Mine To Bear (A Paranormal Shifter Romance) (Atonement Book 2) (3 page)

It wasn't long before sleep claimed him.

Melissa

Her eyes slowly opened, burning as they tried to adjust to the bright sunlight pouring in through the open windows. Instinctively she tried to cover her eyes with her hands. When they wouldn't move as she commanded, she looked down in horror to find them strapped to the bedside. Shaking furiously she tried to rip them free, but she wasn't strong enough.

A nurse rushed into the room, a kindly older lady with an officious look on her face.

"Now you stop your struggling right there young lady. Those aren't permanent, and as soon as you can prove to us you aren't going to up and run away, I will take them right off."

Not waiting for a reply, the nurse bustled up to her and started checking various readouts on the machines and untying her. She flinched at the close presence of someone, but didn't try to break free.

"Hun, there's nothing to be afraid of with little old me. I know you probably don't believe that, and while I can't understand what you've been through, I can understand that it's hard for you to trust what anyone says now."

"Where am I?" she asked, still trying to come to terms with the fact that she could see sunlight again, and that she wasn't in the dark cave anymore.

"Parkside Hospital dear, in the finest of care if I do say so myself," she said, giggling at her own joke.

"What is your name, sweetie? You didn't have any identification on you when they brought you in."

"Melissa..." she worked her mouth around the syllables, finding it weird to hear her own name after so long. The men who had held her hadn't used names, simply derogatory term's when talking at her. They never talked
to
her, like this nurse was.

"Well Melissa, other than being underfed and weak, there's nothing physically wrong with you, my dear. How do you feel?"

"Weak. In shock. I can't believe I'm actually free. It, it doesn't feel real." That was the honest truth, for she didn't actually believe it. This was more than likely some mean trick, she had dreamt the whole thing. However, even now as she inhaled, she caught a whiff of something familiar, the smell of someone new. She remembered that scent from her dreams, of the strong man who had held her so tenderly. How could that be a dream, she wondered.

"Oh, it's real enough sweetie. The man who brought you in is still waiting outside. He was really nice, he even slept in the chair outside your room. It was rather annoying to have to show him my nurses badge, but he wasn't going to let anyone in here who was up to no good. Little rough around the edges, but I think he's got a good heart in him. Anyways, listen to me blabber on, let's get you some food!"

She hustled out of the room, promising to be back in just a minute. Melissa began to settle back into the bed, allowing herself to hope for just a minute that she might actually be free.

"Hello," the deep, masculine voice came from the doorway, startling her out of her reverie. It was the man from her dreams, she realized with a start. This must be the one the nurse was going on about. He looked terrible, huge bags under his eyes, hair messy and his clothes still torn and stained. Still, it was his eyes themselves that she noticed, the care and tenderness practically bleeding through.

"Hi." She wasn't sure what else to say at that point, not sure that words alone could truly express how grateful she was to him. Although she was slowly starting to accept the reality of it, she knew her transition back to a normal life would be rough. It would be worth it though, because she now had the chance to do so. Perhaps, she thought, when I'm healed, I'll seek him out and find out how I can repay him.

"How are they treating you?" It was clear to her he had no idea where to go from here either, but she appreciated the fact that he was trying, that he was talking to her like a real human being.  Something that almost felt like it should have been a smile tugged at her cheeks.

"Well enough. The nurse seems destined to hook you up with somebody, I think she likes your protective side."

He turned his head away at that, and she immediately regretted the words, although she had no idea why he reacted the way he did.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Please don't hate me." The words came out in the same voice she had used with her captors, an unintentional habit. Her hands flew to her mouth as she realized what she had done. This man had been nothing but kind to her, rescuing her and bringing her all the way to the hospital, then sleeping outside her door.

The look of pain and hurt on his face as her tone registered to him was breaking what little emotion she had left in her. He didn't deserve that from her, nor did she deserve his kindness, she thought.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Why are you sorry? I should be the one apologizing." He grated his teeth together as he ground out the words, obviously unhappy with himself. 

"We didn't know that they had someone in captivity, or even where their -" he paused as he looked over his shoulder.

