Reaching Rachel Page 10

  Mark’s eyes flashed at him. “Seems you have a certain liking for my friend here. Rachel, say hi to the lovely cop. Oh, I’m sorry, she’s indisposed at this time. She’s had a busy afternoon.” It was then that he noticed she was only wearing a shirt, nothing else. His stomach clenched at the thought of what this bastard had done to her. He had to get her out of here alive, and he would, if it was the last thing he did.

  Devin silently signaled to the team that was approaching behind Mark. He needed them to take him down. Right before they reached him, he turned to them, and a shot went off. The team took him down to the ground, and the gun clattered to the floor.

  “No, no, no, no,” Devin mumbled, pushing through the chaos to get to her. The guys had Mark restrained, and Rachel was on her side on the floor, still bound to the chair. Devin dropped on his knees, screaming into his headset. “Get medic in here! She’s been shot!”

  Taking the pocket knife from his pocket, he cut her arms and legs from the restraints, and her body flopped forward. He caught her, pulling her gently towards him. There was blood, so much blood, and he couldn’t even tell in the haze of the room where it was coming from. “Rachel,” he murmured. Even though it had been a long time since the last time he saw her, the familiarity of holding her made tears sting his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he smoothed her hair back from her battered and bruised face. No matter how damaged she was right now, she was still the most stunning woman he had ever seen.

  Putting his fingers at her pulse, he noticed that it was thin. “Hurry!” he yelled into his headset again. “We’re losing her quickly!”

  “Devin,” Andrew’s voice was behind him. “We’ve got the suspect and medic is coming in for the girl. We found out her name.”

  “Rachel,” Devin said, his voice thick with tears. “Rachel Dawson.”

  “How did you know that?”

  “She—she … we know each other.”

  Devin sat next to her bedside, where he hadn’t left in three days. She was in a medically induced coma, as she had been the whole time. When they had brought her in, they had rushed her right into surgery to get the bullet from her shoulder. It thankfully had missed a major artery, but that wasn’t the reason for the coma. Rachel’s body had taken a horrible beating, both that day and at some point before then. She had four cracked ribs, a broken arm, a broken nose, and severe bruising of not only her body but some major organs, too. She had also had sex multiple times before she was rescued, probably without her consent as she was pretty bruised up down there as well. Her mouth had signs of semen and hair follicles in it as well. Mark/Justin had really done a number on her.

  “Any change?” Elise Dawson, Rachel’s mom, entered the room. They had planned on being here for Thanksgiving anyway, but instead had eaten cold cafeteria food and thanked God that their only child was alive. They had been just as shocked to see Devin there as he had been to see Rachel. She had never told them what had happened with them, and it wasn’t the time or place now. He had filled them in on how he got here and what had happened, but they had left it at that.

  “No,” Devin said, his voice strained. “They said they lowered the medicine hours ago, so we just wait now for her to wake up.” What he didn’t say was, if she wakes up, but they all knew that was a possibility. The doctors had said, it’s all in her will to survive. After what she had been through, it was understandable for her mind to shut down and want to protect her from waking up. Even when she did wake up, there was no telling what state of mind she would be in. But Devin wasn’t leaving. When Andrew had figured out that Rachel was Devin’s ex, he of course took him off the case and also gave him vacation days to be with her. It wouldn’t have mattered if he did or didn’t, Devin wouldn’t have been anywhere else. It had been too long, too many years, and he wasn’t leaving her again. The ghost of her had haunted him, tormented him for so many years. He had gotten a second chance, and he wasn’t leaving without figuring out the past.

  Devin picked up her hand and kissed her fingers. “Did you even know it was me before that bastard shot you? You looked at me, but there was so much going on, and you looked so scared.”

  Elise sniffled across from him, reminding that her mom was listening to what he was saying. He knew it was hard for her to hear what her daughter had been through. Devin had spent three days talking to Rachel, begging for her to hang on, to come back and see him again. It was like the time that had passed vanished and she was his whole reason for breathing once again.

  “You’re going to be just fine, Rachel. We’re here. Your mom and dad, Kayley, Emily, and Jessica are here …” Devin broke off, his voice cracking. He had had the pleasure of meeting Rachel’s best friends the night she was brought in. He had found out since meeting them that they had only known that she had been in love before and had been destroyed over it a short time before. Rachel had never told any of them. Kayley had just learned his name mere days before she ended up here, but she had welcomed him with open arms. Her husband Ben had been here as well, and he liked the guy immediately. Rachel had a great support system here.

  “I’ll be right back,” Elise announced, touching his shoulder as she walked past. When the door clicked closed behind her, Devin laid his head on Rachel’s stomach, feeling the rise and fall of her steady breathing. Even though her face was bruised and battered, she was still breathtaking to him. She was five years older than the last time he saw her, but he couldn’t tell. She was still his love, his Rachel.

  “I know we have a lot to work through,” Devin whispered. “But I’m here, baby. I’m here. I don’t understand what exactly happened all those years ago, and I’m sure we have both grown a lot since then. I’ve never stopped loving you, Rachel. Never. Every woman has been compared to you, and they all failed. My heart has never belonged to anyone else. So no matter what happened, we will move on. Us finding each other again, that’s a sign.”

