Following Me (40 page)

SLEEPING THROUGH THE night and much
of the next morning had been a surprise to wake up to.  More ibuprofen waited
for her on the nightstand.  She smiled and then immediately winced from the
pain in her face.

After taking the medicine, she
padded into the bathroom to take a look at her face.  One of her eyes was
swollen shut, the other eye had a large black circle under it, and her face
looked like hell.  The spot on the back of her head where she had fallen and
hit the side table had a huge knot.

Devon swallowed back tears as she
stared at the damage to her face.  She felt even more defeated than she
looked. 
How had she let Reid get to her again?
  She had left St.
Louis.  She had thought she was safe, and still, he had managed to break her. 
It was even worse this time because she had finally started feeling like
herself again.  Running away from him was the best thing she had ever done.  It
was the only reason she had retained her sanity.

She couldn’t let this keep
happening.  She had to do something.  She didn’t know what that was, but she
had to figure it out to move on with her life.

All she really knew was today was
going to be
roughhh.

Devon walked out of the bathroom
and sat down heavily on the bed. Brennan appeared in the doorway with a smile. 
His smile faltered when he got a good look at her face.

“Oh, Belle,” he said, walking
over and taking a seat next to her on the bed.  He kissed her temple next to
her swollen eye, like he intended to kiss away the pain.  “It’s good to see
you’re awake.  I’ve been checking on you off and on to make sure you are doing
alright.”

“I can’t believe I slept for so
long,” she said, leaning into him for support.

“Injuries like that require a lot
of rest.  It’s good that you slept.”  He kissed the top of her head.  “Do you
mind if I take a look at you?”

“Go ahead.”  She didn’t even want
to look at herself.

Turning her face toward him, he
examined her more closely than he had the night before.  “Are you sure we can’t
take you to a hospital to get this looked at?”

“I never went before, and I
recovered just fine,” she said, wanting nothing to do with hospitals.

Brennan winced.  “I hate that
you’ve ever gone through this before, let alone all by yourself.  I’m not a
doctor yet.  I want to take care of you, but I don’t know how serious this all
is.”

“No hospitals, Dr. Walker,” she
said, poking him gently.

He laughed at the nickname and
nodded.  “Alright, I got it.”  Then, he stared down at the bruises on her face,
and his smile slipped again.

“Give me your best assessment,”
she said, straightening.

“I think you’ll live,” he said
with a sigh.  “At least, it doesn’t seem like the brain damage has affected
your sense of humor.”

Devon giggled and swatted at him
playfully.  He grabbed her hands before they even made contact with him and
pulled her in for a kiss.  She wanted to give him more, but even the kiss was
hard to manage with her face so messed up.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you
about something,” he said, shifting uncomfortably.  He reached out for her
hands and laced them with his.  “And I’m not sure you’re going to like it.”

“What is it?” she asked,
narrowing her eyes suspiciously. 
What more could possibly go wrong in her
life?

“I think you should file a
restraining order against Reid,” Brennan said.

“What?” she asked, snatching her
hands back.  That hadn’t been what she had expected.  “No.  No.  No.  I can’t
do that.”

“Devon, I said you wouldn’t like
it, but it’s a good idea.  Then, if he comes near you again, you can take legal
action against him.  I think you’re within your rights to press charges for
assault and battery after what happened last night.  The
least
you can
do is stop him from doing it again.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head
and ignoring the pain.  “No hospitals, no cops, no court.  I should have made
myself clearer.”

“I already agreed to no
hospitals.  I can’t agree to your other two.  You’re terrified that this guy is
going to come after you for a reason.  He’s dangerous.  He could hurt you.  I
couldn’t live with that, and I can’t be with you twenty-four/seven to make sure
that it doesn’t happen again,” he said, scooting closer to her.  “If you don’t
get a restraining order, which I still say is the very least you should do,
your distaste for hospitals won’t keep you from ending up in one.”

Devon looked away from Brennan,
tears pooling in her eyes again.

“He’s applying to med schools in
the fall.  A record could keep him from getting accepted,” she told him.  She
didn’t know why it mattered so much to her, but Reid had mattered for so long. 
Old habits die hard.

