Dr. Sanjer didn't let her out of the hospital that night, or even the next. Not that Kia was capable of asking to leave that first night.
Contact with the wall had somehow done more damage to Kia than Harold Brockheim had done when he attacked her outside her apartment building.
The concussion was severe enough that she had to be under constant supervision and checked hourly. Thinking was something she didn't do well, and the pain in her head and in her ribs was excruciating.
She was aware of Chase arguing with the doctor, the nurses, though she wasn't certain why he was arguing at first. She knew Detective Allen was there for a few minutes before Chase ran him out.
She knew Chase hadn't left her side. He sat that night with her hand in his, barely dozing.
When she awoke the next morning she gave him the details he needed to make certain the detective had the statement. As she spoke fury darkened his eyes.
"Why didn't you call me?" His face was in hers, his lips drawn back from his teeth as pain and anger marked his face. "Did you think I wasn't capable of protecting you?"
He would have given his life for her, and she knew it. A part of her had always known it. She loved him with an intensity that could only come about if that love was returned.
Kia had known that. As she had felt the pain moving through her at the knowledge Brockheim just might kill her there, she knew Chase loved her. And that he would easily have tried to trade his life for hers.
"If I had done as you warned me, and not left your side, it wouldn't have happened," she whispered. "It was my fault, Chase. I
couldn't let him hurt you because I was stupid. Besides, would you have suspected Harold of doing something so insane? I always thought Moriah got her insanity from her mother. Margaret was always a little different. Harold was always so steady, so patient. "
He snarled, then groaned. His head dropped to the pillow by her shoulder, and she felt the tension radiating through him.
"I'm spanking you for this," he growled, "when you're better. "
"Ah, my reward. " She grinned, though it still hurt a bit. "I was wondering when you would get around to that. "
His chuckle was rough as he lifted his head. His fingers whispered above the bruise on her face.
"I love you. " He stared into her eyes, and she saw the truth of it. She saw all the bitter fury, the ragged pain he had felt when he burst into that room and saw her on the floor. She knew, because she knew how she would have felt. And she couldn't have borne knowing he had been hurt so severely.
"I love you," she whispered back. "But we really need to begin discussing events concerning Moriah Brockheim. You should have told me, Chase. Perhaps I would have understood more. "
He shook his head. "Steel fucking spine," he whispered.
A frown snapped between her brow. That was what her father was always muttering to her mother. It couldn't be a good thing.
"Is that a compliment or an insult?" she demanded, despite the lethargy stealing over her again.
"Hell, I think it's both. " He leaned forward and kissed her lips gently. "Go to sleep, baby. You're going to need your strength when you get out of here. "
"Don't leave me," she sighed. She was slipping away, the drugs they were giving her for the pain taking hold of her senses.
Her hand tightened on his. Chase laced his fingers with hers and brought them to his lips.
"I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart. Not even for a second. "
He had been there for two days. He had showered in the bathroom attached to her private room, but other than that, he hadn't left the room. He wasn't leaving. If he had to take his eyes off her longer than what he absolutely had to, he might go insane.
"I love you," she whispered again as she slipped into sleep.
"I love you, Kia. Rest, baby. "
He held her hand as she relaxed into sleep, unaware he was being watched until his head lifted and he saw Drew Stanton standing in the doorway.
Drew's expression was somber, his brown eyes a bit bitter, but accepting. In one hand he carried a vase of flowers. He moved into the room and set the flowers on the table by her bed and stared down at her.
"He bruised her cheek," Drew whispered sadly.