Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller (12 page)

Experimentally, I
bent my fingers around the wheels.
I can do
this
, I told myself with relief.
Now don’t be a coward and look at him.

I looked up at
Nathan, standing in the doorway, looking lost and
worried.

"
Are you coming?" I asked him, trying to cross my fingers
for the first time.

"
Sure," he replied.

My heart
leaped
and I realised how relieved I
was.

He started pushing
me down to the lift, telling me about the gardens.

When the sunlight
kissed my skin, warmer than anything I could
rememb
er in weeks, I laughed for
joy.

I’ll
never let them
win. I don’t
want to lose this.

Part 35

Mike – Pills – Dark – Fighting – Chris
– Clothes

"If you don’t do it, I’ll shoot you
here and now," a voice drawled, across the room or maybe outside of
it. "Get her undressed and you know what to do next, don't
you?"

"All right, all right!" Chris's voice
sounded scared and much closer.

The creep of fingers on my skin,
beneath my clothes.

I rolled away from him, scrambling to
my feet. I tried to ignore the dizziness, back with a vengeance.
"What the fuck do you think you’re doing? I’ll break your bloody
hand if you touch me without my permission again!"

I could see him only as a stationary
shadow, perhaps two metres from me. Between me and the door.
Chris's voice was barely audible, but I recognised it all the same.
Maybe it was the way it shook, like he was terrified of me. "I have
to."

"Like hell you do!" The dizziness
didn’t fade and my head started to ache unbearably. So did my jaw.
I lifted a hand to my face, trying to rub the pain away.

"Your head still hurts?" Concern
coloured his tone.

"Yes," I admitted. "What’s it to
you?"

"I have some more pain relief." I heard
the rustle and crackle as he pulled the pills out and pressed them
from the packet. "And water..." He leaned over to retrieve the
bottle. He held out both to me, his arms stretched like a zombie in
the dark.

I hesitated. Not because I thought he
resembled a zombie. I suspected trickery of a different kind.

My biggest worry was that he'd grab me
once I was close enough, overpowering me easily as his strength
overcame mine. I decided it didn't matter – if he wanted to grab
me, I had nowhere to run. The pills and water were worth the risk.
Chris hadn't hurt me yet.

Carefully, I reached out and took both
from him. He made no move to approach closer, though I kept my eyes
on him as I swallowed the pills and gulped a little more water.

"You stay there," I warned him as I
backed away with the water. He didn't attempt to stop me.

I should have wondered why.

Instead, I sat on the edge of the
mattress, sipping in silence while he stood between me and the
door, a silent sentinel. A standoff. Who would break first? Not me.
I had nothing left to lose.

Boredom set in and I found myself
drifting. My eyes started to close and I swayed. Muzzily, I decided
to stretch out on the mattress, just for a moment, to deal with the
drowsiness while the pain ebbed away. He hadn't hurt me. Wouldn't
hurt me. Maybe I could trust…

"Finally."

A hand groped its way up my leg. I
kicked out feebly and it let go. I barely had a moment to breathe
my relief when cold fingers crept beneath the waistband of my
jeans. The scratch of the zip before he started tugging on them,
denim sliding down my skin and exposing it to the freezing air.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" I screamed
out, struggling. Fear turned me colder still. Couldn't trust
anyone. Not even the one who helped me.

The hands only tightened their grip,
stripping my jeans from me no matter how hard I fought. My body was
too sluggish and slow to respond. Did he even notice my poor
attempt to struggle?

"I'm not hurting you. Just let me," he
begged.

I couldn’t believe my ears. "You want
me to let you rape me? To make it easier for you?" I tried
desperately to twist away from him, but his grip was unbreakable.
"I said let me go, loser!"

"Can't. If I don't do what I'm told
someone else will get hurt. And they'll hurt you, too." The sound
of him licking his lips. Nervous. Good. "We have to get these
clothes off you… then I have to…have to…I've got a gun."