The nurse came pushing politely past him with a breakfast of eggs, toast, and some potato fries. It smelled delicious to her, and his last statement was momentarily forgotten while she dug in.

"Eat slowly dear, you don't want to upset  your stomach."

With a wry look at the nurse, she slowed herself down, forcing herself to chew thoroughly before taking the next bite. The last thing she wanted to do was unload the contents of her stomach in front of this man.

Edward

He had told her his name last night, and it was Edward.

"I'm Melissa," she told him, meeting his gaze again. He started as she spoke to him, before a small smile spread over his face.

"Well Melissa, I'm sorry we didn't discover you earlier. While we had an idea that somebody was trespassing, we didn't realize their true nature in time." That must have been a veiled reference to another memory that was coming back to her.

"Did they know your, um, true nature?" she said, trying to phrase it so the nurse wouldn't understand, but still clearly enough that she didn't confuse him with her words.

"I'm not sure they thought the course of action through to reach the logical conclusion, no. If any of them try to return to their den, I'm not sure they'll be able to bear the consequences. Once the police find them, that is," he added hastily at the odd look the nurse gave him. She seemed satisfied by that and smiled along with the two of them.

"I still can't thank you enough for coming in after me. How did you even find them?"

"It wasn't hard Melissa, they made as much noise as a pack of wolves." He hit her with a powerful stare at those last words, obviously trying to tell her something. Something to do with wolves and the men.

Then it came to her. He had mentioned their den and making noises like a pack of wolves. Those two tidbits, plus the fact that he had revealed to her that he could change into a bear, told her all she needed to know about her captors. They had been werewolves.

The incredulity of that sentence threw her mind for a loop, but it made sense. They had always been at each other's throats, except for when the boss was around. They had all bowed down to what he said, practically cowering around him.

The thought still boggled her mind, that such a thing could still in fact exist. Her eyes had borne proof to it though, when Edward had changed right before her. She might have been able to push it off as her being delusional at the time, but now, now that she was starting to feel some sort of rationality return, his cryptic words fit all too well.

"I'll give you two a moment. Just press this button if you need assistance dear." The nurse indicated the big yellow button just out of reach of her left hand.

"Okay, thank you." With that, the two of them were alone again. She noticed that he didn't come any further into the room, simply leaning on the door frame for comfort, but maintaining his distance. It was nice of him to respect her like that, since they barely knew each other. She was unsure what would happen if he came closer anyways, and the last thing she wanted to do was try and find out.

"Thank you again, Edward," she rolled the name over her tongue, seeing how it felt. It had been quite some time since she had spoken directly to another human, and she found saying someone's name a different experience.

"You can stop thanking me, any normal person would have done the same. You don't owe me anything either, so just in case you were going to say something along those lines, just forget it now." He smiled jovially to indicate he was serious but not upset about it, just heading off any later awkwardness.

"What do I do now Edward? I have no family, I even had very few friends. Obviously not enough if a full-scale search for me wasn't launched." She said the last bitterly, still wondering how that had come to be.

"I can't claim to be an expert on that Melissa. You seem to be recovering well physically at least." He said it awkwardly, tiptoeing around the subject in the room. She appreciated his attempts but decided to spare him the pain of trying to properly phrase things.

"My body will recover, but I know my brain is rather messed up right now," she said wryly, doing her best to give him a disarming smile, to let him know she wasn't offended.

"I have no idea what type of treatment to do for that. I suppose I should ask the nurse if there is somewhere I can go. Hopefully they take welfare cases like me," she chuckled, making light of the fact that she effectively had no money to her name.

A look flashed through his eyes at that, but he quickly suppressed it, not wanting to let her see whatever flash of brilliance he may have had. She meant to ask him about it, but when her mouth opened to speak, a large yawn surprised her. The food was settling in, and her body was telling her it was time to sleep.

"I'll come back and see you tomorrow Melissa. I promise."

She tried to respond, but before she could say anything sleep overtook her. This time it was restful and calm.

***

She awoke later that day, feeling far more refreshed and alive than she had in days. After talking to her nurse, they said she was being transferred to an outpatient facility that would help her regain her strength, and also deal with any mental issues she may come across.

