Leanne’s mind slowly floated up toward consciousness. She moaned in pain, confused as to why her right leg hurt so badly. She tried to move it, but it felt like it was twice its usual size and weight.
What the hell? she thought as she opened her eyes and tried to sit up. Where the hell am I?
Instead of being home in bed with Kelli lying beside her, she was in someone else’s bed that was in someone else’s home.
Then she remembered. Kelli had dumped her for the naturally baby-making-able guy at the gym because she’d “lost her shine.” She had been out walking, she remembered. She also remembered the scary guy in the F-150, the screech of tires, the wind being knocked out of her, descending into darkness…
Terror suddenly gripped her as the possibility of being in the guy’s house hit her. Oh, my God, she thought, terrified. The bastard hit me and now he’s kidnapped me!
Just when she was about to panic at the thought of all the things that could be done to her, she heard a voice speak. A voice that was anything but male.
“You’re awake,” said the woman, who she now realized had been sitting in a chair in the corner of the room by the head of the bed.
Leanne’s head snapped toward the voice. “Wh-who are you? Where am I? What’s happened?”
“Shhh, just try to keep calm,” the woman said, rising from her chair and out of the shadows. As she stepped forward, the light from the nightlight that was plugged into the opposite wall illuminated her face. But the light was still too dim to make out much detail. All Leanne could tell was that the woman was tall and of average weight with dark hair.
Calm, my ass! “Who the hell are you and where the hell am I?”
“Relax. You darted out at an intersection, and unfortunately, I couldn’t stop in time to avoid hitting you. I just thank God you’re alive.”
“You hit me?”
“I’m afraid so, ma’am.”
“Not the guys in the truck?”
“The truck?”
“The F-150?”
“’ Fraid not. I have a Ford Fusion.”
“What happened to my leg and why aren’t I in the hospital?”
“The leg part is simple, but the hospital part isn’t that simple, I’m afraid.”
“What?” Leanne asked with confusion.
“I’m a registered nurse, and as far as I can tell, you probably have a slight hairline fracture in the tibia, which is the lower leg. No vital organs have sustained any damage from what I can see. In about a week or so, you should be able to walk, though not without a limp. Six weeks or so and you should be as good as new.”
“Nurse or not, why are you taking chances treating me here and not in a hospital?”
“That’s where it gets complicated.”
“I have a right to know what the hell’s going on.”
“Yes, you do. But I can only tell you so much at this point. You’ll just have to trust me.”
“You’re asking me to trust a complete stranger. Do you know how crazy that sounds?”
“Indeed I do,” the woman said with a slight chuckle, “but I assure you there is a reason for my evasiveness.”
Leanne was at a loss for words as her brain tried to process this information. Finally, she said, “This is your home?”
“Yes, ma’am, it is.”
“Is it a house or an apartment?”
“A house.”
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Cassandra, but most people call me Cassie or just Cass.”
Leanne studied the woman’s silhouette as she sat back down in the chair she’d been sitting in. She didn’t feel threatened by her one bit. She seemed honest enough and like she wanted to help, even if she still didn’t understand why she wasn’t brought to the hospital instead.
“Would you like something to drink, Miss…?”
“Leanne.”
“Leanne?”
Leanne nodded in the dimness of the room and then realized just how thirsty she truly was. “Some water would be nice.”
“Ok, back in a sec,” said the tall woman as she once again rose from her chair.
Leanne brought the cup she was offered to her parched lips a moment later and drank thirstily.
“All set?”
She nodded and handed the cup back to the woman, who then placed it on the nightstand by the bed. She sat back down.
“Does anyone know I’m here?”
“No, not yet. Leanne, could you tell me a little about yourself? Like what you were doing out so late and what you might’ve been running from? You said something about an F-150 pursuing you.”