I froze. I wasn't ready to die yet. I
didn't know him, nor what he was capable of doing.

Hands slid beneath my shirt once more,
pulling the fabric up. I swatted at him with hands so heavy I could
barely lift them. Helpless. I couldn't stop him.

"No, please…please…don't…you don't have
to do this," I whimpered.

"I do." He sounded like he was in pain.
I wished he'd go curl up and die of it. A pause as he yanked my
t-shirt over my head. "I won't hurt you. Relax and it'll be over
soon."

I smothered a sob and sent my mind
somewhere else. Anywhere not here.

Part 36

"
Are you ready to give press interviews yet?"

I stared at Nathan.
If it was a joke
, it sure as hell wasn’t
funny.

He looked
apologetic.
"There’s a press crew around,
waiting for you. I heard them talking."

Fuck. Nosy people asking me
questions I don’t want to answer. Telling the world what I didn’t
want to tell anyone, even Nathan.
"I don’t
want to, oh hell, not yet."

The sun slid behind
a cloud, making my mind up. The light seemed so dim by
compa
rison. Then the cloud was
gone.

Nathan wanted to go
back inside. I could see that, but I wanted just a little more sun.
After all, we were pretty well hidden and I said as much to
Nathan.

Reluctantly, he
agreed to stay outside with me, so he could help me back inside
when it became necessary.

It felt like no time
at all before Nathan’s voice told me with regret,
"Time to go, angel." He pointed. "Look, they’re
taking photos of us."

With his help, I
switched my seat on the bricks beside the pool in a patch of
sunlight for the wheelchair. I had to hold on, as he whipped it
around and started up the hill at
a
faster speed than I expected.

I heard voices
shouting behind us and curled up in the wheelchair, praying that
Nathan was wrong and they weren’t following us. The voices grew
louder. "No," I whispered, closing my eyes.

I heard the pounding
of Nathan’s feet on the path paving, feeling the breath of breeze
increase as we gained speed. I didn’t feel the warmth of the sun
any more – I felt a
chill to the depth of
my bones.

When Nathan lifted
me into bed, I could feel his chest heaving through his
sweat-soaked shirt. I watched and waited as he poured himself some
water, drank it and tried to slow his breathing.

"
Why would any reporter want to interview me?" I asked
carefully, when it looked like he had the breath to
talk.

When he started
throwing around phrases like “back from the dead” and “Harry
Potter” I thought he was joking. If I was in a story, it was most
certainly horror – a far cry from children’s stories where the main
character survived through magic, miracles or some form of
paranormal occurrence. Vampires,
wizards,
mermaids…no, just me.

But maybe, just maybe…there was a story to tell. No
less fictional than any other, really, but who’d want the
truth?

The rustling of
paper brought me back to the present. Nathan proffered a newspaper,
plastered with my name and my picture. I scanned the first few
lines and realised it was the print version of the news I’d heard
in the Emergency Department when I arrived.

One day I’ll tell this story, I promised myself.
I’ll sell it to the highest bidder and to hell with the horror. It
wouldn’t be my problem any more.

I looked at Nathan,
considering. Every story needs a hero. Even mine.

Part
37

“You’ve made a remarkable recovery. You
take care – I don’t want to see you back here unless you’re on prac
again,” Dr Aidan said with a smile.

“
Me, too,” I admitted
as I watched him sign my discharge papers. He’d already arranged
more meds through the hospital pharmacy – one of the staff was
sending them up now.

I could go home!

"Would you like me to drive you home?"
Nathan asked, the moment the doctor left.

I hesitated for an instant before I
nodded. I'd trusted him so far – a short car trip was hardly a
risk.

A nurse whisked me downstairs, Nathan
and a guard following behind. The nameless guard did his best not
to make eye contact with me, even as I gave him a beaming smile.
Nathan wasn't the only man I owed gratitude for keeping me safe in
hospital.

