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Chapter 4

(Aaron)

After I left Rylan's, I drove straight to the outreach center. I wanted to see how the construction was progressing. Since I did my vanishing act two weeks ago, I have been out of the loop. I know that if anything noteworthy had happened, Quinn would have emailed me.

So far, everything is going according to plan and on schedule. Quinn and I are both beyond happy with Max’s crew. They show up every morning and work hard until quitting time. Some members of the construction crew on our last project didn’t quite have that same work ethic.

I wave at Max as he comes out of the small camp trailer that is serving at the site's main office. He nods at me, then changes direction to join me where I am watching the crew work. He looks irritated as he walks toward me.

“Bad day?” I ask him when he reaches me.

“Bad few months, but that has nothing to do with what we are doing here,” he tells me with a scowl on his face.

"Ah" is my only response since I know what he is dealing with in his personal life.

“How was your vacation?”

I chuckle. I am glad to know that is what Quinn is calling it. In a way, it was very much like a vacation.

“It was enlightening and entertaining. I met a very attractive woman. I made some money that I split with an escort.”

Max laughs just like I intended him to. “Tell me about the women.”

We talk for a few minutes as I tell him about Deliah and Charlie. I ask about his love life, but he changes the subject to Annora and Quinn’s baby instead. We will be finding out the gender soon.

“So how are things going with you on a more personal level, Max? I know it has nothing to do with your job here, but it can be a distraction. How is the divorce going?”

Max scowls and rubs a hand over his face, then looks at me. I can tell he would like nothing more than to return to his office and avoid this conversation altogether. I don’t blame him at all.

“My cheating wife is contesting the divorce. She wants to try marriage counseling and claims that we can work past our issues. I don’t want any of that.”

“Wow. That is some bullshit right there. Cheaters just suck the life right out of you. What are you going to do?”

“Insist that I want to end this marriage at all costs. I have a good lawyer, and she assures me that I will get what I want in the end. The funny thing is that I have already gotten something close to what I want, but the woman I want it with has disappeared.”

“Peace? Quiet?” I frown and look at him when I realize he isn’t talking about his wife. “Oh, you found a better woman?”

“Yes, but just like so much in life, it is complicated.” He sighs deeply, then looks back at the crew at work.

After a few more minutes of talking about anything other than our love lives, I wave goodbye and then make my way back to my car. Since I am already so close to Mercy General, I decide to head there to see if Rylan is free for lunch. I know I just saw her this morning, but I want more time with her.

Even if it annoys her.

It isn't lost on me that the roles are reversed here. It used to be that she annoyed me by just showing up to chat or picking a fight. Though I know that wasn’t really her intention, it only bothered me because of my refusal to accept how I feel about her.

Now, I am doing the same thing with her. I think it's kind of funny. It also occurred to me this morning after leaving her house that maybe she is trying to move on with her life. Charlie told me that if she were Rylan, it was something that I needed to either accept or make Rylan aware of how I really felt.

I tried to do that this morning with that kiss, but maybe I need to use words this time. I am not good at that, but I am willing to try, even if I am not quite ready for a full-on relationship like I know she will want.

Like I want to have with her eventually. I have had feelings for Rylan for far longer than I care to admit. It all started when she joined our unit all those years ago. I was a little miffed that she was into Quinn at first, but I got over it quickly.

I never acted on my feelings for her because we were at war, and that is no time for romance. I tried to treat her just like all my fellow soldiers. That kind of failed one night while we were all at this crappy little bar near the base.

That was our first kiss.

We were sloppy drunk, sweating from the overcrowded room, and the sexual tension between us was like a live wire ready to electrocute us both. I am still not quite sure who leaned in for the kiss first, but all I know is that I reacted like a fool.

I wanted to pull her into the nasty ass bathroom and fuck her brains out. Instead, I scowled at her and stomped away, like she disgusted me. That was the beginning of me pushing her away from me at all costs.

Ever since that night, I have been a complete jackass towards her every time I see her. Downright hostile at times. I keep telling myself that it is for the best because I am a broken piece of sh*t. Yet I was doing it all that way before my life went dark.

Thank you, Charlie, for giving me the kick in the ass that I needed.

After I park my car near the side entrance, I grab the to-go bag from the small Mexican restaurant a few blocks from the hospital. Rylan has a soft spot for Mexican food, so I figured if I come with food, she may be less grumpy when she sees me.

At least I hope she will. I also brought her an iced coffee from the shop near the restaurant. So, with luck, I will leave the hospital in one piece. Food and caffeine pave the way for happy people.

By the time I reach the building, I am a bundle of nervous energy. I have no idea why I am suddenly nervous to see Rylan. I wasn’t like this when I saw her this morning. Ah, this kiss. I am sure she will have something to say about it, and I am not sure I will like it.

When I walk into the reception area, I wave to the person behind the counter. The other receptionists must be out for lunch. I walk up to the counter so I can ask if Rylan is busy.

“Is Dr. Danvers busy with a patient?”

Louis, the current receptionist, looks down at what I assume is a schedule on his computer, then looks back at me. “Nope, she is cleared for the next few hours. I think I saw her head to her office after her last patient left.”

“Thank you very much. It is very quiet here today. Slow day?”

