“Don’t you dare say anything else. We’re getting you out of there. You’re going to be fine and you’re damn well going to say those words to my face.” He sounded angry and desperate.
“They destroyed my house, Matt.” She wiped her tears away.
“I saw. You can stay with me. I want you to stay with me.”
“Your house is butt ugly, Matt.”
There was laughter.
“Well, you can fix it up and we’ll look for a new house together.”
Together. She liked that, but it made her wonder. Why did he want her? She had absolutely nothing to offer. She was homeless. Penniless. Now she couldn’t even work. Being a dance teacher with a broken leg was tricky.
“I can’t contribute anything right away, Matt, I can’t even teach dancing for a while.”
“That’s okay, princess. I don’t care. I only want you. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll contact immigration and get you an extension on your visa. They’ll understand under the circumstances that you can’t work straight away.”
Jena’s head was woozy. She wasn’t sure what Matt was talking about. “What visa?”
“Jena.” Matt sounded like he was trying really hard to be patient. “What kind of visa do you have?”
She shrugged, then groaned when her ribs protested. “I don’t know. They stamped my passport at the airport when I arrived.”
“You’re here on a visitor’s visa?” His voice was unattractively high-pitched. “The standard visa only lasts twelve weeks. You’ve been living here illegally since it ran out, Jena.”
“Oh. I assumed it would be fine. After all, I bought a house. Doesn’t that make me a resident?”
“No. Crap, it really doesn’t. We need to fix this or you’ll get deported. I’m going to have to marry you.”
There was howling laughter and cheers. Jena was dizzy. The pain was making her see double. She’d never been good with pain. Some people had really high tolerance for it. She wasn’t one of them.
“Did you just propose?” Jena found it hard to focus.
“No. I told you we’re getting married. Probably this week. Otherwise you’ll get kicked out of the country.”
“I think that’s a bit extreme,” Jena told him. The noise above her head was getting louder. “Nobody knows I don’t have a visa, so who’s going to kick me out?”
“Jena, try to remember for five bloody minutes that I’m a cop.”
“Oh, yeah.” Were the earth walls spinning, or was it in her head? “What if I don’t want to marry you?”
“I didn’t ask. We’re doing it.”
Part of her knew she should be mad at him. Instead she just felt strange. “Matt, I don’t feel so good.”
“What is it? What do you feel? Are you bleeding from anywhere?”
“No, I just feel weird. Is the ground moving?”
“Jena, take deep breaths. You’re going to be okay.” He sounded panicked and very far away. Jena swayed in place. Her ribs made her groan. Her ankle jerked and she whined with pain.
“Jena, listen to me, hold on. We’re nearly there.”
“Love you, Matt,” Jena said softly.
And then she lost consciousness.
“Jena? Jena?” Matt looked at the men around him in panic. “She’s not answering.”