Nathan wanted me to sit in one of the
seats inside the foyer while he brought the car around, but I
wouldn't do it. The outside bench looked far too inviting. I'd been
cooped up inside for too long and the perfect day begged to be
enjoyed. He exchanged a glance with the guard before he headed off
into the car park.

As he passed the doctors' car park, I
smothered a laugh at the sight of Dr Aidan's red Mini. It looked
silly between the huge four-wheel-drives and flashy sports cars,
but he refused to drive anything else. Idly, I wondered what it was
like to drive. Now I was eighteen, Dad would permit me to buy my
own car instead of borrowing his and I'd barely considered what I
wanted.

The guard sauntered into view, headed
for the car park. He wouldn't have left unless Nathan was back, so
I looked around for him.

Déjà vu. A red Mercedes pulled up in
front of me.

The first time, I should have run. Now
I could barely walk, but I knew what I had to do. I had to get back
inside. I wouldn't let them take me back. I'd die first.

When I saw Nathan get out of the car, I
almost cried.
I won't get into their car again. I won't,
I
swore.

"Not you. You can't take me back there
to them!" I insisted.

He stared at the car as if he didn't
remember. Slowly, he told me that the car belonged to him.

My fear spiralled out of control. "No –
I trusted you!" Had I trusted the wrong man?

Nathan backed away from me, his hands
up in some sort of surrender. I glanced over my shoulder and saw
two hospital security guards watching us intently. I'd never been
so relieved.

Nathan asked me to sit down again – on
the bench, not in his scary car – and I did. He started to explain
how he owned a red Mercedes.

When his voice faded into silence, I
kept my voice steady, reminding him of what he already knew, as I
fixed my eyes on his shiny mag wheels. "They had a car just like
this one. They pulled me into it and drove me...there…and…"

Nathan wouldn't be so stupid as to
kidnap me again in broad daylight, under the eyes of security
guards who had a clear view of both his car and the number plate.
He'd take me home or the police would hunt him down. I was being
suspicious and silly. He'd sworn to protect me. Of course he
wouldn't hurt me. I laughed at my own silliness.

"But you…" I began, not sure how to
finish. I shook my head. "Swear you don't work for them."

"No," Nathan said.

My mind whirled. No he wouldn't swear
to it, or no he didn't work for them?

He continued and I tried to pay
attention, hoping I hadn't missed anything important. "One of them
decided to try and kill me on that beach where I found you."

No one tried to kill you on the beach.
They tried to kill me. The police officer tried to shoot you on the
road. Don't you remember or are you trying to cover up the
truth?

"Would you still like a lift home?"
Nathan held out his hand.

Again, I hesitated. I glanced back at
the staring security guards and made a decision. I'd get into his
car, but not willingly. He'd have to carry me in, which meant the
security guards would be suspicious. Just in case.

Nathan believed in my weakness and
lifted me into his horrible car without a qualm. Still I worried.
At least I was in the passenger seat and not child-locked into the
back with Saucer Eyes.

I watched Nathan key my address into
his GPS, not saying a word. I knew I hadn't told him where I lived,
but he was too flustered to notice his slip. When his eyes strayed
to me again, I carefully looked out the window instead.

I wondered what waited for me at home.
If he was so familiar with my address, did that mean his colleagues
had searched it thoroughly? Had they planted some form of
surveillance in there, to keep watch on my house? Why had he bought
me new clothes from a supermarket instead of sending someone to my
place for mine? Or did he truly not want me to know who he worked
for? My head was a mess and Nathan wasn't helping. Tears of
frustration sprang to my eyes. I didn't understand him at all.

Nathan wiped the first tear away and I
looked up at him in surprise. His fingers closed over mine, but I
didn't drop my gaze to look. "Caitlin, it's over. They can't touch
you any more." I'd never seen him look so intense. "Or are you
upset that I was checking you out?"

Of all the ridiculous things to say
to break the serious mood…
I burst out laughing.
Nathan,
checking out my damaged body? He won't hurt me. He won’t even touch
me. I'm going to be all right.