“Yeah, but tomorrow is packed. I hate yet love slow days.” He tells me this with a shake of his head.

“Understandable. How is her mood out of curiosity?"

I know she was probably pissed when I left her this morning, so maybe she has calmed down some since then.

“Danvers? She was pissy this morning but seemed fine the last time I saw her. I think that was about thirty minutes ago before most of the office bailed for lunch.”

“Thanks,” I wave goodbye, then head down the hall towards her office.

The music pumping out of the weight room makes me shudder as I walk past it. It isn’t the music that makes me have that reaction, but the memories of my time in a room just like that. Working on muscles after an injury is not something I like to remember often.

The pain, tiredness, and desire to be anywhere but there All I wanted to do during those long, draining hours was curl up in a ball to avoid the pain. Yet, the need to be back out in the fight with my brothers and sisters outweighed my pain.

I pushed through each day with anger fueling me. Most of that anger stayed with me when I was cleared for active duty again. It wasn’t a good thing, and I took it out on people who didn’t deserve it.

Rylan was one of those people. She tried her best to be there for me while I was injured and out of the fight. I bit her head off on more than one occasion. Mostly because I couldn’t stand her seeing me at my weakest and most vulnerable.

It wasn’t manly to cry in front of people. It was even worse to cry in front of her. I did, and I hated it. Now I feel sad that I had that mindset. Tears of pain, frustration, anger, or any other kind are not a weakness.

It shows that you are human.

With a shake of my head, I push past the weight room, then make my way down the hall to Rylan’s office. Her door is open, so I just walk right in. Sadly, she is not here. So, I leave her lunch and coffee on her desk, then go search for her.

I wander the halls until I am at a loss as to where she could be. When I step on something hard and sharp, I take a look at what it is. Keys and an ID badge. I frown as I pick them up, then flip the badge over to see who it belongs to.

Ah, Rylan lost her keys. I probably haven’t found her because she is wandering around looking for them. I turn to head back to her office but stop in my tracks when I hear a muffled scream followed by a grunt of pain. The nearest door to where I found the keys is a storage unit closest to the sign plate.

I march over to the door and push it open. What I see makes my blood run cold. There is a man on top of someone, and they are struggling together. It is clear as day that one is struggling to escape while the other is forcefully holding them down.

There is no hesitation on my part as I rip the man off of the other person. My eyes go wide when I see that it is Rylan on the ground under him. There is blood all over her face, and her shirt is torn. Rage takes over as I pull the man out of the hall and throw him to the ground.

I don’t even feel it as my fist connects with his face over and over again. The hallway gets louder as I vaguely hear someone telling me to stop. I can’t stop. This piece of shit needs to die for hurting what is mine.

Her voice calling my name is the only thing that makes it through that thick wall of rage. I blink a few times, then look down at the man I have been beating the shit out of. Oh, god, what have I done?

His face is a red ruin.

Holy shit.

“Aaron, step away from him." I hear Quinn’s voice and look up at him.

I take one last look at the now unconscious man, then stand up and take a step back. My breathing is harsh and jagged, like I just ran a marathon. My knuckles are a mess, and as I look down, I can see that there is now blood all over my shirt.

I flinch when I feel a hand touch my shoulder. Rylan is pale, and there is blood all over her face. It takes everything I have not to spin around to jump right back on her assailant.

“Someone get her to the emergency room now,” I bellow.

“I’m not hurt, Aaron,” she whispers as she steps closer to me.

“You are bleeding all over the place, Rylan. We need to get you some help.”

She takes the bottom of her shirt and wipes her face clean with it. “It isn’t my blood. I hit Heath in the nose, and it was all his blood. You stopped him from doing what he wanted to do. You saved me from that.”

I pull her into my arms and just breathe in deeply. She is fine. That asshole didn’t hurt her.

She is fine.

She is safe.

I am going to jail, but it was worth it.

“Are you sure that asshole didn’t hurt you?” I ask as I lean into her so I can whisper in her ear.

Rylan shakes her head, then just holds me as we wait for the cops to show up. I glance at Quinn, who already has his phone in his ear. He is probably calling our lawyer. That is a great idea, and I probably would have thought of that later.

Thirty minutes later, I am in the back of a police cruiser on my way to the station. Heath was taken to the emergency room with a police escort. He woke up while they were transporting him and insisted on pressing assault charges against me.

I admitted to the police officer that I did it because there was no way out of it. There were plenty of witnesses, and it was all on the hospital security cameras. However, with Rylan’s statement, it shows that I had cause.

Yes, I went a tad too far, but I would do it again in a heartbeat to save her or anyone else in that situation.

I would do that again and again to protect Rylan from getting hurt again. It pisses me off that this is the second man in less than a year who thought it was a good idea to try to assault her like this. With Paulson still on the loose, it makes me damn near homicidal.

That next man who thinks she is an easy target will have to go through me first. I will be sleeping on her couch for the foreseeable future after today, whether she likes it or not. I will be her guard dog wherever she goes.

I got you, Rylan. I will be the shield between you and all who wish you harm. Now and forever, I will be yours if you will have me.

One day soon, I hope to say this to her face-to-face and not just in my head.

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