Undercover Attraction (15 page)

The doctor walked through the double doors
and towards them. Considering they were the only ones in the
waiting room, it was easy to know which patient they were there
for.

He was an older man, with graying hair at
his temples, bright blue eyes behind old bottle cap military
glasses, and a kind smile that was sure to ease many hurts in this
hospital.

He stuck his hand out at Jacob first, then
Amy. "Hi, I am Dr. Wilson. I'm the primary surgeon over Mrs.
Howell. She is a lucky young lady. The wound in her neck just
nicked her, fortunately, because it grazed just over her carotid
artery; any deeper and she wouldn't have been so lucky."

Jacob's stomach clenched at the thought.

The doctor continued, "As it was, I only had
to give her seven sutures and bandage her up. Mrs. Howell's
shoulder was a bit more extensive, though. The bullet was lodged
against her collarbone, and had to be removed carefully. There were
also a few small fragments of what I believe to be concrete that
had to be removed. I had to stitch the entry site there, also, then
bandaged her up pretty tight."

He looked back and forth between Amy and
Jacob. "Which one of you will be staying with her?"

"I am," Jacob said.

Dr. Wilson continued, "The wounds have to
stay dry for a week, she can take a shower after twenty-four hours,
but make sure that she does not submerge the dressings, and change
them regularly. Moisture can cause an infection and we do not want
that. She needs to also keep her arm in a sling, and move it as
little as possible. If the stitches break open, then the healing
process will take much longer. She will need quite a bit of help
showering and getting dressed over the next few days, and I am
prescribing her an antibiotic that she will have to take twice a
day, as well as a pain killer. I recommend her staying in bed, as
the medications will make her sleep quite a bit."

Jacob knew how to take care of wounds fairly
well, mainly because of his own injuries on the force and being a
daredevil teenager. But he almost smiled at the knowledge that he
would have to get her dressed and bathed. Jenna really wouldn't
like that very much, but he looked forward to it. He knew she
wanted him, and having her naked for the next few days, he would
take advantage of it, just to prove to her that he wasn't some
random one night stand.

"Jake!" Amy's voice snapped him back from
his thoughts, and he looked up to see the doctor staring at
him.

"Sorry, what was that?" he asked.

Dr. Wilson cleared his throat, "I will
release her tonight, after another transfusion to replace the vast
amount of blood she lost. She is sleeping now but you can go in to
see her briefly. Room 406, you have about twenty minutes before the
nurses will chase you out of there."

Amy nodded and thanked the doctor, washed
her hands, then proceeded through the double doors, Jacob following
behind.

She was
floating in a sea of illusion.

Jenna saw herself as a child, about six
years old, playing hide and seek with her grandfather. But she knew
it was wrong. He had died when she was a teen, and her grandmother
before that, when she was eight.

The smell of fresh baked cookies wafted to
her, just as it did each time she had went to visit her
grandparents in Arkansas for summer vacation.

She squealed as her grandpa found her in the
barn, and watched as she took off running towards the house,
laughing as he jumped to grab her and missed.

Jenna's grandmother met her childish form on
the porch, and dusted the hay off her knees, her smiling face
tugging strings at her heart. She really missed those two.

Her dream changed, and she saw herself at
thirteen, as her first crush finally kissed her. Amy was only about
six, and snuck up behind them, giggling, and broke them apart. She
chased Amy through the garage, both of them laughing as they ran,
her crush slowly walking off down the street.

Then she was sixteen, and her brother was
sitting next to her in his old beat up pickup, teaching her to
drive. They were on a bumpy dirt road, in the middle of nowhere,
Sam guiding her as she slowly edged along the road.

At eighteen, she was graduating from high
school, honors of course, and the boy she had a crush on for the
past 4 years walked up to her that night at her friend's grad
party. She was wearing her new outfit that Mom had gotten her as a
gift. She had thought the faded jeans had looked so good on,
coupled with the green designer top that she knew had probably cost
a fortune. She had taken special care doing her makeup and hair,
and in the end, had thought herself better looking than any other
day at school.