“You want this guy to become a
doctor?” Brennan cried.  He was beside himself.  “Are you out of your mind?  Go
look in the mirror, and tell me you want him treating patients!”

“No,” she said softly.  She didn’t,
but it felt wrong admitting it.  “No, alright, I don’t.”

“Belle, don’t cry.”  Facing her,
he kissed her softly.  “I didn’t mean to yell.  I just don’t think someone
without a shred of compassion should be working in the most selfless job.”

“I know he shouldn’t,” she said. 
She had known that for a long time.

“You deserve to be with someone
who makes you happy.  Someone who won’t complicate your life.  Somebody who
won’t hurt you.”

“Someone like you,” she said.

“Someone
like me.”

COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT Court was about
a twenty-minute drive outside of the Loop in downtown Chicago.  Devon stared up
at the imposing building with its all-glass entrance.  Her hands were shaking,
but when Brennan touched her back, she began to relax. 
She could do this. 
She could be strong.

The wait was to be expected, and
more than a half-dozen times she had tried to convince Brennan that they should
just leave.  He had smiled at her for strength before he told her that they had
made the drive out for a reason.  He was happy to wait it out with her.

He had called in at work again. 
Devon had heard Jenn bitching at him through the line, but he had carefully
explained that Devon had a concussion.  Jenn hadn’t sounded pleased, but
really, Devon needed Brennan around to help take care of her.  She was doing a
lot better, but she didn’t trust herself to be alone.

“Devon Sawyer,” a woman in a suit
called when it was her turn.

She looked over at Brennan
anxiously.  “I can’t do this.  I can’t.  Brennan, what am I going to tell
them?”  She was panicking.

“The truth, Belle.  Just tell
them the truth, just like you told me.  I’ll be here waiting for you when you
get done,” he reassured her.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” he said with a smile.

Devon stood stiffly and walked
across the room with her head hanging down.  “I’m Devon,” she told the woman.

“Come with me,” the woman said. 
She had a comforting voice, not what Devon had been expecting.

They walked down a hallway, and
the woman took a seat behind a desk at a cubicle.  Devon sat across from her
and folded her hands.

“How can we help you today, Ms.
Sawyer?”

“I, uh…want to file a restraining
order against my ex-boyfriend,” she said, trying to keep her voice from
shaking.

“Of course.  Let me get you the
paperwork.”  She rifled through a file cabinet against the wall and handed it
to Devon.  “Just fill this out, and then I’ll see when we can get you in to see
the judge to plead your case.”

“Thank you,”
Devon said softly, staring down at the paperwork in front of her.  There was no
turning back now.

A FEW HOURS after her arrival, Devon
exited the Circuit Court office with a temporary restraining order in her
shaking hand.  The judge had approved her case and scheduled an official
hearing in three weeks.  She didn’t like the thought of what might lead up to
that.  Reid would get served papers.  He would realize what she had done—that
she had taken legal action.  It was a complicated system, and she would have to
face him in court to make it permanent.  The thought of seeing him again made
her stomach twist.

Brennan seemed pleased that it
had worked out in her favor.  He had suspected it wouldn’t take a lot of effort
to get a restraining order.  Her face was pretty beat-up, and she hadn’t even
had makeup at his place to hide any of it.  She was a pro at covering bruises
with makeup.

The drive back into the city had
a calming effect, and Devon found her eyes drooping.  It had been a long couple
of days, and with her head injury, she was just so tired.

“Hey,” Brennan said, shaking her
shoulder softly.

She peeled open her eyes and saw
that they were parked somewhere.  She rubbed her eyes, and immediately, she
regretted it as pain shot through one side.

“Where are we?” she asked with a
yawn.

“Jenn’s.  I just wanted to stop
by and get my check.  Is that alright?” he asked, his face showing concern very
clearly.

“Yeah.  I’m not going inside
though,” she said, looking around.  She could see they were parked in the alley
behind the restaurant.

“I didn’t expect you to.  Want me
to grab yours while I’m in there?” he asked.

“I got mine last week.  I don’t
know how you could even forget.”

