Monster (18 page)

-Annie-

Quinn found me.

Every time I thought I was dreaming, that I was still stuck in a horrible basement, waiting to die, I'd reach my hand up and Quinn would take it, rubbing his calloused fingers over my knuckles, as gently as if he were cradling an egg.

I couldn't imagine anything that perfect in a dream.

Mostly, I slept.

I'd screamed so hard that I was having trouble speaking, and the doctors wanted me to stop asking questions, so they gave me morphine until I was floating on a cloud of relaxation.

Dimly, I knew that bad things had happened, and that my throat hurt and my wrists ached, but I didn't really care any more.

As long as Quinn was by my side, I was content.

Even with the morphine, when they tried to send him out of the room, I cried and tried to follow him and they let him stay.

He promised he wouldn't leave me.

At one point, I tried to tell him I loved him, but he shook his head and told me to rest my voice.

They gave me my next dose of morphine and I slept.

-Quinn-

Heather dropped off flowers, but she understood that I wanted to be the one waiting when Annie woke up. They only let one visitor in at a time.

She did drag me out of the room, though, for ten minutes.

“You need food,” she said.

She passed me a plate of pastries.

“I've dropped off a few dozen with the nurses,” she said. “It always pays to bribe the nurses. So. You're the guy Annie likes so much it made her crazy.”

“I hope so,” I said. I didn't smile.

Her eyes were soft as she looked at me.

“Let me stop in for a minute, okay?”

I nodded. I wasn't trying to keep Annie's old friend from her.

Shit, I was grateful that Heather let me be the one to stay with her. I'd only known her a month, I would have understood if she was pissed that I had taken over.

She seemed cool with it, though. Just told me that Annie deserved a good man and she hoped I was one – and then walked away before I could say anything in return. I didn't know how I would have answered.

I knew I wasn't good enough for her. I just hoped she'd love me anyways.

The doctors wouldn't tell me anything, because I wasn't her husband or parent, but I overheard enough from the nurses to be worried.

They weren't sure how long she'd been tied up. Her circulation was cut off for “too long” in one leg, but I didn't know what that meant.

Too long, so she'd be sore? Too long, so she'd lose the leg?

If she lost her leg, I'd still be there for her. She'd still be the most beautiful woman I'd ever met.

My only priority right now was Annie.

I couldn't let her push me away again. We were meant for each other.

-Annie-

The next time I woke up, I sat bolt upright in bed.

“Urso,” I said.

I started fumbling with my blankets, but before I could get untangled, Quinn was there, smoothing my hair, reassuring me, gently pressing me back against the bed.

“Annie, no,” he said. “Urso's okay. Carol took him to the vet and then he came back to your house. He was fine. He found you. He did an amazing job.”

“Good dog,” I murmured.

It was so hard to focus. I was glad he'd found me. He'd done a good job.

I loved that dog.

I loved Quinn.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I heard a crash at your place and woke up, then there was a car driving away. Seemed wrong. I let myself in to your place and called the cops.”

Holy crap, it actually worked. I lay back on the pillows and smiled.

“I hit the wall on purpose,” I said. My voice was raw, but Quinn wasn't nagging me to stop talking. I hoped that that was a good sign. “I hoped you'd hear.”

His bottle-green eyes went forest-dark.

“I'm so sorry I didn't protect you,” he said.

“Wasn't your job,” I said, giving him a crooked smile. Even that hurt. Everything hurt.

“It will always be my job,” he said, giving me an intense look. “Annie, you're the most amazing woman I've ever met. I'm so proud of you. I was goddamn scared.”

“I was, too,” I said, reaching out for him. “Quinn… I love you.”

“Fuck, I love you so much,” he said.

“I'm so sorry I said those things,” I said, tears running down my cheeks. The morphine hadn't gone out of my system entirely, apparently. I felt floaty and giggly, and couldn't seem to stop crying.

“It's okay,” he said. “It's okay if you don't want to be together. I'm not gonna push you.”

“I do,” I said. “So much. I just… I didn't think you'd want me when I told you.”

“Nothing you say could make me not want you.”

“I can't have kids,” I said. “No uterus. They took it out. Wheee.” I made a flapping gesture with one hand, my uterus flying away. Yep. Definitely still drugged.

He laughed out loud, throwing his head back and showing off his white teeth.

Tenderly, he bent over me and stroked my cheek.

“You broke up with me for that?” he asked. “That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.”

I couldn't help but frown at him.

“I got a vasectomy when I was twenty-two,” he said. “No regrets. I've never wanted kids. It's been almost ten years, and I still don't want kids.”

“oh,” I said, voice very quiet.

Oh.

Maybe it would be okay after all.

A knock on the door let me know a doctor was walking in on our moment.

“A nurse said it looked like you might be awake,” he said with a smile. “We're all so glad that you're doing so well.”

I tried to smile back at him.

Quinn's hand on mine was giving me the comfort I needed to face the doctor.

“I have good news,” he said. “It looks like you're doing very well. There should be no lasting impacts from your ordeal. You need to be careful not to talk too much for a few days, and I strongly recommend physical therapy for your legs to help you make sure you keep a hundred percent of your range of motion, but I'm very confident that you'll make a full recovery.”

I could hardly see anything through the haze of relieved tears.

