Razor's Mark: (Marked Book 1) (21 page)

“Sure, I’ll just go get some coffee and maybe a shower. I’ll be back later.” He bent and kissed her forehead.

“I’ll be back, kitten.” And then he left, but he wasn’t going to go very far. Taking one last look, he left her room.

*****

It had been over twenty-four hours,
and she hadn’t woken up. The doctors said the swelling had gone down, but sometimes the mind just needed to deal with everything in time. But he was dying to see her again. She’d make a small sound, or give a small twitch here and there, but other than that, she just laid
there,
and the damn machine kept beeping. He really needed a drink right now.

*****

Three days. Three fucking days and she had yet to wake up. The fucking machine needed to stop. He didn’t want to hear the damn beep
beep
. He wanted to hear her voice.

The doctor came in and said everything was looking good, but that sometimes head injuries could take a while. When they’d changed her
dressing,
he’d gotten a look at how bad she really was. It had made him see red.

There was now a hole in the wall at the shop
after he’d tried explaining to everyone about her injuries. Who the fuck bites someone? And it looked like she’d been used as a damn ashtray. All the cuts and scratches. It was sickening, not to mention all the discolored skin.

Merlin said he and the rest were working to make sure all the Tomb Riders were taken care of, along with helping the FBI gather all the information Sparkle had found. They also found the mole who’d leaked the information about their whereabouts. It was a
wannabe
biker chick who happened to overhear a conversation with Sully at the bar. She was currently sitting behind bars; well, at least that was what Merlin had told him.

“Come on, kitten;
wake up for me. I miss you.” He rested his head on her chest, listening to her breathe in slowly. He felt a hand
move, and when he looked up,
he saw her eyes blinking.

“Oh God, kitten. You’re awake. Fuck, baby, I was so worried.” But she didn’t say anything, just looked at him. “Come on, kitten; say something. Are you thirsty? Are you hurting?” Yet, she just stared straight ahead. He wasn’t sure what to do so he buzzed the nurse letting them know she was awake.

The nurse and the doctor walked in. “Well, look who’s awake. Are you able to talk, Faith?” She said nothing; just looked at the wall and blinked. “Faith, do you know where you’re at?” Same response. The doctor checked out her eyes and reflexes, yet she said nothing.

“Well, it seems she is almost catatonic. I’m not sure what to make of this. Some people go into shock after an event. She may be awake, but she isn’t processing anything right now. She will just need time. We will keep her here for a few more days and see how she responds.” Razor nodded and made a quick call to Merlin letting him know she was awake while the doctor checked her bandages again.

They left shortly after, leaving him sitting next to her. “Come on, kitten, talk to me.” He ran his hand along her cheek, but she didn’t move, just moved her eyes over to him looking at him for a fraction of a second and then back at the wall.

She was gone,
and he prayed Merlin would be able to help him out with this, because right now, he honestly believed that she had slipped down into her hole, and he wasn’t sure how to bring her back.

*****

Faith looked at the light; it
was bright, and people talked. Something familiar about a sound made her peek out of her hiding spot, but the second she did the pain came.

No, she needed to stay hidden; she couldn’t get hurt here. She was safe, but a nagging feeling made her think that maybe she was making a mistake. The problem she was having was that her small window that she could normally crawl out of to go back to reality was shut.

She tried to move her arms to open it, to speak, to understand what was going on. Someone spoke calling her name and calling her something. Kitten? Were they looking for a cat? That didn’t make
sense; if anything she would joke about a white rabbit; not a kitten.

People. She saw people dance across her
window,
and more people talked, but they were muffled. Oh, the smell. She knew that smell, it was like Christmas and Spring. It was home, but she couldn’t remember why. Just when she thought she figured out what was going on her window started to turn black again. Giving up, she succumbed to the darkness.

*****

Voices sounded again and the darkness lifted. Why did that keep happening?

Someone was moving her,
and her arms shifted. What was going on? Why couldn’t she
figured
this out? She was smart, yet she felt like a first grader at an assembly waiting for something to happen.

“Are you sure you want her to go home with you and not to the rehab facility?” Who was that? A new voice? Why was she being moved? Each time she moved pain didn’t follow, so she must be safe, but who was with her, and why was she moving?

“Yes. I know my apartment isn’t the best, but it’s better than the club. She can rest in
peace,
and you can come see her. She trusts
me; she
just needs to wake up, and once she does, I’ll be there.”

Be where? Where was she going? Oh, this was frustrating. Why wasn’t anyone answering her questions?

“That’s fine. I have a nurse scheduled to come every other day to help with the bandages. And, Razor, I trust you, and I know you care for her. Don’t let me down.” Wait, she knew that voice too. Damn, wait; did he say Razor? No, that couldn’t be right. She’d seen him get
shot; he’d
been bleeding. They’d killed him. She’d watched it.

“You got it.” A soft touch made her body purr. Wow, now that was something new. “Come on, kitten, let's head home.” Home? Was that really Razor? Oh God, he was alive. She wanted to see him, wanted to tell him how sorry she was, but she couldn’t find the way. She wanted out now. Why, why couldn’t she wake up?

She was moving again. Blurred figures still danced and moved in her window, but it wouldn’t open. She tried, but she wasn’t strong enough to open it. Just when she thought she had it, the damn darkness fell upon her again. She was really getting tired of the darkness.

Light and darkness played in her mind for what felt like months, but it had only been a matter of days, a week maybe?

“Thanks for coming, man. Yeah, she’s looking so much better, but she still hasn’t said anything. She opens her
eyes, and we managed to get her to drink something, but that’s about it.”

