There’s no hesitation. He grabs me by the throat. Pushing me down onto the bed. “You will do as I f**kin’ tell you! You will get dressed. Then you will leave this hospital, and get on a plane home with me.”
“No,” I croak out.
His hand grabs at my gown, lifting it. He grabs the fabric of my panties and tears them off my body. His knee comes between my thighs. I press my legs together, trying to keep him out, but he’s too strong, and he pries them apart.
With his knee pressed painfully up against the most intimate part of me, he leans into my face. “Do I need to teach you another lesson, Mia?”
Fear and memories start to take hold.
And I stop them as soon as they start. I will not be controlled.
Not by him.
Not by anyone.
Ever again.
I hate Forbes more in this moment than I ever have. And it gives me strength. Strength I need.
Slowly, I shake my head.
He smiles, a winners smile. “Good girl.” Then he pulls my gown aside, revealing my naked breast. “So f**king beautiful,” he says, pressing his hand to my chest, moving his disgusting fingers over my nipple. He squeezes.
I close my eyes on the pain. Tears press from the corners of my eyes.
Jordan. It’s a silent scream in my mind. A plea for him to come back. To make right on his promise when he said that he would never let anyone hurt me, ever again.
But Jordan’s not coming because I sent him away.
This is for me to do. And I can do it.
Slowly, I lift my hand to Forbes’ face. His eyes fire with triumph, and I know I have him.
Tilting my chin, I offer my mouth to him.
His eyes flare. “Tell me you want me, Mia. Say, ‘Fuck me, Forbes. Please.’ I want to hear you beg, baby.”
I swallow down all the words I want to say, and do as he says, “Fuck me, Forbes. Please,” I say in a steady voice.
“There’s my, girl.” He smirks, lowering his face to mine.
The instant his lips touch mine, I moan, knowing it will turn him on to deepen the kiss. And that’s the moment when I go back to the tactic I used the last time, and bite down on his lower lip. But this time, I bite like I mean it.
His blood floods my mouth, along with his yell of pain.
“You f**kin’ bitch!” He hits me hard.
Pain explodes in my head. His grip on my throat tightens. Breathing quickly gets hard.
I need to get out of this, but I can’t move my body, so my hands slap him, scratching, pushing, just trying anything I can to get him off me, but he’s unmoving.
It’s when he’s rearing back to hit me again, fist clenched, that I turn my head away.
And that’s when I see my escape, on the table by the bed.
Without another thought, I grab the glass water jug and using all the strength I have, I hit him with it.
I make contact with the side of his head. I feel and hear the dull thud of the glass as it strikes his skull.
Water spills out, soaking my face and hair.
Forbes looks stunned. Like he can’t believe I really just hit him with it.
He wobbles, but he’s still upright, and I need him down.
So I pull back and hit him again. Harder this time. And that’s when he goes down, falling right on top of me.
The jug drops from my hand and hits the floor with a loud shatter.
I’m panicking, coughing up his blood mixed in with my own, just needing him off me. Terrified that he’s going to wake up and then it’s game over for me.
With unknown strength, I manage to struggle out from underneath him. Sliding off the bed, my eyes trained on his unmoving body, my bare feet hit the floor.
Glass shards cut straight through the soles of my feet, I bite my lip on the cry of pain I want to make.
Not taking my eyes off Forbes, I grab the emergency buzzer by the bed, pressing it multiple times. Then as quietly as I can, I move across the floor, stifling my urges to cry out as the glass continues to cut mercilessly, into my feet.
I’m steps from the door, when I hear running footsteps down the hall. Then the door bursts open. It’s Dr. Packard with a security guard flanking her.
Thank god.
“Mia, what on earth has happened? Are you okay? We heard glass breaking, then your buzzer was going off frantic!” Her eyes sweep the room taking in the state of me and Forbes out on the bed. “Oh, my god, are you okay?”
I take a few steps toward her, stumbling, I collapse, relief taking me down.
Dr. Packard catches me, holding me in her arms. “It’s okay, Mia,” she soothes, holding me to her. “You’re going to be okay.”
But in this moment, her words aren’t so easy to believe. And all I can think is how much I wish it were Jordan’s arms around me right now.
But they never will be again.
And I only have myself to blame for that.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jordan
Day two: post-Mia…
“Jordan.”
Dad knocks on my door.
I ignore him. I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone right now.
The only one I want to keep company with is the one who understands my pain best – Dozer. He’s missing Mia as much as I am.
I hear the door open.
“Go away,” I mumble into my pillow.
Dozer lifts his head, looks up, then lays back down.
“You really need to open the window, let some air in. It stinks in here,” Dad says, ignoring me.
“I like the stink.”
Truth is, I don’t want to open the window in case the fresh air takes the scent of Mia from my bedding, disappearing just like she has from my life.