Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
“Not many young women would be so accepting.” Again, it struck me how different she was from anyone I’d ever met. She was guileless and sweet. She’d taken a hit with that innocent trust when Beaner had betrayed her, but I was determined to mend it. And, so help me God, her father’s lawyer was not going to factor into her healing.
She smiled at me, that sweet, beautiful smile that turned me into mush. “It was just the way I was raised. I actually saw how some of my friends acted at school, how they bemoaned not getting one expensive thing or another when their parents could have easily given it to them, and it irritated me. It wasn’t an attractive look, and I never wanted to be like that.”
“Well, you’re beautiful, baby. Inside and out. Never let anyone tell you differently. If they do, come get me. I’ll make ’em see differently.” I winked at her and she giggled.
I stood, moving to the couch. “You ready for supper? I think the club’s havin’ a cookout. Hamburgers and hotdogs.”
“That sounds wonderful. Is there anything I can do to help the club prepare?”
“Not one damned thing. You need to rest and to be off your feet.” I scooped her up in my arms, burying my face in her neck and kissing her. She laughed, squirming as my beard tickled her.
The rest of the day was wonderful. I hung out with my brothers, taking their ribbing good-naturedly every time I scolded Emmanuell about trying to get up on her own. Halfway through the evening, I noticed her whispering to the girls around her before she got up and suspected she was doing it on purpose. Still couldn’t help myself. I’d call to her to sit her ass down, and the whole table would erupt into giggles and laughter. Followed closely by my brothers’ accusations I’d lost my man card. I was on cloud nine. My woman and my club. Soon I’d add my daughters to the list of things in my life. By the time we were ready for bed, Emmanuell’s eyes were drooping in exhaustion.
“Did we overdo it a little today?” I asked her gently as I helped her into bed and brushed a stray curl from her lovely face.
She smiled, her eyes already closing. “Maybe a little. But I had a great time. Thanks for everything you’ve done for me, Gideon. I don’t know how I’d get through this without you.”
“I’ll always be here, baby.”
She was asleep before I pulled the covers over her and kissed her forehead gently.
* * *
I woke when Emmanuell gave a sharp cry next to me. I had my arms wrapped around her, holding her to me tightly and immediately loosened my grip on her.
“What’s wrong, honey? You OK?”
“I -- I don’t know.”
“Nightmare?”
“No.” She switched on the light and threw back the covers. The sight threw me into a panic. There was blood everywhere. “Gideon?” She looked up at me, her eyes wide in terror. Then a pain must have hit her, because she clutched her stomach and gave another sharp cry, her face scrunching up in pain.
“Don’t move!” I snagged my phone even as I started getting my prosthesis on as fast as I could. Doc answered on the second ring.
“Yeah.”
“Emmanuell’s bleeding and in pain,” I said without preamble.
“How much blood?”
“A lot.”
There was a slight pause before Doc gave me instructions. “Get her to my clinic. Don’t take time to clean up, just pick her up and go.”
The seven minutes it took me to get my fucking leg on and get her to Doc were the longest seven minutes of my life. Emmanuell tried to be brave, but she trembled in my arms and whimpered occasionally.
Doc was waiting on me when I hurried through the door. I set her down on the stretcher. Doc didn’t explain anything, just hooked her up to a blood pressure monitor, then whipped off the sheet I’d draped over her and cut off her panties. Normally, I’d have beat the motherfucker to a bloody pulp, especially when Emmanuell gave a startled cry and tried to close her legs.
“Shh, baby,” I said, taking her hand and gently prying her legs open to assist Doc. “He’s got to check you.”
“Definitely coming from the vaginal area,” Doc said softly.
“Well, duh,” I snapped.
Doc didn’t rise to the bait, just gently urged Emmanuell to close her legs while he changed gloves and got the ultrasound machine. “There’s more than one hole down there, Ripper. Always best to make sure where the problem is. Vaginal area doesn’t mean it’s coming from her vagina, though. Could still be from her urethra.” He sounded more like he was talking to himself than to me, and that he didn’t think for one second it was coming from her urethra. “Have you had any pain when you urinate, Emmanuell?”