Free In The Still of the Night [The Protectors 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Marla Monroe

over to put the cut on her forehead. She had finally managed to curl up into a ball, trying to protect her belly and head. The return of her neighbor from his night shift interrupted him. Jenna had screamed the best she could for help. Even though he hadn’t heard her, Gregg didn’t stick around to find out. She lay there for hours, too scared to move. Finally, she’d gotten to the bathroom and held a cloth to her head until Tina had found her.
    The return of the nurse cut into her musing. She had her lie down on the stretcher, but she raised the head of it until she was in a semi-reclining position. She took her information of what had happened.
    “Did he rape you?” she asked.
    “No.”
    “I’m going to take you to get an X-ray. Any chance you’re pregnant?”
    Jenna shook her head then wished she hadn’t. The pounding got worse. The nurse unlocked the wheels on the stretcher and wheeled her through the double doors and through the emergency room toward the back. They turned a couple of corners then entered the radiology suite. For the next thirty minutes, they moved her around, taking X-rays of her head, neck, chest, and hips until she was crying. Finally, a radiology technician wheeled her back around to the emergency room and into her room.
    Sometime later, a doctor arrived to examine her.
    “Looks like you need something for pain. Let me check your X-rays.” He left the room but returned a few minutes later.
    “Well, you have a slight concussion. I’ll let you have some Tylenol but nothing stronger. I don’t want to mask the symptoms of a possibly more serious problem. I’m sorry I can’t give you anything stronger right now. I’ll give you something to help decrease the swelling, and that will help with the pain, as well.”
    The nurse flitted around, setting up a tray. The doctor sewed her head up, putting in three stitches. Then the nurse applied a bandage.
    “You’ve also got two cracked ribs. They don’t look too bad, but you’re going to hurt for a while. Your hip is fine, just bruised.” He checked his chart and then looked back at her. “Are you sure we don’t need to do a rape kit?”
    “I’m sure. He didn’t rape me. He was more interested in hitting me.” Jenna touched her head gingerly. “When can I go home?”
    “I noticed you have some friends out there waiting to see you. I’m going to allow you to go home in about two hours. I want to watch you for a little while longer. You need to be woken up every two hours to be sure you’re okay.”
    “I know the drill,” Jenna said.
    “I expect you do. I saw the old breaks on your X-rays. I’m going to refer you to a counselor for domestic abuse.”
    “He’s my ex-husband. I’ve already been through them,” she said.
    “Okay then. Stitches come out in seven days. You can come here or go to your personal physician. If you have any of the symptoms on the paper the nurse is going to give you, come back immediately.”
    “Okay.”
    “The police are out there to speak with you. I’m going to let them in then your friends can come back.”
    He left, and two policemen walked through the swinging doors. One stood maybe five feet six inches and had black hair. The other one was a good four or five inches taller. His hair looked a dark shade of brown. Jenna spent the next thirty minutes going over the details of her attack. They listened and wrote notes in their little notebooks.
    “So he is out of prison now. You need a restraining order on him,” the shorter one said.
    “I plan to. I don’t understand why someone didn’t warn me he was up for parole and then that he got out.”
    “I don’t know, either, but we’ll be taking him back for assault. They should send him back for violating his parole,” the taller one promised.
    “You don’t need to be alone until we catch him.”
    “Don’t worry, she won’t be.” Riley walked in.
    Jenna closed her eyes and counted to ten. Tina walked in followed by Logan. Between Riley