“She’ll come around. She’s still there, Razor. We just need to get through to her. Once she comes around, she will need you. She’ll need all of us.”

“I know. Listen, I’m
gonna
clean her up and then lay down. I’ll let you know more when something happens.”

“Hang in there, man.” She heard the sound of a door closing and the voices stopped. Razor was talking to her again.

“Okay, kitten, time to get cleaned up. I’ll go
slowly,
so I don’t hurt you.” She heard the sound of water and things moving about. He was
back,
and the scent of strawberries filled her nose. “Found some of that soap you like. Doctor said it was okay on your skin.” Some water was wiped across her legs, and then the rest of her. He was washing her. Taking care of her. The feeling was
amazing
and heartwarming. She wanted
out; she
wanted him. She needed to thank him for everything. But he soon
finished, and the only light she had was dim, but at least it wasn’t gone
. Someone was holding her. It was comforting.

“Come back to me, baby. I need you. Please, Faith, I know you’re in there. You don’t need to fight anymore. Come back to me, kitten.” It was Razor. He was holding her and gently stroking her hair. “You’re
safe; I’ve
got you. Come back to me. I love you, damn it, and I need you back to your pain in the ass self. Come on,
Faith; you
need to snap out of it,” his voice cracked as he said the last few words. He loved her, and suddenly her window started to open. She wanted
out,
and she wanted him.

Pushing with everything she had, she flung it open and finally looked around. She was in Razor’s room.

“Razor?” she said. Damn, her voice sounded like shit.

“Oh shit, you’re back.”

It had been two months; her sling was finally gone,
and the doctor had finally given her a clean bill of health. Razor, for the first month, wouldn’t leave her
side, and when he did go to
work, it was with her at his side. But that was
fine; she loved watching him work, and she’d become close with everyone at the shop, though Tex
still gave her the creeps. For someone as sexy as he was, with his sweet southern drawl, his fascination for gore scared her.

Casper was always the flirt,
and Mary Jane had taken her for a makeover. Razor wasn’t happy about it, but with both Sparkle and Mary Jane promising to only take her down the street to fix her crazy hair, he’d agreed. It was
cute
but annoying. She liked her new haircut. It was a cute, barely to the shoulder, style. She did miss her long hair and the ability to put it in a pony or braid, but
for now,
this worked.

As Razor played with his gun getting everything ready for his next appointment, she thought back to how she had had to retell the story to the FBI. Michael somehow had made sure that everyone who needed to hear it was
there,
so she only had to recap it once. The looks of relief when she’d said she wasn’t raped were short-lived when she continued by explaining the beatings and threats.

Razor still played with the one major scar she couldn’t avoid. It was the initials of the Tomb Rider that were carved into her side. She was going to talk to Razor about that later tonight. But right now, she couldn’t help but smile at him.

“You look like you’re up to something, kitten. What are you plotting over there?”

“Oh nothing, just thinking.”

“Not too hard I hope,” he joked.

“No, not too hard.”

He walked over to her after setting his gun down and kissed her softly. He was still treating her with kid gloves, but she knew it would take time. Her therapist had said that even though she was the one who’d been
tortured; Razor
would act this way until he realized she wasn’t broken anymore.

She had yet to start looking for work. Since everything came to light about her company and what really happened to John, she hadn’t wanted to work. She used what she had from her savings to help with the bills, but it seemed that John had some insurance money and left it all to Razor. They
were closing
on a new house tomorrow. Razor seemed happy about it, as was she. Oddly, it was something they both wanted.

After he’d confessed that he loved her, which he did try to take back, their once being stuck with each other, twisted
relationship, grew into something serious. Michael had even threatened a shotgun wedding, except she wasn’t pregnant. Thank God for birth control shots.

“So what time is your appointment?” she asked, looking at the clock.

“Should have been here ten minutes ago.”

“Well, that sucks.”

“Kinda
, but it’s okay. I can just hang out here with you.” He started to play with her hair, tucking it behind her ear.

“Well,
I’m sure I can deal with that.” He chuckled. “So what happens if they don’t show up?”

“Then we close up early and head home.”

“Or I have another idea.”

“Do you now? I would love to hear this, kitten.”

“What if you tattoo me?” Instantly she regretted saying it. The look on his face said it wasn’t a good idea.

“Faith, I don’t think so.”

“Oh, come on, it’s a great idea. I’m healed, and it won’t hurt as bad as it would for some.”

“You’ve been thinking about this, haven’t you?” He eyed her expectantly, and she couldn’t help the blush.

“Yeah,
some. I don’t know what to get, but I want one. I have for a while, and I want you to do it.”

“Hmm, well we’ll see what happens.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“I’ll draw something up,
and we will wait and see if the appointment comes in.” She nodded and couldn’t help but jump in excitement. As she watched Razor pull his pad out and start to draw, the phone rang.

“Ink Spot. You pick
it; we
stick it.” She did her best not to giggle when she said that. The person on the other end was rescheduling the appointment he had with Razor tonight. Lucky for her. She reworked him in for the next week and hung up. Walking over to Razor, she did her best to look at what he was doing, but he shut it before she could see anything.

“Your appointment canceled. He’s sick. So I guess you’re free now.” Okay, maybe she said that a
little too
chipper, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to have something new on her, something pretty she could look at and think of Razor, instead of what they had done to her.

“Fine, you win, kitten. Go lock the front door and put the closed
sign up
.” She did as he said and bounced back to his station. He pulled the curtain closed around them, so it was just the two of them. “Take your top off.” She looked at him, but then remembered he didn’t want to get ink on her clothes. He rearranged his station and started setting out some colors.