But all of it didn't hide the extra twenty
pounds she had more than the popular kids. He had come up to her
and leaned closer, just talking to her as a classmate about how
happy he was that school was over. She had been thrilled. It was
the longest conversation they had ever had. No matter that he had
been drinking.

He told her she had pretty eyes and leaned
in to kiss her. She closed her eyes and moved towards him. Then a
drink had poured all over her hair. Jenna had run to her car as
quickly as she could, threw herself behind the wheel, and drove
home crying.

The next part was at a cemetery, as she sat
next to her mother while her uncle was buried. She listened as a
twenty-one gun salute went off, and watched as the flag was folded
so carefully and placed into her mother's hands.

Then she was in college, headed back to her
apartment one night after class. Her boyfriend was waiting for her
at the door. Jenna greeted him and leaned in for a kiss, but he
grabbed her by the throat and pulled her into the living room. He
was angry- over something stupid, naturally- and thought she had
been flirting with one of her neighbors in the hallway that
morning.

Her boyfriend threw her to the couch then
slapped her. She tried to stand up, but he kicked her and pushed
her back down, throwing punches anywhere he could. He was yelling
at her, calling her names, throwing the vases from the coffee table
at her.

The day changed, and she once again saw her
boyfriend, waiting for her in his car as she was released from
class. He was flirting with some of the students as they passed by
the spot where he was parked, and when he saw Jenna, he smiled. One
of her classmates walked by her and handed her the notebook she had
let him use to copy her notes. And her boyfriend's face changed,
going from smiling and carefree to angry and scowling.

She knew not to get in the car, but she did
anyway. He took her to a secluded spot by the lake, and made her
get out. He again beat her, leaving bruises all over her aching
body, her leg she suspected was broken, a bloody lip, and two black
eyes. Then he raped her.

He had hurt her more then than he ever had
before, and as soon as he dropped her off, and she had painfully
limped back to her apartment, she had called Amy.

She was walking on campus again, after she
had almost completely healed, her bruises faded, but the ache in
her soul still there. She knew he would be angry, after she left
him, but she had misjudged his tenacity.

It had just turned dark, her last class had
been excused early for an away football game. She was walking
across the parking lot towards her car, looking forward to a
weekend of quiet reading when she heard the squealing tires. As she
looked up, she saw her ex's car swerve towards her. Jenna didn't
have time to jump.

She watched as if in slow motion as the car
came closer, then changed into a BMW, a gun hanging out of one
window. The report echoed, and the flash from the end of the barrel
changed everything to red. She watched as the bullet slowly flew
over the windshield, a second report right behind, as one bullet
smashed into a concrete encased steel column and deflected, sending
debris flying at her directly behind the bullet. The
tink
of
her window glass as it was breached drew her attention and she
looked up briefly in time to see the second bullet flying towards
her, just as the first buried itself in her shoulder. Her scream
sounded far away.

Then the pain that followed was like an
atomic bomb throughout her system. No sooner than it started, the
second bullet hit her in the neck, amplifying the pain a thousand
times. She watched as she reached up, faintly traced her neck, and
pulled her hand back to see the blood on her palm.

She pressed her hand against her chest,
trying to control the rising panic. She didn't want Jacob to
know.

Jacob.

Jenna looked from herself to the driver's
seat, at Jacob's perfectly chiseled face. He had determination and
a glint of violence in his eyes. He was too commanding, too
dominant for her, and even though Jenna wished the situation had
been much different, she knew that Jacob was not the sort of man
she could be happy with. He could break her heart and leave her to
pick up the scattered pieces alone.

His intensity scared her. Jacob was the sort
of man who didn't do anything halfway. It was all or nothing, and
she was afraid that if she gave all, she would end up with
nothing.

She knew he wanted a quick fling with her,
but a man like Jacob only wanted that; a fling, nothing
permanent.

She watched as he held her hand, his large
rough fingers enfolding her smaller ones, and saw the fear cross
his face as he realized they were slippery with blood.

