“Anything else physically wrong?” Nicky asked.
“I’m sore and achy everywhere, and my head is pounding. My shoulders hurt from how he held my arms, but they think they’ll be okay.”
“Aren’t they going to check?”
“I would need an MRI, and I don’t think I can handle that now.” A shiver ran through my body. “It’s too confined, too much like being held down.”
“I’m so sorry, Jenna,” Juliette said. “Are your parents coming?”
“They’ll get a flight tomorrow night, or maybe the day after.”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Nicky looked furious.
I shrugged, wincing at the pain that shot through my shoulders. “My dad has an important meeting. And my mom has a thing, too.”
“More imp-important than you?” Juliette was so mad she could barely get the words out.
“I know, but I’m not surprised, and honestly, I don’t know if having them here will even make it better.”
I knew they cared. Maybe I did too good a job convincing them I was okay. My mom cried and my dad was furious when I told them, but then it got uncomfortable, so I assured them I was okay and that he didn’t actually rape me. They asked me if I was sure I was okay, and that’s when they whispered for a minute and came back to say they were so happy it wasn’t worse, and since I was okay, they’d come after their meetings. Then they talked about all the things they had going on that made it so hard to leave, and I hung up as soon as I politely could.
“What about Tyler?” Juliette asked.
“I left a message for him to call me.”
“You need to give him enough time to come with them,” Nicky pressed.
“You don’t think your parents already told him?” Juliette asked.
“I hope not, since he hasn’t called yet.”
Their faces, already sad, fell even further, so before they could say anything else about how I should call him again, I changed the topic to the exact opposite…a family who was so supportive, I wasn’t sure how to handle it. “Liam’s parents are already on their way. They should be here soon.”
“Are you okay with meeting them now?” Nicky asked.
Not really. “It’s not the first impression I hoped to make.” And all I wanted to do was curl up with Liam and Thor and cry, and I couldn’t do that if they were there.
“They know what they’re coming for, and Dylan has said they’re very nice,” Juliette said. “Hopefully it will be okay.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it will be fine. Liam needs the support too. Speaking of that, do you know if the guys are coming?”
“They were trying to get coverage from the next shift so they could leave early. I’m surprised they’re not already here,” Juliette said haltingly, texting Dylan as she spoke. “What the hell! I can’t believe it!” she yelled, and before the words were even out of her mouth, Liam ran back in the room.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, rushing to me.
Juliette’s cheeks reddened. “Nothing, sorry. Dylan just told me Chief Asshole won’t let the next shift relieve them early.”
Their battalion chiefwasan asshole. Even I couldn’t deny he deserved her name for him. He’d caused so much trouble for Juliette and Dylan.
Liam shrugged. “I know. I appreciate the thought, but they’re not coming in here and I’m not leaving, so there’s no need for them to just sit in the waiting room. I already told them that.”
“You know they’ll be here as soon as they can,” Nicky said. “They care about both of you.”
Liam scowled. “No one is coming in her room.”
“They can come. It’s fine.”
“You don’t need—” He cut off with a shake of his head.