2 comments/ 24453 views/ 9 favorites No Real Monsters By: terowl What defines a monster? I've always wondered that. You see, I've met a few monsters in my time. My father was a monster. And I was married to a monster for 11 years. Oh, the men may have looked completely normal, but with what they did to people, their cruelty, the way they abused people, and treated them, they were monsters, I'm convinced of it. Human they were not. So, what is a monster than? Well, let me tell my story and how about I let you decide. As I said, my father was a monster. He abused my mother, both physically and mentally all while I was growing up. He also abused myself and my brother and sister. Did anything ever get done about it? No, we just kept on about our normal lives. This was what we put up with it was just the way life was for us. Messed up, I know, but we didn't know it could be different for us. We moved every three to four years with dad being in the military, nothing was stable everyone had messed up lives around us. What was normal? So as the three of us grew up we each found ways to escape from the hell we found ourselves in only to find ourselves in another. My personal hell was being married to a man much like my father. I knew how to pick them. Oh, he put on a good show at first, all dapper and proper. But then the show was over and I got the real deal after the ring was on. I was always taught divorce was wrong. You cannot leave, you have to stay. So I did, I put up with yet another monster for years. The pain destroying my very soul and then HE came along... I was working myself to the bone as usual. I am a nurse and work long hours to make ends meet you see. Well, my bastard of a husband had been laid off from his job and was sitting on his ass at home not bothering to look for a job. He'd been doing this now for a little over a year when I met HIM. The unemployment wages weren't enough for us to keep the bills paid. We'd already declared a Chapter 13 to keep the house and I was working overtime just to get some other bills paid. As I rushed out of the coffee shop with my Starbucks in hand, the one little luxury I afforded myself now, I nearly ran into the six foot tall man in front of me. I barely kept from doing so in time and spilling the hot chai latte down the front of my nursing scrubs. With a barely audible hiss, I looked up to see who I nearly had decorated with my cup of steaming tea, a chagrined look on my face. "I'm really sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." "No, that's alright. I wasn't paying attention either." The man's deep voice boomed. I'm short, only standing at five foot three inches and this man was very tall. He easily dwarfed me, but held out his hand and with a smile took my offered hand and instead of shaking it, he brought it to his lips and kissed it gently, his deep brown eyes twinkling slightly. Holding it still, he nodded to the cup I held and then to the Starbucks behind me. "Another satisfied customer I see. I too have to have my coffee every morning." I nearly blushed at the kiss to my hand. It had been a long time since a man had treated me like a gentleman. Longer still since one had flirted as this one seemed to be doing since he was being obvious enough to still hold my hand while talking to me. There was a part of me that wanted to pull my hand immediately away, I was married after all, and yet another part of me that enjoyed the little thrill and shiver that ran through my body from his touch. "I really enjoy their chai lattes," I answered almost shyly, the blush probably creeping to my cheeks now and able to be seen by the man. Oh what must he be thinking? "I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Jonathan Shepard, but everyone calls me Jon. And you are?" "Terri, Terri Scott," I managed to answer surprised he had given me his name. "Nice to meet you, Terri," he said still holding my hand as if he had forgotten he had been doing so. Finally, he looked at the hand he clasped and stroking it once, he let go of it. With a smile he held up a finger as if asking me to wait a moment. Reaching into his pocket, he fished for something before handing me a small card. "I don't usually do this, but just in case you get home and find that because of our near collision you may have something ruined or stained with tea, please call me. I would feel very badly and as if it were my fault." I was about to protest that seeing that the card contained his phone number and it was obvious from the business card this man was an attorney, in fact, when I looked at the card I realized he was one of the senior members to a firm downtown. I was suddenly glad I wasn't drinking my tea right then, I might have choked on it with that little discovery hearing him offering to pay my cleaning bill as he was just now doing. "I want to make sure that if there is anything that needs cleaned or whatever I'll take care of it. Just send me the bill." "You do realize I am wearing scrubs. They're designed to take stains and have them wash out, you know." He just waved my comments away pointing to the card again. "You may need the number anyway." There was something very insistent about him wanting me to have this card. I thought it a little strange, but then, it was also a little obvious he was flirting. So with his smile again, I gave him a return grin and pocketed the card giving him an assurance that I'd call if I saw any coffee or tea stains. As I was about to drive away from the coffee shop, I watched the man heading inside. A part of me hoped to see him again. I had no idea why, but there was something about that man that called to me. It was a pull that I simply could not explain. Pulling the card out from the scrub pocket I looked at his name and a smile crossed my lips. Definitely would like to see