“Yeah, it was. I got into a fight with my girlfriend. We lived together, but she decided to kick me out. I was so pissed off, and walking is one of the things I tend to do when I get furious about whatever, and so out I went. I didn’t care about the weather, the neighborhood, or anything. I just kept walking and walking. Next thing I know, the thing’s following me, and some horny guy’s determined to make me his for the night. The cops came by right after he pulled up alongside me and scared him off and I thought that was the end of him. But then shortly after the cops took off, he returned. I started to run and that’s all I really remember other than the sound of screeching wheels.”
“Oh, dear,” said Cassandra. “I’m so sorry that they terrorized you like that, and I’m also very sorry I ran into you.”
“I still don’t understand why I’m here and not in a hospital,” Leanne said.
“I know, and I’d like to tell you. Really, I would. But I’m afraid I can’t right now.”
“What do you plan to do with me then?”
“Nurse you back to health.”
“I need to at least call my family. My parents never go more than a week or so without hearing from me. If they call Kelli to find out that I stormed off in a rage and then disappeared, they’ll be freaking out like crazy.”
“I understand.”
When the woman failed to move but sat there as if she were contemplating what to do, Leanne said, “Well, do you have a phone I could use to call them?”
“It’s two a.m. Are you sure you want to call them this late?”
The woman was stalling. Something was wrong. “I’m sure.”
“Ok,” Cassandra said hesitantly, “can you do me a huge, huge favor while you’re at it and not tell them where you’re at?”
“Well…”
“Leanne, I know that’s a huge thing to ask of you. You don’t know me and I don’t know you. But someday it will all make sense to you, I promise. I’ll explain everything when the time comes.”
“What time?” Leanne asked nervously.
“As soon as you can get around on your own again, I’ll drop you off wherever you want to go.”
“Why didn’t you drop me off at the hospital, even if you didn’t want to stick around?”
Cassandra sighed. “Again, I know it may seem awfully strange to you, but there really is a reason. Besides, I was the one who hit you, and therefore I feel it’s my responsibility to help mend you.”
“What’s the huge favor you want me to do?” Leanne asked curiously.
“When you call your parents, could you not tell them what happened just yet? You can tell them about your girlfriend, of course, but could you leave out the part about me hitting you and just tell them you’re staying with a friend?”
Leanne pondered the idea a moment, still not sure what to make of the woman. Although her gut instinct didn’t think so, the woman could be a murderer for all she knew. “I guess I could do that.”
“I hate to ask you to lie to your own parents, but if they ask who you’re with and where, could you think of something to tell them that they wouldn’t verify?”
Leanne thought about it. “I’ll tell them I’m with Gabriel and Misty. I don’t see Gabe and Misty that often and they wouldn’t think to call me there. Especially since they don’t even know their number or where they live. But I’ll have to keep in touch with them once a week or else they’ll get suspicious and worried. You said I should be able to fend for myself soon enough anyway, right?”
“Right. We’ll get you out of here as fast as possible.”
“I’ll wait till a decent hour to call my folks so as not to worry them, but what do I tell people once I reappear, possibly with a limp?”
“You can tell them anything you want.”
“Why won’t you just tell me the truth right now? If I don’t like it, it’s not like I could just up and run away,” Leanne reminded Cassandra.
Cassandra laughed and said, “That’s true. Let’s get to know each other a bit more and then I’ll explain my situation and why reporting the accident wasn’t that simple.”
Oh yeah, thought Leanne. If the hospital didn’t know she’d been injured, then the police probably didn’t either. A chill washed over her as she realized this was probably because Cassandra was in some kind of trouble.
Leanne’s bladder called to her. “I have to pee.”
Cassandra rose from her chair. “Ok. I’m going to flick on the light so we can see our way to the bathroom more easily. Is that ok?”
“Sure.”
Cassandra stepped over to the wall switch by the doorway and flicked it on. Then she turned around and faced Leanne. She smiled weakly as she gazed down at her.
Damn! Leanne thought as she took in the woman’s dark eyes and long, dark, wavy hair, along with her bright white teeth. My captor-turned-nurse sure is smoking hot!
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