Two women came into the room, introducing themselves as employees of Placid Cares Rehabilitation Center. They were both extremely polite and together the three of them left the hospital.

Melissa found it amazing that less than forty-eight hours into her stay, she was already being discharged. As she left, she wondered if the nurses would tell Edward she was okay. She hoped he would call her, she had so many questions to ask him about his abilities. It was fascinating and she wanted to know more about him and just who he was.

The van drove up the long, tree-lined drive towards a beautiful building with swooping lines and majestic spires. Things were looking up, she thought.

Edward

"Sir, David Albers is here."

"Okay Jane, give me a few minutes and send him in."

Although he was ostensibly hiring for one of the most important positions of his company, Edward couldn't keep his mind on the task in front of him. He kept thinking back to that beautiful, curvy woman he had seen at the hospital. Having seen her freshly bathed and cleaned up, it had been near impossible for him to control his bear.

Her long masses of pitch black hair piled around her face had drawn him in. The pull to run into the room, hug her and hold her close, protect her from the world at large had been tremendous. The logical part of him knew he couldn't do that, however, for she was in no mental state to have an overly large man come at her aggressively.

It hadn't been hard to pick up on the fact that she appreciated him standing at the door, and not completely blocking it either. He had spent the entire night trying to figure out what to say, where to stand and how to act. The last thing he wanted was to make Melissa scared of him.

Now though, he was doing his best to focus on work and his financial empire, but his thoughts and desires were elsewhere. Normally he outsourced hiring, but his chief marketing officer had recently moved on with another company, and he needed to ensure the replacement was not just competent, but extraordinary.

Rolling his shoulders, trying to relax and ignore the nagging worry at the back of his head that something was wrong, he buzzed in the next applicant.

***

With a sigh, Edward heaved himself to his feet and prepared to leave the office. It was almost nine in the evening he noticed, checking his watch. There was no way the hospital would let him visit Melissa now. He growled his frustration, taking out his ire on the elevator button as he roughly pushed it several times in succession.

It only took several seconds to arrive, but the delay only provoked his anger more. He had promised Melissa he would come visit today, but now he would have to break that promise. He made another promise to himself now, that he would go visit her in the morning, so that even if work kept him late again, he would have at least seen her.

Edward slept terribly that night, tossing and turning. His bear was unsettled and something in his gut told him something was wrong. He put it down to the stress of the past few days and eventually he nodded off to sleep.

The morning came quickly, before he knew it he was being spurred to wakefulness by the incessant chirping of his alarm clock. Slapping it to silence, he rose, mentally preparing himself for his visit with Melissa. In his head, he kept going over the same rules that had guided his previous interaction.

Move slowly, no sudden gestures. Never block an exit. Leave plenty of space.

The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever as well, but as soon as he exited the car, his nerves took over. Knots formed in his stomach and his hands clammed up. The feeling was so akin to being back in high school and asking out his crush, that he couldn't help but laugh at himself.

He barely knew this woman, and yet the prospect of seeing her for the first time in two days was driving him crazy. Taking a deep, calming breath, he walked inside the hospital, headed to her room. He noticed that it was rather dark through the small viewing window, almost as if the curtains were closed. Hesitating, Edward wondered if perhaps she was sleeping.

Taking a peek inside before proceeding, he looked around to see if he could spot her. Instead, all he saw was the empty bed where she had lain, the sheets all tucked in and looking unused.

"Can I help you, sir?"

Turning, he noticed a nurse, one he could not recall from several days ago.

"Yes, what happened to the woman who was in this room, Melissa?"

"Do you have a last name sir?"

"Uhm, no, no I don't. I never got it actually. I was the one who brought her in, after she had been kidnapped. I just wanted to check on her, see how she was doing. Where would she have gone? It's been less than forty-eight hours since I was here last. I mean, I only brought her in on Tuesday." He realized he was starting to ramble, and sharply shut his mouth, letting the woman get a word in.

"I'm not sure sir, but I can go find someone who might know."

