Next to Always: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Two (36 page)

Dylan couldn’t believe her ears when she heard confirmation come over the walkie-talkie that they got to Rade and he was safe. The news brought her to her knees. Richard did everything he could to calm her down. Finally, he went to his room and brought back a bottle of whiskey. It was the only thing he could think of to calm her. She was to the point of hyperventilating. Grabbing a glass from the bathroom, he poured what looked to be two shots into the glass. Leaning over her frail form, he gave her the glass and sat down beside her. It wasn’t the most comfortable position to be in. He couldn’t remember the last time he sat cross-legged on the floor. Taking her hand, he placed the glass carefully in her hand.

“Thank you, ” Dylan said as she took the glass and tipped it up until the liquid was gone.

A squelch came from the walkie-talkie that was setting on the small table. Richard struggled to get to his feet. Making his way to the table, he picked up the talkie.

“Peter,” Richard said.

“Richard, we’re en route. We should be there in an hour. Need to take Mr. Matheson and Lou to hospital for medical attention. Nine-nine-one has been notified.” Peter confirmed.

“Will wait for your report. Will meet you at the hospital,” Richard stated.

Richard walked over to Dylan, taking her empty glass from her. Taking her by the hands, he pulled her up until she was in a standing position.

“Come on, Dylan, we need to head to the hospital,” Richard said.

Dylan looked at Richard with an easiness he hadn’t seen since this whole thing started. He could still see the lingering tears on her face. He could only image what a toll this situation had taken on her. He was just glad that it would soon be over and they could all go back to their lives.

Richard helped Dylan into the Yukon as they traveled down the short main street to the hospital. When they go to the emergency entrance, Peter and his men still hadn’t arrived. Dylan and Richard waited patiently for them. Nurses and doctors were running back and forth assisting other patients as the paramedics wheeled in stretcher after stretcher of hurt people covered in blood, some barely moving. Dylan started to panic, wondering how Rade would look when they brought him in. Every person that came through the glass doors, Dylan hoped it would be him.

Finally she saw him. He wasn’t on a stretcher, He walked through the doors with Peter’s assistance. When she looked at him, she could tell he was in pain. Running up to him she cried, “Rade.” Just that one word opened the floodgates again..

Rade tried to wrap his arms around her, but he couldn’t. The pain in his ribs was too much.

“Can we get a wheelchair over here?” Dylan screamed.

A nurse appeared with a chair and helped lower Rade into it. Dylan clung on to his hand as the nurse wheeled him through the wide wooden door. Looking at Dylan she said, “Ma’am, you’ll need to stay here.”

Before Dylan could protest, Rade jumped in. “She’s coming with me.”

“But, sir, that is against hospital policy unless she’s your wife,” the nurse stated.

“She is and she’s coming,” Rade admitted.

Dylan wasn’t sure what just happened. But if it allowed her to be with him, she would go with it. Dylan watched as the nurse continued wheeling Rade through the doors to a room off to the left. She assisted him onto the bed and took his vitals along with a blood sample.

“Everything looks good,” she said. “A doctor will be with you momentarily.”

The nurse pulled the privacy curtains, leaving Rade and Dylan alone. Dylan crossed the small area and stood next to Rade. Leaning over, she put her hand on his cheek.

“I was so scared, Rade. I thought I would never see you again,” she exclaimed softly.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily, Sweetness,” Rade replied.

Dylan leaned closer and put her lips to his, careful not to hurt him. His lip had a small cut on it, as well as his right brow. He also had a bruised right cheek, along with a small cut about an inch long on his left cheek.

“What happened to you, Rade? Who did this to you?” Dylan whispered as a tear fell down her cheek.

“I really don’t remember much. I think Alex is the one who kidnapped me. There are things I need to share with you, Dylan. I want to tell you everything.” Rade was just about to tell Dylan of his plan with Chloe when a tall, slim man wearing a doctor’s coat with blue scrubs underneath walked in.

The doctor stepped closer to Rade holding a small flashlight. “I’m Dr. Parker. I understand that you’ve been through quite an ordeal. Let’s have a look and see how you’re doing,” the doctor stated.

Taking the flashlight he shined the light into Rade’s right eye and then his left. ”Everything looks good, no sign of a concussion,” the doctor confirmed. “Let’s get a look at the rest of you.”

The doctor began examining Rade. Bruising had developed around his ribs that triggered concern. When the doctor pushed slightly on the bruised area, a groan came from Rade. “Watch it, Doc.”

“Sorry Mr. Matheson. I’m going to order x-rays. I believe you might have some broken ribs,” the doctor replied. “I hope you at least got a punch in on the other guy.”

“Let’s just say he got a lot worse,” Rade hissed as he recovered from the pounding pain in his side.

Soon a radiology tech came to the curtained room. “Mr. Matheson, I’m Tiffany. I’m here to take you to x-ray.”

The tech helped Rade from his bed into a wheelchair that was left just outside his room. Dylan walked with them out of the room, down the hall to the x-ray room. Rade was wheeled inside the room while Dylan waited outside.

“This should only take a few minutes, Mrs. Matheson,” the tech stated.

At first Dylan was going to correct the tech, but instead just nodded her head. She liked the idea of her being addressed as “Mrs. Matheson. The tech was correct, within a few minutes Rade and the tech appeared from the room.

“We’ll get the x-rays to the doctor and let you know the results,” the tech stated.

Rade was back in his bed in the emergency room. Dylan stood beside him as they waited for the results. The quietness was killing her. Just when she was about to say something the doctor walked in.

“How are you doing, Mr. Matheson?” the doctor asked.

“Other than being a little sore, I feel fine,” Rade said.