“Now, I can't promise you won't be really sore and uncomfortable for the next few days,” he said.

“I can live with that,” I said, my voice still a croak/

“You probably wouldn't have come out so well if you weren't in such good shape to begin with,” he said. “Congratulations, Ms. Watson. There are some officers waiting to talk with you when you're up to it. Don't rush on their account, they've already made an arrest.”

He nodded at me and Quinn both.

“Oh, Annie,” Quinn said, as the doctor left. “I'm so fucking glad.

“Me too,” I croaked.

It was everything I'd hoped for.

ONE YEAR LATER

-Annie-

It was almost time to cut the cake.

Quinn and I had argued about that. He said that there was no need for any official cake-related ceremony, because it wasn't a wedding, but I disagreed.

For one thing, I wanted to be sure everyone got a piece. For another, I wanted to be sure everyone saw it.

More importantly, though, we had something to announce.

What better to do than let them know with cake?

I checked the time on my phone again, wincing as my hand ached a little.

I'd mostly recovered from the ordeal, but I still got twinges sometimes. I knew it could have been much worse.

Watching our guests crowd our living room, I grinned. Dan and Carol were standing just a little too close together, and their dogs were wrestling playfully at their feet.

When I'd first seen the interest they sparked in each other, I had kicked myself for not introducing them earlier. Two dog-obsessed people, older but not yet sixty, both kind-hearted and a little lonely. Carol had reported a few weeks after they met that she was taking her own advice.

I checked my phone again.

“Okay, people,” I called out, getting everyone's attention. “Everyone come on over here. Crowd around, please, crowd around.”

Quinn moved nearly instantly to my side, sliding an arm around my waist and lending his warm, solid support. I suppressed an embarrassing shiver – his touch still did amazing things to me.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said.

“No problem,” Hal called out. “Thanks for feeding us.” His wife, Sarah, elbowed him in the side, but we all laughed.

“You're welcome,” Heather said, dryly.

“Yeah, thank you so much, Heather,” I said. “The food is amazing. Everyone, stop by Heather's place.”

There was a lot of laughter and agreement.

“I made the cake,” Heather said. “I do weddings, funerals, and bar mitzvahs.”

“Yeah, yeah, enough,” I told her, sticking my tongue out at her.

I didn't truly mind. She was just trying to annoy me, and I was so fucking happy that I was around to be annoyed.

The warmth and safety and joy in the company of my friends threatened to overflow into tears, but I held myself together. Not dignified.

“It's time for cake, but I have something to say once we're all eating, so don't go anywhere, got it?” I called. There weren't even two dozen people in the room, so it wasn't hard to make sure everyone had heard.

The massive sheet cake was too big for the small crowd, but I don't think anyone was going to complain.

I picked up the bowl of homemade peanut butter dog biscuits first, handing them to Carol to pass around. Everyone had brought their dogs, which crowded the apartment with their warmth and fur, not to mention their attitude.

Quinn gave me a knife before I had to ask for one.

That didn't surprise me even a little.

“It's so pretty, it's almost a shame to cut it,” I said.

That got another laugh.

Heather had done a beautiful job, just what I'd asked her for. A vanilla sheet cake, white icing, beautiful piped flowers and vines twining over it…

and right in the middle, in large, bold print, the words “I'M NOT DEAD.”

I busied myself with slices of cake and paper plates for a few minutes, handing them around before taking one for myself.

“I think a lot of you have guessed why we brought you here,” Quinn said, his voice carrying easily through the room. “We're so grateful to all of you for your help over the past year. The case against Shane is building nicely. I doubt the fucker will ever get free.”

“Good fucking news,” Owen said, raising his plate of cake like a beer for a toast. I'd gotten to know him and Hal and a few of the other guys from the site pretty well. I still didn't feel completely comfortable alone for long, and when Quinn had to go out of town for a few nights, Owen slept on my couch.

“So, there's more,” I said.

“We're engaged,” Quinn said. “As of a few days ago.”

The men in attendance seemed amused at how much squealing and hugging tapping-of-feet that all of the women felt compelled to do.

They contented themselves with manly nods of approval and firm handshakes. Hal was overcome enough to give Quinn a slap on the back.

Men.

I stole a few treats from the bowl Carol had abandoned and tossed one to Quinn. We each whistled, and Urso and Dragon ran over, sitting and waiting for the treats, tails wagging, tongues flopping.

The department had officially retired Dragon a few weeks after Shane's arrest, allowing Quinn to purchase him for a token fee. Nora Allen had delivered him along with news of her promotion.

I privately thought that it was their version of apologizing, but Quinn was just happy to get his dog back.

“Thank you all for coming,” Quinn said. “Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to kiss my fiance.”

He pulled me into his arms and I tilted my face up to him. With his body against me, I felt safe and protected.

When his lips found mine, I surrendered utterly.

It wasn't the most passionate kiss we'd ever shared – we were in public, after all – but it still left me flushed and nearly gasping, wanting nothing but the firm press of Quinn against me.

I knew that as soon as our guests left, we'd chase each other up the stairs to our bedroom and fall all over each other.

“I love you,” I whispered, ignoring the teasing of our friends.

He pressed his forehead against mine for a moment, meeting my eyes with his own green gaze.

“I love you, Annie Watson,” he said.

I was home.