“Are you okay?” Maverick was right beside her, his hand on her back.

“It just shook me up a little,” she admitted.

“I’m sorry.” He stopped her and made her face him. She couldn’t look into his eyes. If she did, surely she would fall apart.

“I’m okay, Mav. Just—just go home. I still have a few hours left,” she said as she reached the door to the locker room.

“I’m not going anywhere. Your face is white, your clothes are bloody, and you’re in shock. Let’s get you cleaned up and get some coffee. I’m sure the staff will understand if you need to leave,” he told her.

She stopped inside the locker room, which was blessedly empty. She refused to look at him. He refused to let her shut him out. His fingers slipped beneath her chin and he raised her face to his. Then she was looking into his panicked eyes.

It was odd, really, but seeing the wild look on his face seemed to ground her. It was nice to know someone was out there who cared so much about her that seeing her like this was sending him off the deep end a little.

She couldn’t smile, but she tried to make her voice reassuring as she spoke.

“I can’t keep running every time I get scared. This is the job. Things happen. But I really need to get cleaned up,” she told him.

He was silent as he looked at her, and then she saw something else in his eyes that nearly had her reeling. She didn’t want to analyze it, didn’t want to focus on what she was seeing. She pulled away from him. She was finding it difficult to breathe.

“You’re so damn strong, Lins. I’m proud of you.”

His words were spoken almost reverently. It was giving her more and more strength. This man made her feel stronger and more capable. What was she doing continually running from him?

“I really do need to clean up,” she said, her voice almost pleading.

“Okay, sug.”

He didn’t say anything else, just took her into the shower room and began pulling off her clothes. She was trembling in his arms, but the more she thought about what had just occurred, the more she felt like she couldn’t speak.

She knew she should say something—do something, but she couldn’t.

Soon, the bloodied clothes were off her, and she was standing beneath the warm spray not understanding how she’d gotten there. And she wasn’t alone.

Maverick was with her, his chest pressed to her back as he ran his hands through her hair and down her body, getting every last trace of blood off her. Not knowing when the tears started, she just stood there slumped against him as he took care of her.

“I’m here, Lindsey, right here,” he whispered as he rinsed soap from her hair before he pulled her from the shower and wrapped one towel around her while using another to dry her body.

He kept whispering soothing words, and soon the tears dried and she managed to dress herself before the two of them exited the changing area. It all was such a blur, the only thing to focus on was his voice, and the strength of his hands as they’d washed her, taking away the filth that man had left on her. Simply having Mav there, being so kind, being her rock, gave her the sense of peace and security she needed to let go of the terror that had been consuming her.

His faith in her was terrifying, but her need for him was even worse. She knew she couldn’t think that way. It only added to the chaos of her life.

“I have to finish my shift, Mav,” she said as he walked her outside the building for a breath of fresh air.

He stopped in his tracks, a look of disbelief on his face.

“I think they can give you a pass, Lins. You were attacked.”

“If I run now, I might never come back in again, Maverick. I can’t run anymore. I’m afraid of what will happen if I do,” she told him, praying he wouldn’t push the issue. If he did, she wouldn’t be able to resist, and then all would be lost.

He tugged her into his arms.

“I don’t like this one bit, but I’m in awe of the person you are. Let’s at least grab a cup of coffee. You deserve a break before going back into that room,” he insisted.

“I can concede to that,” she told him.

He held her a few moments longer and then they walked side by side to the small dining area.

The caffeine helped tremendously, and she was able to go back to work. It wasn’t exactly with bells on, but it was a start. It seemed that if she just focused on the small stuff, life was so much easier to handle. If she started looking at the bigger picture, that’s when she felt like she was spinning out of control.

So she was going to just take it a day at a time. No, not even that. She was going to take it a moment at a time, and then an hour, and work herself up to days, weeks, and months. She wouldn’t even think about years yet.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Maverick hated hospitals. Really hated them. They smelled bad, and were incredibly noisy. He’d spent a fair amount of time in ERs. That’s what happened when you liked to live your life fast and hard.

But nothing was going to pull him away from the ER waiting room on this particular night. When he’d seen Lindsey come out of the trauma room covered in blood, her face white with red and purple bruising around her neck in the shape of fingerprints, he’d nearly lost it.

He should have been there sooner. Maybe he could have prevented it. Logically, he knew he couldn’t have done anything. How could he when he didn’t know what was going on behind those doors? And as much power as he had around town, he still couldn’t get into the sterile area without a reason.