  He wished she would just wake up, look at him with those beautiful green eyes. He knew that she was probably going to have a hard road ahead of her. What if she didn’t want him there?

  Justin a.k.a. Mark Stevenson had been safely apprehended after the raid. He was currently sitting in the county jail and had been denied bond, of course. He was facing charges not only in Alabama, but also in Florida, and they were currently looking at some open cases in other states that fit his M.O. He wasn’t coming back for a long, long time. Whenever Devin had taken breaks from Rachel, which hadn’t been often, he had checked in for updates on the sleaze ball.

  The beeping machine connected to Rachel was the only sound in the room. He ran his fingers gently up the palm of her hand. Her one arm was casted and the other was in a sling, recovering from the surgery to her shoulder from the gunshot.

  “I will never forget the day I met you,” Devin started. “My buddies and I decided to stop in for bike night, just to grab a couple drinks after shift. I remember looking across the room and seeing you immediately. You and your friends seemed so out of place there. Young, pretty college girls in a place packed with bikers. But that didn’t bother you at all. You were dancing your heart out with your friends. I knew you were young, but I couldn’t stop myself. I had to go over and meet you. You’ve always been the most captivating, beautiful person. When I reached you and you turned to me, I swear that my heart must’ve stopped. It was like you looked right into me, Rachel. It sounds ridiculous that you affected me the way you did. I never believed in the ‘love at first sight’ thing until I saw you. That night, I knew I would never be the same. And I was right. The two years we were together were the best years of my life. Wake up, baby. Wake up. I want you to look me in the eyes and know I’m here.”

  The door opened, and Kayley walked in. No matter how many times over the last few days she had seen Rachel, it still shocked her. Walking to the bedside, she reached her hand out and gently touched Rachel’s bruised face. A sob escaped her throat at the thought of what her friend had been through.

  “Devin,” she choked out
. She still couldn’t believe that the love of Rachel’s life was here. The man that she had just learned about a short time ago was the one responsible for saving Rachel’s life. When she had first walked into this hospital room three days ago, she had had no idea who the man was that was sitting by her friend’s bed. Then when he had stood up and said his name, her knees had almost buckled. After the story he told her, she had needed to sit down.

  Now, they had been together so often over the last few days that she felt like she knew him pretty well. They hadn’t really talked much about the past, as she could tell whatever it was had hurt him pretty badly as well. He had asked her a lot of questions about Justin, and she had been thoroughly interviewed. She still felt terrible that she had encouraged Rachel to continue a relationship with a psychopath, but Devin reassured her that he was good at what he did and had manipulated everyone around him. She had listened the stories that he told Rachel, trying to get her to respond.

  “Is she going to wake up?” She asked what they both were terrified of.

  “The doctor said that they stopped the medication that was keeping her sleeping, so she can wake up at any time now,” he repeated.

  She nodded and sat down on the other side of Rachel’s bed. “You know what she’s going to be like when she wakes up, right?”

  Devin looked at Rachel’s best friend, the one who had been there for her when he wasn’t, and nodded silently. “Yes.”

  “I just learned about you recently,” Kayley started. “She’s never told anyone what happened between you, but what I do know is that she loved you, and she still does. All this time, she’s been keeping people at arm’s length, even me, to protect herself. She thinks she’s no good, Devin, that she doesn’t deserve to be loved.”

  His heart squeezed at her words. God, he wished she would wake up right now. No wonder she had gotten herself involved with this asshole. She thought it was what she deserved. “What happened with us seems like a lifetime ago. Right now, all I want is for her to open her eyes.”

  “Did she see you—in the house?” Kayley was careful with her words. She had heard enough about the details of that day, and it made her sick just thinking about what she had endured at the hands of that man.

  “She looked at me,” Devin answered, looking at Rachel’s face. “But I don’t really know how coherent she was at that point. She was severely injured, and it was smoky in there from the team smoke bombing the place. I sure as hell saw her though. Never in my life did I ever think …” Devin’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat, working hard around the lump that refused to leave. “I can’t believe that this is how we get to be reunited, of all things. How long has she lived here?”

  “Over 5 years,” her friend answered, holding Rachel’s pinky finger in hers. “I met her when she started working at the therapy center where I used to work. Right now, I’m a stay at home mom.”

  “I bet she’s a kick ass therapist,” Devin said.

  Kayley furrowed her brow. “Therapist? She’s our office manager.”

  He dropped his eyes to the bed. She wasn’t a therapist? She had been working so hard in school. But as he thought about the timing, he knew that she couldn’t have finished if she had been here for that long. That meant that she had left right after … no … she had quit school. Because of him? A pit settled in his stomach at the thought of her giving it all up.

  “She was going to school to be a therapist when we … broke up. She was so talented. She must’ve given it up …”

  “Wow,” was all Kayley could think of to say. “I never knew that. That’s sad.” Devin couldn’t say anything back to that, because it was more than sad. It was heartbreaking, and he needed to know why. She needed to wake up.