Amy was talking to her from the back seat,
and Jenna watched as Jacob maneuvered the Tahoe through traffic to
the hospital. Slowly, her vision began to fade around the edges,
and the darkness inched inwards, taking away her view of Jacob. She
sank once again into the darkness.

#

"Jenna? Jenna, honey, wake up please."

Jenna felt a warm hand enfolding hers,
stirring her from the darkness that enfolded her.

"C'mon, sis, it's time to wake up to show me
you're okay." She recognized Amy's voice, and suddenly she recalled
the events leading up to this uncomfortable bed. Her eyes popped
open to see her sister's face looming above her.

Amy smiled softly. "Hey. How are you
feeling?" She brushed a strand of hair from Jenna's forehead.

"Like I've been hit by a car. Again." Her
throat was dry, and her voice came out sounding as bad as she
felt.

Amy gave a humorless chuckle. "When are you
going to stop being reckless? Ya know, I thought it the youngest
sibling's job to scare the others, not the middle child's."

Jenna tried to sit up, letting Amy help her
when her arm and neck wouldn't cooperate. "Yeah, well, I am saving
you the trouble. And the hospital bills. Be thankful."

"You are more dangerous to your health than
anything else. Abusive boyfriends, bullet wounds: this is starting
to sound like a bad daytime drama TV show. Turn the channel
already, sis. Let's find a romantic comedy or something."

Jenna giggled, wincing when her neck
throbbed. "Tell me about it." She looked around, noticing the clock
on the wall said they had spent all day and well into the night at
the hospital. "Where's Jacob?" she asked, trying not to sound
curious.

Amy jerked a thumb towards the door. "He had
to call and check in on Mac since I wasn't leaving the room, and
then he had his report to turn in. By the way, he has some serious
hots for you."

Jenna snorted. "No he doesn't. He's just
doing his job."

Amy planted her hands on her hips and stared
down at her from the side of her bed. "You are in a serious state
of denial. That man nearly went crazy while you were in surgery.
You scared the daylights out of him."

Jenna shook her head. "I'm just an
assignment to him."

"You can come up with all the logical
explanations you want to, but I see what's going on here. He's
infatuated and you're the Ice Queen. You can't build your walls
against everybody, or the one who you need on the inside can't get
in."

Oh, the irony. Her younger sister giving her
relationship advice. The same sister who's longest relationship was
with her college professors. And that was because she couldn't dump
them and still pass.

Jenna said as much.

Amy crossed her arms against her chest. "I
might be younger than you, but I know what love is. I also know
what it feels like to lose it once you have it because of your own
stupidity. And I don't wish that feeling on anyone, least of all my
sister."

Jenna didn't know Amy felt like that, or
even that she had been in love before. "That's what I am trying to
prevent… Losing it. Not to mention, I can't handle falling for the
wrong guy again. Did it once, and I refuse to go through crap like
that again."

Amy reached for her hand. "But you have to
let them in before you find out whether it's worth it or not. It
isn't just a definite thing that happens all at once. People make
mistakes, and you have to figure out whether or not it's worth
forgiving them over. That's the test. Some people fail it and let
who they love go. But those who pass… Well, I believe in happily
ever after. I just want you to be happy, Jenna."

Jenna felt her heart hurting for her sister.
Amy had never mentioned any of this to her before, had always kept
up the pretense of just being a free-hearted college student. "Amy…
I'm sorry." She didn't know what else to say.

Amy waved her hand. "Don't worry about it.
It's over and done with. But Jacob could be yours. I see how he
looks at you, and I know you have something for him too. It just
reminds me of… Well. I just don't want you to have your heart torn
to little shreds then stomped into tiny grains of sand."

Jenna sighed, "But he's a cop, Amy. A hot
cop. There's no reason why he'll want me when he undoubtedly has no
reason to. Cops are married to their jobs, and it usually only
hurts their families. I can't see where a happy ending is in this
situation. Besides, I already told him it was over."