Nevvie squeezed his hand. “You saved me,” she said. “If you guys hadn’t got there…” She shuddered and looked at Thomas. “Did you hit him good?”
Thomas brushed hair out of her face. “Sugar, I have a wicked right hook.”
She laughed then groaned when it hurt her ribs. “Ow.” When she recovered she looked at them. “Any house rules I should know?”
Tyler smiled. “Flush after you go. My only unbreakable rule.”
“Yeah,” Thomas snarked, “ask me how I know that one. Forget to flush one time and you’d think I scalped a dog or something.”
“OW!” Nevvie laughed and moaned at the same time. Tyler shot Thomas a nasty look.
“Terrific. So not helpful, Thomas.”
Tyler coaxed some soup into her and ran her a hot bath. After dinner, she joined them on the couch to watch TV. Before bed Tyler finally broached the subject.
“Sweetheart, where did you wish to sleep tonight?” She looked at him and he clarified. “Do you feel comfortable sleeping alone? You’re welcome to curl up with us if you’d feel safer. Or one of us could sit with you in your room.”
Her boys. Her fantasy come true and she was too damn sore to even think about taking them up on it. “Let me see how I do tonight. I’d like to reserve the option for company if I need it.”
“It’s up to you. We meant it—we’re taking care of you.”
She squeezed his hand. “Thank you.” She looked at Thomas. “You have no idea how grateful I am.”
Thomas kissed her forehead. “You don’t owe us a thing, sugar. Get to feeling better and put that nightmare behind you.”
They helped her to her room and Tyler fussed with the bedding until certain she was comfortable. Both men kissed her forehead.
“Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything,” Thomas said. “We’ll leave our door open.”
“Anything at all,” Tyler echoed.
In the hallway they hugged each other, standing there for a long, silent minute. Thomas finally stepped back. “Are you sure she’ll be okay alone?” he whispered.
“For tonight. She’s exhausted and needs to be alone. She’ll reach out when she needs us, I have no doubt. Let’s let her be. We’ll hear her.”
The men left their door open and went to bed, too upset to do anything but fall asleep in each other’s arms, dreaming about the woman they loved one room away.
Chapter 5
The next morning, Thomas had to go to work. He knelt by Nevvie’s chair and took her hand. “How do you feel, sugar?”
Her face looked red and puffy in addition to being bruised and battered, the black eye horrible. They’d stood outside her bedroom in the middle of the night and listened to her crushing sobs. They’d wanted to go in and hold her and kiss her tears away, but she needed time to decompress. She would come to them if and when she needed them.
“I’ll be all right, Tom. Thanks.”
He kissed her hand, squeezed it, then stood and patted her shoulder. Tyler looked at him from where he prepared her breakfast, his normally playful blue eyes hard and cold, mirroring his own anger. Thomas leaned over the counter and kissed him goodbye.
“Call me later,” he whispered in Tyler’s ear. “Let me know how she is.”
“I will.”
When Thomas left, Tyler set her plate in front of her. “Nevvie, sweetheart, we need to talk.”
Her eyes flicked to his face, then down to her plate. She nodded slightly.
She flinched when he gently tucked a stray hair behind her ear. The black eye looked even worse today.
“I’ve made you an appointment to see our doctor this morning. She’s good.”
“Tyler, I can’t afford—”
“Stop.” He took her hand and waited until she finally met his eyes. “Nevvie, Thomas and I will take care of you. We’re paying for it. You need to get checked out, and she can do everything, including a full woman’s exam. After what he did to you it’s best you see her.”
“Will you please go in with me? I hate doctors,” she whispered.
He firmly gripped her hand as she trembled. “Of course I will, darling. I won’t leave you alone. Ever.”
Nevvie could barely walk from the pain. Tyler kept his arm around her through the parking lot and lobby. She shook so badly he worried she’d faint. He’d called ahead and the receptionist waved them through to an exam room, not wanting Nevvie subjected to the stares of other patients.
She sat on the exam table, leaning against Tyler, his arm protectively around her while she filled out forms and signed releases.
Dr. Aston walked in and paused when she glimpsed Nevvie’s battered face.
“Miss Barton? I’m Dr. Aston.” Dr. Aston’s voice was kind and soft. In her fifties, she had a friendly, motherly face and demeanor.
Nevvie shivered under Tyler’s arm. “Hi,” she whispered. She tightly clutched Tyler’s hand.
The doctor noticed. “Would you like Tyler to stay?”
Nevvie frantically nodded. Dr. Aston patted her knee. “It’s all right. We don’t mind if you don’t. What happened?”
Nevvie shrugged, not meeting the doctor’s gaze. Finally she whispered, “Tyler and Thomas rescued me. My boyfriend went nuts and attacked me. He’d never done that before. Not like that. He saw the necklace they gave me for my birthday and accused me of cheating and went crazy. When I didn’t show up for work, and Ty and Tom couldn’t get me on the phone, they came looking for me.”
“Did he rape you?”
“No. The boys got there in time.”
“Did you press charges?”
“No. I want to forget about him and get on with my life.”
“I can help you talk with the police.”
Nevvie frantically shook her head.
“We wanted to call,” Tyler said. “She wouldn’t let us.”
Dr. Aston’s expression was unreadable. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to do the exam.” She called her nurse, who brought Nevvie a gown and started taking her vital signs. The nurse finished and then drew several blood samples.
He’d already told the doctor he wanted a full screening done, for normal health issues and full STD/HIV testing as well. God only knew what that stupid bastard had done to their poor girl.
The nurse handed her a plastic specimen cup. “We need a urine sample, too. The bathroom’s right across the hall. Leave the cup on the tray in there, then come back here and change into this paper gown. Here’s a sheet to cover yourself. We’ll return in a few minutes.”
Nevvie nodded. Once alone with Tyler, she tried to stand and couldn’t get off the table.
“Can you help me to the bathroom?” she whispered.
“Of course.” Tyler grabbed the specimen cup and helped her across the hall. He turned to leave when he felt her hand on his arm.
“Stay in case I need you, please?”
He locked them in, turning his back while she slowly did what she had to do. When she finished, he heard her groan as she tried to stand.
“Are you all right?”
“No. I need you. I’m sorry.”
He turned to help. “Sweetheart, don’t apologize, ever, for anything like this.” He braced her while she pulled her pants up, then helped her to the sink.
With his arm around her, they slowly returned to the exam room. Tyler steadied her while she undressed. He’d given her a pair of sweat pants to wear, knowing she’d be too sore to manage jeans. She leaned against him and winced as she lifted her arms to pull her shirt off. Unable to do it, she met his eyes, and he helped her remove it. In too much pain to manage it, she’d forgone her bra.
She displayed no modesty around him. Tyler wondered how much of that was due to her emotional trauma and how much was her comfort level with him.