“I want to make you sorry you were ever born,” he snarled at her.
Too late. During her unhappy childhood, she had wished a thousand times that she had never been born. And now that Patrick knew the truth about her, she felt that same hopeless, grinding hurt in her heart. With a vicious push, he jabbed his booted foot between her shoulder blades and Savannah felt the air whoosh from her lungs. Then, he kicked forward hard and the toe of his shoe connected painfully with the base of her skull. “O God, please help me,” she prayed.
As if in answer to her prayer, she heard the sounds of sirens. Sirens? Even through her haze of pain and fear, Savannah realized that Patrick had called for help to come to her. And that was all she knew, for he kicked her again and blackness engulfed her mind.
*****
“Savannah?”
She didn’t know the voice, but it sounded kind and very deep.
“Can you open your eyes for me?”
Savannah didn’t really want to. She didn’t really see any use in it. The state of being unaware was very pleasant.
“Please?”
Damn, he had to sound nice. It took a bit of effort, but she opened her eyes and saw a man – a very large man – standing next to her bed. “Who are you?” she managed to say despite the cloud of painkillers fogging her brain.
“You’re in the emergency room. But you won’t have to stay too much longer. There’s no sign of a concussion. How do you feel?”
“Like a car ran over me,e put her hand to her head. “My brain is pounding.”
“I’ll see about getting you something for the pain. Look at me,” he instructed. “How’s your vision?”
“It’s okay. Are you a doctor?” He didn’t look like a doctor – no white coat – although he could have played one on TV, in one of those sexy medical shows. The man looking at her with concern in his eyes was a big guy, not as big as Patrick, but more strong and confident than most people she had seen in many a day.
“No, I’m Revel Lee Jones, Patrick’s best friend. He called me when that idiot was attacking you and I got here as fast as I could.”
“Thank you very much,” she held out her hand – then remembered why all this happened and drew it back, bringing her fist over to cover her lips. Patrick knew. God, he knew now. She hadn’t had the guts to tell him and now he had found out in the worst way possible – through the ridicule and venomous hatred of another. And the realization of losing him was like a knife had pierced her heart.
As she was grieving, Savannah felt her hand being taken and Revel Lee held it in his warm grasp. “It’s an honor to meet you, Savannah. Patrick thinks the world and all of you.”
“Not any more.”
“Nonsense. And you’ll realize that as soon as you talk to him.”
Savannah didn’t say anything about that. Instead, she gave Revel a smile. “Thank you for coming to my rescue. Can you tell me what happened, I don’t remember much.” She glanced down at what she had on, and was relieved to see she wasn’t in a hospital gown and she didn’t have an IV, that was a good sign.
“The police got to you before I did, and they arrested the jackass. You’ll have to go down to the station and give them your statement. But I assured them that you would be pressing charges.”
“Oh God,” Savannah squeezed her eyes shut. “All this is going to do is start people talking about me again.”
Revel leaned on the side of the bed so he wouldn’t be heard by whoever was on the other side of the dividing curtains that shielded her from prying eyes. “Hold your head up. You don’t have a damn thing to be ashamed of. Just wait till Patrick gets back; I bet he’ll be able to convince you what I say is true.”
Savannah shook her head, “I’m not going to be talking to Patrick anymore. I just can’t, I’m too ashamed. As soon as I get home, I’m going to email him and thank him for everything and say goodbye.”
It was obvious that Revel wanted to argue with her, but the nurse showed up with her release papers and instructions. So the next few minutes were spent checking out and loading up. Revel didn’t leave her, however, and she didn’t know what she would have done without him. He treated her very well and – frankly – it hadn’t happened to her often enough in her life to take it for granted. As they were driving to her home, she told him so. “Revel, I don’t know how I will ever pay you back for your kindness to me. You may have saved my life. How do I say thank you for that?”
Stopping at a red-light, he turned a cheeky grin her way. “You don’t have to say a thing. Patrick thinks you’re special, so that makes you special to me, too. We’re gonna be best friends; we might as well start now.”
What he said made her think. But it didn’t change her mind. She knew what she had to do. When they got back to the cottage, Revel helped her in and made a place for her on the couch. “You rest here and I’m going to go raid your refrigerator. I’m hungry and I know you have to be, too.”
“There’s plenty of leftovers,” and she started naming over some choices. “I’ll have gumbo, if you don’t mind warming it up and there’s plenty for you, too.”
“Sounds good.” He went to the task and Savannah marveled at having the big handsome man waiting on her. Would wonders never cease? But as soon as she caught her breath and looked around, all she could see was Fred March railing at her. Someone had straightened the room, probably Revel, but the scene was
