e’s

e was always in his lap on that bridge, having sex, m

lids f

ember to turn on cruise control or, you

t is the on

aten minutes before. “Guess he just couldn’t wait.” A gaze sweeps my face. It’s so intensely penetrating that I wan

ionalism I’d expect from a

h you staring at her tits. Just what the

off, B

it so tightly I couldn’t move ev

le scent that tells me I’m in a hospital aren’t near

door creaks open, letting in a cool wind. “Officers? Is there anything I

ve away from me, I relax for the first

een no change since the last time. Is

t doesn’t like cops in general. After what I just overheard, and from how little t

one who smells of onions asks. Or is

ld be a week,” the doctor res

s dead, and we need to k

li

and stop. Someone leans over me. It isn’t either of the cops because food smells or male sweat a

e cop asks, sounding l

she is,” the doctor mu

ng? Reading th

e machi

We see the same thing in our long-term coma patients. T

raped around his neck. Dark red hair, small brown eyes, and a pale face. Younger than I was expecting. He must

, she’s not r

s l

clear. And he didn’t shine the light that doctors like to blind you with.

t the cops to

t

show you the way out?” The doctor's voice is plea

leasant because he knows he’s not wanted

ft click announces their departure and alone, at least for the t

till

but somehow,

be the othe

my eyes fly open. White walls, white sheets, and

me brown-eyed, red-hai

ut expression before he lifts his hand from m

t say

Dr. T

has been peeled back, so that’s one less thing trapping me. It’s just the nee

ave to worry about seeing

before. It must have been the morning, or maybe lunchtime if the cop smelled

cracked lips. “

y bed. I glance at it. Something rich and savory

t me. “I won’t use it if you don’t want to, but we’ve got three Jane Does at the hospital

ely register

up, but I don’t have time to eat. Even if I

ing to have to move fast if I want to stay that way

s his throat. “Y

efore shifting my attent

into the staff changing room, or steal another patient’s clothes since I doubt my dress a

waiting for a response, he continues. “The fire department pulled you from the water. Between the shattere

river with me inside or out of it should hurt. My gaze darts to the tube in the back of

r goes away, I need to know the extent of my inj

uries?” I ask,

laceration on your hea

hose weren’t serious enough to require stitches. From the shattered glass, most likely.” His hand moves to his right shoulder. “

sound bad.

head. “No in

’s nothing to sto

n. How is your v

his stethoscope hanging from around his neck. Surely, he’s supposed

s ok

vision, blu

Not

efore. Not everyone recovers from that sev

in me still

t I wince when it triggers

hat’s how long you’

found me and dragged me back yet is in itself a miracle. A week is more than enough time f

me two miles before Rylan was stepping

and

llow

and the handcuffs beside his bed so he could always keep a

as lucky,” the doc

iend,” I interru

le

The car pinned him to the riverbed, and he

can drown

ld live through a stabbing, drowning, a clubbing over the head, and get up with little more than a headache.

e on the coffee table, sometimes I’d have a bruise for the rest of the day, but never Rylan. His skin was perfect, unmarked, and unsca

at never

was born a shifter instead of bein

, if only sometimes,

doctor’s revelation. Wh

want me to call? We d

ell, there’s Dad, but since I have no ca

x is

atter how much I screamed or begged him to stop as my blood soaked through h

hich didn’t happen as of

er. He was the only one who fed me. It didn’t happen all the times that I went with him, but

my hand. Just once. After that, he ne

g he did to me. Things I learned the hard way would only hurt wor

iles were flawless, my moans so convincing no one could’ve guessed I was counting down t

t to fall because no shifter deserves my

’m only sorry I wasn’t co

n you later,” the doctor

, and I hear him open the door

a seated position. My world goes hazy with pain and I swallow

has, I turn my head to the side and spot a slim white remote that must control the small black screen on the wal

driven off a bridge and into a r

. The second is a sports game. Baseball. But the

rf

d the remote, for an image of my face to flash on TV wit

g the cause of the fatal car crash on the Lancaster Br

st of the female

hat’s all yo

ings, burglaries, the usual bad things that happen in every major city, then the weather, and it’s over. So

ort, is there any report other than a tragic fatal car crash o

sn’t found me yet? D

clatters to the floor. A round-faced nurse in her forties, with her dark hair pulle

no

y beside my bed. “You ha

not h

y ribs. “My ribs hurt, so…” I let my voice trail off so s

ribs are no fun. Well, I’ll make a note on your file and we’ll see if the doctor can do som

utter and jelly sandwi

that’s okay. Maybe tomorrow it w

e. After retrieving the remote from the floor, she flicks the TV off and returns it to the side table. With brutal efficiency, she tu

e collects the tray and

that I let myself relax as

hink I

slow breat

bond, no walking away. No shifter will ever let what’s his go. And especially not an a

know it? Or will he watch the news, think what I just thou

w, but a gi