“Well, after taking a look at the x-rays, your pain can be explained by a few cracked ribs. Your blood test also came back. It seems you were given Rohypnol mixed with another drug we haven’t been able to identify. I’d like to keep you here for twenty-four hours to make sure you don’t have any other symptoms. We’ll get you on pain meds to alleviate some of the discomfort. You need to take it easy for the next six weeks. Applying ice every twenty minutes will also help with some of the pain. Do you have any questions?” the doctor asked.

“No. Thanks, Doc,” Rade replied.

Dylan was surprised that Rade didn’t put up a fuss about having to stay in the hospital. She knew how much he hated them. The doctor left while an intern came in to move him to a private room. Hopefully he would be able to rest better. She wanted to get him home so she could find out what really happened to him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Rade was resting comfortably in his bed when Dylan came in with his lunch. She could tell he was getting antsy resting in his bed. He had been home for a week and the pain in his ribs was becoming more and more manageable with every day that passed. He was off the pain medication and only taking an over-the-counter pain reliever. Dylan argued with him about staying in the guest room while he recovered. She had been taking care of him for the past week by making sure he stayed put. She brought him breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed. He talked her into going back to work the second day he was home. Whenever she brought up what happened to him, he tried to avoid the conversation by telling her he was tired. He knew sooner or later he would need to tell her.

As she sat on the bed next to him, his day finally came when she asked, “Rade are you ever going to let me know what happened to you out there?”

Looking into her beautiful green eyes, he knew he couldn’t put if off any longer. “I really don’t remember a whole lot, Sweetness. I’m pretty sure that Alex was behind it though. He kept me drugged, so there’s not too much I remember.”

“What part did Chloe play in this?” Dylan asked hesitantly.

“I want you to know, Dylan, what I did, it was only to find out information from her about your attack. I knew she had something to do with it, I just needed to get her to admit it,” Rade confessed.

Dylan looked over to him. “How far did it go, Rade? Did you sleep with her?”

Rade didn’t know if he was ready to answer. He had no idea what happened between them other than a little foreplay. “No, never. When I was trying to get information from her, I had to submit to her advances. It was no more than kissing and fondling. I swear, I never had sex with that woman,” Rade admitted as he looked over to her seeing the hurt in her eyes as he explained. “It meant nothing, Sweetness. I swear.”

“Was she with you at the house in Bethel?” Dylan asked.

“I don’t know what happened there. I don’t remember ever being with her. I only remember Alex,” Rade confessed. “Sweetness, look at me.”

Dylan raised her eyes to him. “Alex was the one who assaulted you. His real name is David Wu. I think Chloe planned the whole thing. I needed to get close to her to find out the truth.”

Dylan rose from the bed. “I can’t listen to this anymore, Rade. I need to get back to work.”

Rade tried to pull Dylan back to his side, but she was out of reach and the stretch of his body was too much for his cracked ribs to handle.

“Dylan, wait,” Rade pleaded

Dylan stopped before leaving. With her back to him she said, “You need to rest, Rade. I’ll check on you when I get off work,”

Dylan left his room feeling confused and hurt. She never thought Rade would go to the extent he did to get information from Chloe. What hurt even more was the fact that he couldn’t remember how far his relationship with that bitch went.
What if she was able to get her claws into him? What if he did end up sleeping with her?
Dylan wished he could remember what happened. Another question she had was what other drug was that was mixed with the one given to him. Maybe once they found out, it would explain his loss in memory.

*****

Rade knew he should have been more careful with what he said to Dylan. He didn’t get the chance to tell her exactly how he really felt. One thing he did know was he was tired of lying around. He needed to do something. Pushing himself to a sitting position, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and pushed himself to a standing position. The pain in his side radiated through his body as he gritted his teeth. “Fuck,” he moaned loudly to himself as he stood to his feet. Taking his time, he walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He was mostly undressed except for his pajama bottoms. He tugged them down as far as he could without bending his body. With his feet, he stepped on the bottom of one leg and then the other so he could get them off the rest of the way. He turned on the water and slowly walked into the shower. The spray of the water made his body feel better. It was times like these that he was glad he opted for side showerheads. The way they pulsated on his ribs made his body feel better.

Rade had a time dressing. He wished he could have had Dylan there to assist him. Not only because of that, but because he needed to have her touch him again. It had been so long since he had her beneath him. The feel of her body submitting to his every touch. The way her body took him as he entered her tight channel. The way her legs wrapped around him as she was close to coming. He missed her soft moans when he sucked and licked her nipples until they were taut peaks. How her back arched as he tasted the sweet honey of her hard nub while his finger roamed her pussy for her special spot. He needed to have that feeling again. But more importantly he needed to tell her how he truly felt.

After about thirty minutes struggling to put his clothes on, Rade finally managed a pair of loungers, minus his boxer briefs, and a loose fitting t-shirt. Walking slowly, he was able to make it to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. His next feat was to make it up the stairs to his study. He thought he could catch up on some emails. Looking up the fourteen steps, he took a deep breath and began his ascent. As he made each step it became easier and easier for him to climb. Reaching the top, he looked back, wondering if it would be just as easy going down.

Rade took a seat behind his desk and pulled up his emails. He missed so much over the past weeks, he was sure he would never be able to get caught up. He thought it would be best to contact Gwen and see how everything was going at his office.

“RIM Global. How can I help you?” Gwen said as she greeted Rade.

“Gwen, it’s Rade. I know I’ve been out for a while, I wanted to check in with you… see if there were any important matters that I needed to take care of.”

“No, sir. Richard handled most of everything. Dylan also handled things with Spectrum. Veronica has been helping out as well. You just need to rest and get better,” Gwen replied.