  “I’ve been talking to her, reminding her of some of the stories from when we were together. God, Kayley, if she doesn’t wake up … if I don’t get a chance to tell her …”

  “She will,” Kayley reached across Rachel’s lap and placed her hand on his. “She’s strong.”

  Devin looked at Rachel again, at the curve of her eyebrows, her long eyelashes resting against her cheekbones, at the delicate skin that was marred with bruises and cuts. “Remember our first anniversary, babe? You were complaining that you had homework to do, but I didn’t want any part of listening to you. I had a plan to surprise you. I will never forget your face when I pulled up at the camping site. You said, ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ like it was the worst place you had ever seen. You wanted to know where the hotel was with the fluffy towels and room service. You were determined that you were not a camping girl.

  But, somehow I convinced you to get out of the car and help me start setting up camp. I had reserved a beautiful spot right by a lake, and after what seemed like forever, we had the tent up. You were standing there, in your beautiful glory, your hair piled on your head and your hands on your hips, asking me where the bathroom was. When I pointed at the trees, you ran for me and tackled me, begging me to take you home. But once I had you in the tent, you quickly forgot your complaining.”

  Kayley’s giggle reminded him that he wasn’t alone. “Sorry,” he stammered, looking away.

  “I love it,” she answered. “I can only imagine how cranky she was when you first got there. Keep going … I want to hear. This is like hearing about a totally different Rachel than I’ve ever known.”

  “We had the best time that weekend,” Devin continued, his eyes searching Rachel’s face for any sign of waking up. “I got you to hike, canoe, and sleep under the stars. I fell in love with you even more that weekend, not because you had fun or because I got what I wanted, but because you did something that was totally out of your comfort zone, and you loved it. That wasn’t the last time we went camping, but for me, it was the most memorable.”

  “Tell another one,” Kayley begged. “I love seeing this side of her.” Devin sat back, his eyes twinkling, ready to start yet another story.

  The colors were muted; she blinked her eyes, trying to focus on what she was seeing. The sounds were muffled; it sounded like someone was talking, but she couldn’t make out where it was coming from. Where was she? What was going on? Turning to look behind her, she gasped as he came into focus. Devin. Devin was here? He was standing next to the lake, the lake that they always visited when they went camping. Their tent was set up nearby, and a campfire was keeping the mosquitos away. Rachel looked down and saw that she was wearing her favorite cutoff jean shorts and a bikini top. She was damp, like they had been swimming.

  “Devin?” her voice was low, raspy, and he didn’t hear her. He had a fishing pole stuck into the lake, and was staring out at the water. He had a baseball cap on backwards, a muscle shirt that showed his ripped arms, and a pair of swimming shorts. He was as mouth-watering as he had ever been. God, she missed him. Her heart ached just looking at him. What was she doing here, with him?

  Trying to step towards him, she realized she couldn’t move. Looking down at her feet, she furrowed her brow. Why couldn’t she get to him? She looked up again, and this time Devin was farther away. A noise escaped her mouth as she tried again in vain to move towards him.

  “Devin!” she attempted to shout, but once again, her voice came out low and raspy. He turned and walked away, no longer in her sight. She sat down on the damp ground, tears running down her face. He was walking away. Again. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she talk to him? “I love you, Devin. I’m sorry. Please come back to me.” Before she could control it, darkness started taking over, and the last thing she saw before it all went black was the reflection of the sun off the lake.

  “Her vital signs are good,” Dr. Zeke reported, flipping open Rachel’s chart. “She really has no reason to not wake up, so we just wait and watch at this point.”

  Devin sighed, running a hand through his hair. Her parents, Kayley, and Ben were in the room with him. “How long could it be?”

  Dr. Zeke smiled thinly at him. “The mind is an interesting thing. It could take
as long as she wants it to take. She has to be ready for the mental anguish of waking up. In fact, when she does wake up we will have a team from psych ready.”

  “Why?” Devin felt instantly angry, and knew it came out in his voice. “You aren’t going to do something crazy like drug her up or tie her to the bed, are you?”

  “Not unless that’s necessary. There’s no telling what her state will be when she wakes up, and I’m sure you know that. She has been through an enormous trauma. Some people never remember fully, and some wake up fully immersed in what happened. Her brain will try to protect her until it seems she’s ready. That’s as much as I can tell you.”

  “Does talking to her help?” Elise asked tearfully, wiping her eyes. “She’s been like this for four days now. It’s killing me to see her just lying here. I want her to know that she’s okay.”

  “There’s plenty of opinions out there that loved ones talking to patients helps them wake up, but of course there is no real way to know. I’m sure Rachel knows that you are all here. Keep doing what you are doing. I’ll check in on her later tonight.”

  The group thanked Dr. Zeke and fell silent as the door clicked behind him. Devin was exhausted, and hadn’t showered in days. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate anything, either.

  “Devin, why don’t we go grab some dinner downstairs and you can use my buddy’s office to take a shower, change your clothes. You aren’t doing her any good if you are run down and exhausted,” Ben said, seemingly reading his mind.

  Kayley looked at her husband and smiled, then at Devin. He looked back at Rachel, still sleeping peacefully. “It’ll be okay,” she reassured him. “If she stirs at all, I’ll call you immediately. Promise.”