“You’re fucking stupid if you think I’m ever letting her near you,” Reid said. “She’s fine. She doesn’t need to go to a hospital.”
Devon slowly straightened, feeling air fill her lungs again. She closed her eyes and opened them again, adjusting to the light. She leaned back heavily against the wall for balance. “Reid, stop it,” she said breathily. “Leave him alone.”
“You can stay out of it, too,” Reid said, not even looking at her.
Brennan started walking carefully toward Reid, like a circus ringleader holding off a lion with a wooden chair.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Reid asked.
“I’m just going to check on her,” Brennan said, inching in closer.
“Don’t come any closer!” Reid yelled. “We’re getting out of here.”
Reid turned as if he was going to walk away from the scene, and then he countered and swung at Brennan. With considerable force, his right fist moved toward Brennan’s face, and Devon screamed. Brennan must have been anticipating it because he deftly blocked the punch as if it bothered him no more than a fly. Reid was thrown off balance with the force of his own throw, and Brennan took the opportunity to connect his fist with Reid’s jaw.
Reid cried out in shock and rushed Brennan. Brennan sidestepped Reid’s advance, and then Brennan jabbed his fist into Reid’s kidney, causing him to double over.
“Not as easy to take on someone your own size, is it?” Brennan taunted Reid. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you were beat up by someone smaller than you.”
Reid glared at him with murder in his eyes. He was bigger than Brennan, and that reminder made Reid try to counter with his size. Brennan saw it coming and ducked Reid’s advance, sending him sprawling to the ground. Brennan rushed forward toward Devon, planting himself between Devon and Reid.
Reid scrambled to his feet and charged Brennan again. Reid threw a wild punch, but Brennan landed a hit first, cracking Reid’s nose with a terrible popping sound that rang throughout the alley.
“You broke my fucking nose!” Reid screamed at Brennan.
Devon rushed past Brennan to stand between Reid and Brennan. She wasn’t stupid though. She still stood closer to Brennan. “Stop!” she screamed. “Stop it! Just stop it! Hasn’t there been enough fighting?”
“Devon,” Brennan said, taking a step forward to help support her.
She was wobbly on her feet.
“Reid, just stop. You’ve lost. You lost me,” she said, trying to stay as strong as she could. “You’ve been following me in my dreams for months…and I want you to stop. I want you to stop following me. I’m not in your life. You’re not in mine. You need to find a new life because we’re over.”
“Dev,” Reid said, the life draining out of his eyes.
“No, Reid. We’re done,” she said. “I’m never letting you hurt me again. You’ve done enough damage.”
“The papers,” Brennan whispered.
Devon nodded. “I filed a restraining order. Someone will be serving you papers, and you’ll have to appear in court.”
“A restraining order?” Reid asked in a strangled voice. “But my med school applications.”
“You should have thought about that,” Devon whispered harshly, barely able to keep the tremble out of her voice, “before you ever laid your hands on me.” She paused to let that sink in, and then she released a shuddering breath. “Low scores are the least of your problem. Good luck having your dad get you out of this one.”
Devon felt herself sinking. Her vision blurred, wavered, straightened, and then blurred again. “Brennan,” she said, her voice coming out slow, like her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth.
“Yeah, Belle?” he asked, pulling her in closer.
“You saved me.”
“I’d do anything for you.”
She smiled. Then, she felt her world tilt, and she lost consciousness.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Devon’s chest slowly rose and fell with the strange beeping noise. It clouded her already fuzzy thoughts, and it seemed to take over her consciousness. She tried to concentrate, but she found that tended to intensify the annoying sound. Instead, she thought about the placement of her body. Five fingers on the right hand. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. And five on the left hand. She could feel all ten of her toes, up to the balls of her feet, and across her arch to her heel.
Her face felt right but also wrong. It didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel normal either. Her tongue felt solid, and her lips felt heavy. When she thought about her cheek, it only seemed to throb more, so she stopped. Her throat was dry, like she had swallowed cotton balls, and she started coughing at the thought.
Someone was at her side, taking her hand and slowly lifting her head off the pillow. She began to breathe easier. Devon remembered her eyes then, and they opened to the harsh lights. She blinked a few times, allowing her eyes to adjust, and then she squinted at her surroundings.
She was in a hospital. That much was obvious. White curtain, white bed, white floor. Sanitation heaven.
She saw that it was Brennan holding her hand. That made her smile despite her being in the hospital.
“Hey, Belle,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips. “Good to see you’re finally awake.”
“I said no hospitals,” she said immediately.
“I didn’t hear you when you were unconscious,” he said with a sad smile.
Devon giggled. “Fair point.”
“How are you feeling?” he asked, taking a seat in the chair next to her.
“I’ve been better,” she whispered.
“Are you in much pain? They gave you some painkillers, but I don’t know if they have worn off,” he asked, concerned.
“I’m doing okay.” She squeezed his hand. “What happened?”
“You don’t remember?” he asked with a frown.
“I remember, uh…Reid showed up. You guys got into a fight. I told him that we were over…and that’s about it,” she said, biting the side of her lip that wasn’t swollen.
“That’s about what happened. You passed out. When he pushed you into the wall, I guess it upset your already delicate condition. I scooped you up and drove you straight here. I was, uh…going to call the cops, but I was worried you might kill me when you woke up. I thought I’d leave that decision up to you…if that’s what you want.”
“No hospitals. No cops. No court.”
“I know, but you’ve already broken two of those,” Brennan said.
Devon narrowed her eyes. “No cops. Just because you keep breaking the rules doesn’t mean I want to involve the police.”
“I’ll break every rule to keep you safe. The doctor said it was really good I brought you in,” he said, pushing her hair back with one hand. “You’ve been out of it for a while.”
“So…Reid just left?” she asked carefully. She was tired of being afraid of where he might turn up. She was beginning to see why the restraining order was a good idea.
Brennan shrugged and scratched the back of his head. He chuckled softly and looked away from her. “He was here earlier. They had to reset his nose. Seems he managed to break it in two places.”
Devon giggled with him. “I wonder how that happened.”
“I guess he was unlucky when he ran into my fist,” he said. “Anyway, he tried to come see you. I hope you don’t mind that I showed the restraining order to the nurses. He was escorted out of the building.”
“Oh! The nurses escorted him out?” Devon asked.
“Uh…the cops escorted him out.”