Then she was going to be whiney about it.
Misha smiled when he thought of her telling him to get out of her room. Someday he thought he might enjoy her standing up to him. Maybe.

~~~

Carter sat in the waiting room and watched the others as they milled around the room slowly. Most, he could tell, had been so doped up that they could barely function. Others, at least two of them, were drooling on themselves, and one of them had shit themselves. This was not a place for Han.

“Mr. Lanning?” He stood up when the nurse said his name. “I just got a call from her doctor
, and he said it would be all right for you to visit. But that…I’m to keep it off the books?”

“Her mother.” The nurse nodded as if she understood and led him down the long hallway.
“Do you know if she needs anything?”

“She needs to have someone come here and take her home.
The girl needs someone to love her, not treat her like this.” She stopped walking and looked at him, shock written all over her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’m sure that Miss Oliver gets—”

“I think you’re right.” She nodded
, relieved. “I like her. Han, I mean. And I want her to have more than I think she can get here. No offense.”

“None taken. We have very little to offer her in the way of support. There’s not enough money for the ones that really need to be in here, much less a woman like her.”
She turned to look down the hall, then back at him. “I know that I shouldn’t be telling you any of this but…you being a shifter and all, I know you can see more than most of the people here. Hannah is a wonderful person, but if she doesn’t get help soon, and I mean very soon, she’ll be right back where she was, and this time her mother will kill her.”

“I’m working on that.” She nodded and told him which room Han was in.
“Thank you for your honesty. I think my brother is working on getting her what she needs.”

After she left him, Carter went to the door and
knocked. When she said for him to enter, Carter took a deep breath and went in. She was sitting in a wheelchair near the barred-up window.

“I don’t know why you’re here.”
He sat down in front of her, moving the chair so that she could see him. When she didn’t look his way, he put his finger on her chin and had her turn.

“I like you.” She nodded
, and he could see the tears. “I wanted to be sure that you’re okay. I…I have a friend that works here and she got me in.”

“I’m not supposed to have any visitors. I think it’s because I’m unsafe.” She turned back to the window again.
“She’s going to kill me when I get out of here. She told me so.”

“I’m not going to let that happen.” Han nodded but said nothing.
“I wanted to talk to you about a few things. I have some time, but I want to make sure that you understand what I’m saying. All right?”

She nodded but still looked out the window.
Carter wanted to lift her up and carry her out of there, but doubted he’d get very far. Looking around the room, he wondered how anyone could survive like this. He knew that he couldn’t.

The bed and the small stand were both chained to the floor.
There was a single chair, the one he was sitting in, but it, too, was chained to the wall, with just enough play in it for him to move it to her and that was it. There was no phone in the room, no lamp, and the drawers on the small stand were padlocked so that only a person with a key could open them. Carter looked at Han.

“You’re
in prison.” She nodded and turned to look at him. “I’m so sorry for this. I had no idea that this would happen when I tried to help you.”

“You
didn’t do anything wrong, Mr. Lanning. It was just a matter of time before she got it in her head to have me come here. It’s usually when she’s threatened with eviction because she’ll use the rent money for a dress or her hair. Then I get committed for a time and she gets her way. I’ll be out before you know it.”

“You said she’d kill you when you
go home. You believe that, don’t you?” She looked around the room, then at him before she answered.

“She will.
Do you want to know why?” He nodded. “Because I’m not going to let her do this to me again. I’m going to…I’m not sure what I can do, but I’m not going to let her hurt me like this again. Even if I have to spend the rest of my life here, it will be better than what I’ve endured my whole life.”

Carter nodded.
He had to tell her some things. Rider and the doctor had given him a list of things that he was to talk to her about before they got there. He pulled out the pictures he’d taken that morning of his cat, as well as the list.

“I’m going to tell you something.
Something about my family. I don’t want you to get upset or start to scream. Okay?” She nodded and smiled. He smiled back. “I really do like you, Han. You’re very special to me. And my family.”

“What is it?” He nodded.
“Mr. Lanning, before you tell me, I was wondering if you could help me back to the bed. I’ve been sitting here for over nine hours, and while they have me catheterized, I still hurt to sit for so long.”

He
felt his cat skim along his skin. She’d been sitting like this for…he stood up and asked her how to do it. When he had her in his arms, he knew that she was hurting, but she told him it was all right. As he placed her in the bed, he reached for his friend and told him to bring her something for pain, but learned that there was nothing prescribed. Carter asked Han about it.

“My mother said it was too expensive and that I needed to get off them anyway.
I hurt really badly, but I’ll be okay in a few minutes.” She wouldn’t and they both knew it. Han was as white as the sheet she laid on, and her hands were trembling. “Maybe you could just tell me what it is you have to say. It might take my mind off it.”

“You really saw a wolf that day when you were a child.” She looked at him
, and he felt his face heat up. “I really meant to lead up to that, but I guess I was trying too hard to distract you.”

“You did. But really, what did you want
?” He sat on the wheelchair and moved it close to her bed. He knew that there were cameras in the room, but they weren’t recording sound. Carter decided to start from the beginning.