"Please, that would be so helpful, thank you." He waited impatiently by the door for the nurse to return. The nightmare scenario that the men had returned and taken her out of the hospitals custody was playing through his head. It made no sense when he thought it over logically, for how would they know where to look for her? Still, his gut was telling him he should have come here earlier, and that now she was gone forever.

"I'm sorry sir, but it appears she was transferred to a facility to help her recover," the nurse said as she came back around the corner some time later. His patience had already been wearing thin, and this last bit of news did nothing to improve his darkening mood.

"What, already? Which one?" His mind was racing now. What recovery center would have taken her in such a short time? It had been his plan all along to set one up for her, that he would pay for, to make sure she got the best care money could buy. Even if she didn't return the oddly powerful feelings he had for her, he had every intention of helping.

"I'm really not supposed to divulge sir," she began, before pausing at the sight of the forming thunderhead in his eyes, "but I do believe you should be
placid
and take
care
with your next steps sir."

He stopped abruptly, his jaw slamming shut at the emphasis she put on those two words. His suspicions were further confirmed when she nodded slowly as he gave her a suspicious look. Obviously she was willing to help, but couldn't outright tell him. Very well, he thought, I suppose I'll just have to do this myself. Turning on his heel, he headed for the exit, cell phone already dialing.

"Jane, I need everything you can get me on a potential rehab facility with the keywords placid and cares. It's somewhere in town. I need this information yesterday Jane, thank you." He hung up, trusting her to do the job impeccably. He paid her handsomely to put up with these types of requests, and she had never failed to rise to the occasion.

True to his thoughts, less than five minutes later an entire data file was in his email.

Placid Cares Rehabilitation Center 
the title read, followed by phone number, address and then detailed notes on the center. Apparently they were actually reputable, which put a lot of his fears at ease. He noted they were state sponsored, which explained how they had come for Melissa so quickly. The nurses must have been forced to file a report when she came in, which then went to somebody in the government who had forwarded it over to the facility.

Dialing the number, he wondered just what he expected to say.

"Placid Cares, how can I care for you today?" The receptionist's line made him wince, wondering if she still realized how silly that sounded, or if she was inured to it by now.

"Hello, I'm looking to speak with Melissa, the patient who arrived there yesterday."

"And your name sir?"

"Edward DeHarnais, I'm the gentlemen who found her and brought her into the hospital. We were supposed to talk yesterday, but you folks came and took her away without warning." He clamped down on his fury as it started to seep through, not wanting to irritate the very people he needed to help him.

"One moment," she said, her tone obviously indicating she had taken some offense to his words.

When the line became active again he tensed, expecting to hear Melissa's voice. Instead, the receptionist spoke again.

"I'm sorry sir, but due to the program Melissa has enrolled in, she is not able to take incoming phone calls or visitors. Unless she specifically asks to speak with or see someone, then no contact will be allowed, barring family emergency. Are you family sir?"

"No." He could imagine her smirking in the background, knowing all too well that she had no family.

"If you wish to leave your number sir, I will add it to her file if she does ask to be able to speak with you."

He gave her his number and hung up, feeling defeated. Melissa had enrolled herself in this program, which meant she knew what she was doing with no outside contact. Had he done something wrong the last time they were together? He played back the memory over and over again, trying to decipher just what he had done to upset her. There was no reaction from her that seemed to indicate it. Perhaps¸ he thought, it is more because I'm male and she can't deal with any of us just yet.

That evening, he sat by the phone in his downtown condo, pointlessly  waiting for it to ring, even though he knew it was not going to go off so late at night. Or the early morning, now that he looked at the clock, taking another sip of his beer.

He had decided to obey the rules this time, for Melissa. If this was what she needed, then he wouldn't go barging in there like normal, but instead would respect her wishes, and hope that she contacted him before too long. It was something he wouldn't have considered six months ago, but that today felt like the proper thing to do.

It was another sign, he knew, that he was changing, hopefully for the better. It had always confused him how Derek had been willing to go to any length for Keri. When Derek had punched him for being careless about some personal information, he had taken a step back and reevaluated what was important to him. Now, he realized that that something was Melissa. It was his turn to go to any lengths for her, even if it meant leaving her alone.