“Distracted by a beautiful woman,
I guess,” he said with a smile.  He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her
lips.  “I’ll only be a minute.”

“Alright.  See you soon,” she
said sleepily.

Devon closed her eyes and leaned
her head against the window.  She could fall asleep again.  When they got back
to Brennan’s, maybe she could sleep through the afternoon.  She hoped he would
hold her.  Being with him calmed her nerves and allowed her to actually rest.

She felt herself drifting away
when the handle of the car door clicked.  Her reaction time was off, and when
the door swung open, she tumbled sideways out of the car.  She landed heavily
on her hip as her hand struck the pavement.

“Ugh,” she grumbled.  She wiped
gravel off her clothes and picked it out of her hand.  A sharp piece had
embedded itself into her palm, and blood pooled at the point of injury. 
“Great.  Add that to the list.”

She turned her head to look up at
what had been the cause of her fall, and her vision blurred.  She scrambled
backward, but he was on top of her before she moved two feet.

“Did you think I would just let
you leave?” Reid grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet.

He looked terrible.  His clothes
were a mess.  His usually perfectly manicured hair was tousled.  His eyes were
bloodshot, like he hadn’t slept all night.  Still, it was nothing compared to
how she looked.

“Reid, stop!  Leave me alone,”
she said, trying to pull away from him.

He ignored her and started
dragging her down the alleyway.  Her balance was shot, and she kept tripping
over her feet and falling.

“Stop!  Reid, fucking stop!”

“You’re mine, Devon.  And I said
I would have what is mine,” he said.  “I always keep my promises.”

She knew Brennan would return
soon, but clearly, it was not soon enough.  She didn’t know where Reid was
taking her.  If he got her somewhere private, she didn’t know what would
happen.  Putting all her energy behind it, Devon screamed at the top of her
lungs.  Someone had to hear her.

Turning around, Reid covered her
mouth with his hand and shoved her back against the wall to hold her in place. 
“Shut up!” he yelled into her face.

Her eyes went wide at the
ferocity in his gaze.  He had gone crazy, completely crazy.  Whatever shred of
humanity he’d had left in him had evaporated.

“If you make another sound, I’ll
knock you out and carry you back to the car.”

Devon didn’t put it past him. 
Her heart was beating so hard that she thought it might jump out of her chest. 
She couldn’t stop staring into his eyes and wondering where the man she had
once loved was. 
Where was her greatness?  Had he never actually existed and
she had only clung on to hope like a child?

“I’m going to release you, and
you’re not going to make a sound or try to get away.  Right?” he asked
threateningly.

Devon nodded slightly.  She was
lying.  She would fight him tooth and nail to get away.

He slowly dropped his hand, and
she kept her mouth clamped shut.  She wanted to take him by surprise.  She
heard footsteps crunch on the gravel, and Reid’s head whipped to the side. 
Devon used the distraction to her advantage, and for the second time in two
days, she brought her knee up into his groin.  She hoped he would never be able
to reproduce after this.

Reid dropped over, holding
himself.  She turned to run, but his other hand shot out, catching her in the
chest and slamming her into the wall again.  The air quickly left her lungs as
he knocked the wind out of her, and she cried out.  She heard footsteps running
toward them, but she didn’t look up to find out who it was.  She was
concentrating too hard on trying to breathe.

“Hey, get away from her!” Brennan
yelled as he approached them.

Reid stood and faced Brennan,
planting himself between Brennan and Devon.  “Stay out of this.  She’s none of
your concern.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Just get the fuck out of here!”
Reid cried.

“I’m not leaving her,” Brennan
said determinedly.

“Brennan,” Devon gasped out.

“I’m not going anywhere.  Don’t
worry,” Brennan said to her.

“Don’t you talk to her,” Reid
growled.  “Don’t even look at my girl.”

Brennan stared Reid down.  “I
think you should just calm down and step away from Devon.  She’s hurt and
probably needs medical attention.  She suffered a concussion last night. 
Somehow, her head connected with a table.”  He waited for Reid to react, but he
didn’t.  “If you care about her,” Brennan said skeptically, “then you’ll let me
take her to a hospital.”