Page 50 of Griffin
My sister nodded tiredly.
Nadine led the exam with Pain offering instruction but mostly making sure Nadine had what she needed.They put ointment on Tessa’s wrists where whatever bindings they’d used on her had cut into her skin.
Nadine wrapped a bandage around each wrist.“Just tonight.That way the antibiotic ointment can stay on as long as possible.After that, unless there are spots bleeding, you don’t need to bandage it.”
I sat on the bed at Tessa’s side through it all.Pain did a brief exam, looking into her eyes and taking her pulse.He pinched the back of her hand gently and the skin tented for a couple of seconds before going flat again.
“She’s dehydrated,” Pain murmured, looking at Nadine.“Tessa?Can you drink water?Is your stomach OK?”
Tessa nodded her head slightly, then cleared her throat.“I can drink, but I’m still nauseous from the drugs.”
Pain held her gaze before speaking again.“I can give you IV fluids and medicine to help with the nausea.It’s your choice.If you want to drink first, I can give you some under the tongue meds.You don’t have to choose the quicker, more invasive option unless you want to.You have a choice.”
I wasn’t sure if Tessa would accept his help or not.Honestly, I couldn’t blame her.
She nodded.“Tonio said you would offer me the choice.”Was that what he’d told her earlier?“I appreciate the thoughtfulness.”Her words still slurred, but she sounded more alert than she had been before.“I’ll take the IV.And whatever you think will help me and make me comfortable.”
Pain looked up at his wife, and I swore I saw a sheen of tears in his eyes.
Nadine smiled down at Tessa.“You’re being very brave.”
“I’m really not,” Tessa whispered.
Nadine explained they wanted to give her a bag of fluids before they did anything else.After that, they’d give her some medication for nausea that wouldn’t make her sleepy.They also wanted to give her some IV antibiotics in case of any nasty unpleasantness.Tessa said she didn’t think she’d been raped but admitted she couldn’t be sure.Again, they laid out her options and I could tell Tessa was grateful to have choices.
I supposed her relief stemmed from multiple reasons.Choices had to be important, but I thought maybe having Tonio’s word proven to be true was the real reason.She’d latched on to the man, and he’d been kind.I thought that having him prove to be a liar like everyone else she’d been around would probably have broken Tessa.
“Veda.”Nadine’s voice broke through my thoughts.“She needs rest.You should get some too.”
I shook my head.“I’m fine.”
“You look like hell,” Pippa said, not unkindly.“When’s the last time you slept?”
I couldn’t remember.Before the raid on the club, probably.Before Griffin.Before everything.“I’m not leaving her.”
Hannah squeezed my shoulder once, then moved to the door.“I’ll be back in an hour with food.For both of you.”
I nodded, not taking my eyes off Tessa’s face.The door closed with a soft click, leaving me alone with Pain and Nadine, who worked in comfortable silence at the foot of the bed.Tessa’s breathing had started to even out, her chest rising and falling in a rhythm that almost looked like sleep.
I pulled the chair from the corner of the room and dragged it to the bedside, the legs scraping against the floor.Then I sat, finding Tessa’s fingers with my hand, and held on loosely.I’d imagined this moment so many times, finding her, bringing her home, making everything right.Nothing had prepared me for the hollow ache in my chest as I watched her struggle to surface through whatever chemicals were still in her system.
“Will she be okay?”The question came out smaller than I’d meant it to.
Pain looked up from the tablet he studied, the soft glow illuminating his face in the dim lighting.His eyes, kind but direct, met mine across the bed.“She’s stable.The drugs will work their way out of her system in a few hours.She’s not in respiratory distress and is resting comfortably, so I’d prefer to let them wear off on their own.Narcan might cancel the effects but would also cause her distress.The physical wounds will heal.”He paused, choosing his words carefully.“The rest is up to her.And to you.”
A few hours later, Tessa finally fell into something that resembled real sleep and not the drug-induced stupor she’d been in before.Her breathing steady, the lines around her mouth relaxed.Pain and Nadine kept watch from the corner of the room, speaking in low voices occasionally before changing IV bags.They’d tried twice to convince me to get some rest myself, but I’d waved them off both times.I wasn’t ready to let Tessa out of my sight.
A soft knock at the door broke the silence.I didn’t look up, assuming it was Hannah with more food I wouldn’t eat or Pippa with fresh bedding.But the footsteps that crossed the room stopped beside my chair, and I knew without looking it was Griffin.He crouched beside my chair so he was at my eye level.
I looked at him, then back at Tessa’s sleeping form.“I keep waiting for something to feel different,” I said, the words coming out rough.“Like there should be this… moment where everything makes sense again.Where I stop feeling like I’m going to throw up every time I look at her.”
Griffin stayed where he was, not trying to fix it or smooth it over with empty reassurances.“Don’t think it works like that, baby,” he said quietly.
I nodded, because he was right, and because I was too tired to pretend otherwise.I’d been running on rage and desperation for so long, now that I had Tessa back, I had no idea what to do or how to feel.And I had absolutely no idea what came next.
“Pain knows what he’s doing,” Griffin said after a moment.“So does Nadine.They’ll take good care of her.”
“I know.”And I did.That wasn’t the problem.