him again, those brown eyes were almost hypnotizing. The card was tucked neatly away into the scrub pocket again and promptly forgotten... No Real Monsters Ch. 02 Jonathan walked into the Starbucks his eyes more on the woman as she crossed the parking lot to her car. She was such a petite thing; her blonde head had only come to mid-chest on him. Shaking his head he noted that she got into the older Toyota Corolla, coaxing it to life. He watched her drive away before he finally realized he was standing in front of the barista and they had been patiently waiting for him to order his drink. Considering the line now forming behind him, he had the decency to look abashed before he ordered his usual black coffee and hurried on his way. His day at work was slow. Oh, he was busy enough, but the day seemed to drag by. He couldn't get that girl out of his head. Her deep green eyes, her pert little nose covered with freckles, and those hips! Even in the scrubs with her long hair pulled back into the ponytail she'd been a beauty. Gazing out his window overlooking the city below he pondered what she'd actually look like dressed up. "Earth to Jon... Jonathan!" It was the snapping fingers in front of his face that finally brought him back to the present. Swinging the chair around so that he was facing back toward his desk he looked at his brother. From the expression on his older brother's face he could guess that Dave had been trying to get his attention for a while and had not been succeeding. Running a hand through his black hair he offered a sigh. "Sorry, my thoughts were elsewhere." "Yeah, I gathered that. But do you think you could get back to the problem at hand here?" Shaking his head, David crossed his arms over his broad chest. The brothers looked much alike though they were five years apart. Dave was the oldest and never let Jon forget that. Jon was the taller of the two, though, by about two inches. They both had brown eyes, black hair and an almost linebacker's build. The two of them were partners at the law firm Shepard, Leggart and Fox, LLC. It had been named when their father had held a seat at the firm years ago and the name had never been changed. "Right, so, you were saying...?" Dave let out a heavy sigh as he realized that Jon hadn't been listening to a word he said. He stood up from the chair he was in and began pacing the room. A moment ago he'd been explaining the problems the clans were facing and his brother, his beta, was sitting, staring out the window daydreaming! With an exasperated sound he began again, "I was saying that we have evidence that vampires are impinging on our territory and we need to do something about it. Now, I gave a little more detail and I did mention that some of our scouts had brought back evidence and again went into detail but you...apparently have something on your mind?" He was obviously not pleased as his voice was tinged with anger as he said it. Rolling his eyes, Jonathan stood from his desk and walked to the windows looking out over the city. Once again his thoughts strayed to the girl from earlier. He was going to have to see her again or there was no getting her out of his head. Turning to his brother finally, he nodded to Dave. "Yes. So, I'll talk to the scouts and find out what's up. Okay? We'll set some extra watches. Put some extra guards out. If we catch these vamps in the act, we are within our rights to kill them, you know. They don't stand a chance against us." "Fine. Do that. And will you please pay attention? I don't know what's gotten into you today. You have never been this inattentive to things about the clan and right now with Marcia having a little one on the way soon..." Jon reached out and squeezed Dave's shoulder in reassurance. "I know. Your mate will be fine. I swear! We'll see to it, okay? If I have to stand guard duty myself, we'll see to it." He added that grin he knew would make Dave snap out of his fuss and of course it did. Soon David was grinning right back at him. Cuffing him lightly on the shoulder Dave laughed and shook his head. "Alright. I know you always keep the den secure. I'm just a worry wart right now. Can you blame me? One day you'll understand." Jonathan laughed right along with Dave and put his arm around his brother as they headed out of the office together. Even as the two of them left, Jonathan knew he would need to work on something else before he could truly concentrate as his brother asked him to. His attention was divided and he had to know why. Maybe Sasha, the old soothsayer back at the den could help him with his dilemma. ************** Terri sighed as she finally left work for the day. It had been a long day at the hospital and all she wanted was to go home and soak in the tub or at least take a hot shower. As she coaxed her old Corolla to life she doubted she would be able to have that. She had a feeling that when she got home it would be more of the same. Laying her head on the steering wheel she debated, not for the first time, not going home. She didn't stay like that for long. The last time she had laid her head on the wheel like that and had been there more than five minutes someone walking by had asked if she was okay. Learning her lesson, she now would only lay her head on the steering wheel a few moments before she went about her business. Looking behind her, she pulled out of her parking space and headed home out of habit. Once she was at home, she walked into the small house she shared with her husband. The futility of her life weighed down on her. She loved her job as a nurse. It was hard work, but she felt like she made a difference in the lives of her patients. But here, at home...things were different. "About time you came home..." came the accusing words, "I was about to go looking for you. I was sure you were out whoring with