Free Done [Running to Love 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Allyson Young

strongest women he knew, and it scared him, because he knew she would use everything she had to keep him away.
    “You’ll heal together, perhaps,” the doctor continued. “But I would recommend that she see someone. Not me. I’d see it as a conflict of interest. I’ll give you a couple of names, and one of them is a woman, so Lacey might feel somewhat more understood, given the nature of her trauma. And I’ll see you once a week for now. You have quite enough on your plate, but certainly call me if you need to. And, Greg? Lacey will be very angry, very soon. You might want to remember that as you’ll be directly in the line of fire.”
    Greg strode out of the therapist’s office after tucking a couple of business cards with Dr. Martin’s colleagues’ names in his shirt pocket. Dr. Massey sounded like a nice, older woman, and maybe she would be good for Lacey. Lacey would have had dinner by now, and he wanted to sit with her until she fell asleep. Dr. Atkinson had been fairly certain that she would be discharged in the morning, depending upon her state of mind and if she had someone to be discharged to. The doctor seemed a bit unsettled by her reaction to the medication he had stuck into her, so Greg assumed it was the reason behind her less-than-normal behavior that day. He hoped he was making the correct choice by taking her back to her place, but it felt right. He didn’t want to push her by having her face so many unhappy memories at the same time and thought their home might be the wrong place for her.
    When he got to Lacey’s room, Gladys was there. The other woman looked perturbed and very concerned. She smiled at Lacey and then basically walked Greg backward out the door and into the hall just by using her sturdy frame to do so. Aside from manhandling her, Greg really had no choice. This being managed by women was really pissing him off, but he was careful not to show it.
    “What has happened to her?”
    “I just spoke to a therapist, Gladys, and he thinks Lacey has become depressed on top of being sedated. I thought I had caused it, but he thinks I just made it happen quicker which could be a good thing. Maybe better than a delayed reaction when there’s no one around to notice. I’m going to take care of her, Gladys, and fix things. I’m ultimately at fault for driving her away in the beginning, so I owe her this.”
    “Cut the crap, Jackson.” Gladys looked pretty damn formidable and was clearly holding him totally responsible. He didn’t blame her and was glad that Lacey had another champion.
    “I’m serious, Gladys. Her doctor has the same opinion.” Greg didn’t mention that Atkinson was clearly a paternalistic chauvinist who had been easily manipulated into encouraging Lacey to understand that Greg should be the one to take care of her upon discharge. Gladys might be tempted to hurt him if she knew, even if Greg was certain he should provide the care.
    Gladys huffed a little and looked at him carefully. Greg hid nothing further from her, and she relaxed somewhat. “Do you love that little girl?”
    “I do, Gladys. I always have, and I’m going to do whatever it takes. She might not want to trust me right now or even find it within her to care about me again, but I’ll fix this.”
    “I’ll see to it that she gets compassionate leave at work and whatever sick time I can pry out of the firm,” Gladys announced, and Greg believed that she’d be successful. He took his phone out and programmed her numbers in, and she did the same with his, also providing him with Lacey’s address. Then Gladys went back in to sit with his woman for a while longer. Greg stoically took his chair in the hall. Someone had mopped the floors in his absence but hadn’t bothered to move it, so the faint residue of moisture clearly delineated it, like a penalty box. Greg resigned himself to another night of discomfort when Sheila came over, back on the early night shift.
    “You can sleep on the cot in her