another man. You know you're mine!" The smack across her face was not startling. It didn't even phase her now. She took it in stride as she simply looked at him. No tears, she knew he would only beat her worse if she cried. Or he might beat her worse if she didn't. It always depended on his mood. "Don't just stand there! Get my dinner, bitch!" Another blow was delivered, this one to her stomach, and yes, it would probably bruise. A wince accompanied this hit, but he didn't see it because she was already moving to obey his order. Ah, how she wished she could just leave. But the last time she tried, he had found her and brought her back. She didn't even want to remember that time. The pain had lasted for nearly a month after he had finished with her. She fixed dinner quietly, trying to hurry and trying to be careful at the same time. He was a perfectionist, demanding a certain level of care be taken with his food. As happened many times when she made dinner, he came in before she was finished and began demanding it, saying she was taking too long. She didn't protest, simply hurried as he tried to deliver his usual torture, a kick here, a punch to the ribs there while she finished. Finally the dinner was done and on the table. He ate his supper leaving barely any for her though tonight it didn't matter. In one of his rare moods where he didn't care if she ate or not, once dinner was done, he immediately dragged her up the stairs. She protested this time. She knew what was to come and now she wanted no part of it. "No. Can't you just let me be? I made dinner...didn't you like it? I came straight home. Please! " Tears streamed down her face as she begged and pleaded with him to leave her alone, to let her go. He just laughed. With his head shaking, a leering grin he looked down at her. "I told you, you're mine. It's time to remind you of that!" Throwing her to the bed, he ripped off her scrubs. Another pair she lost to him. Now the bruises he always gave her showed. He was careful never to put any on her face, but they were everywhere else. And after tonight, there would be many more. He loved to watch her beg him, plead and cry. It excited him when she was at his mercy. And now, here she was on the bed cowering. But her tears were stopping. Another smack brought them back quickly enough. His eyes shown with cruel glee as he towered over her, his hand bruising an arm, gripping it too hard as he forced her to lay beneath him. "Who do you belong to, slut?" She shook her head, the tears coming faster as she denied this. Still she begged him to stop, pleaded with him to let her go even as the rest of her clothes were ripped from her body. It was too late she knew when he pinned her to the bed with his own frame and leaned down against her. His hands let go of her arms long enough to pull his clothes off, but she knew better than to run. The moment he had finished this, he pinned her beneath him again, his eyes still shining with that cruelty. "I asked you a question!" He slapped her face this time, the sting making her cry out. "You..." The words were barely whispered, but it was all he needed as his cock stabbed into her in triumph. The scream she uttered then was pure agony. He never made sure she was ready and he did this to cause her pain, to prove a point...because he could. This was not love. It was hell. She passed out before he finished... No Real Monsters Ch. 03 When she woke, Terri realized she was alone. The alarm was screaming at her and she groaned as she realized if she didn't hurry, she would be late. At least this would be a morning she would not have to worry about Mike adding more insult to injury after last night. She really didn't care where he had gotten to; that she had the morning alone was enough. Hitting the alarm off, she pulled her aching body out of bed and assessed the damage. Taking a breath, she stopped unable to take a deep one. He had broken ribs this time. Work was going to be hell today. Stepping into the shower gingerly, she hissed at the new bruises and the sensitivity of her skin under the water. There were fresh scabs too. It was a quick shower, it had to be, but she was at least clean. She pulled on a long sleeved shirt then put on her scrubs. Her hair was once again put into the neat pony tail. A last look into the mirror told her that no one but her would know what her body had endured the night before. Well, unless someone watched the way she moved today. Terri sighed and moved as quickly as she could to the dining room where she kept her keys on a hook, grabbed them and headed to her small car. At least Mike never messed with this. Of course, he had to let her keep her job, it kept him in his liquor and them in their house. He just ran everything else. And she let him. What else could she do? At work, the day was just like any other. She took care of her patients though she would have to ask for help from her co-workers for some of the harder lifting and such. The ribs just wouldn't let her catch her breath this time and she wasn't moving as fast as she should she knew. Stopping at the nurse's station, she leaned against the counter for what must have been the fiftieth time that day. "Terri, are you okay?" Lucy, one of the other nurses on the floor had been watching her all morning. She knew even if Terri had been trying to hide it all these years what the woman had been going through. Terri had come in one too many days with bruises barely hidden and that scared look that said 'battered woman'. "I'm fine," Terri lied as she always did, but the shortness of breath was unmistakable especially to a fellow nurse. "Bullshit! What did that bastard do this time?" Terri looked at Lucy in shock. She had always been so careful that the bruises didn't show, that she did her work harder than any other. How could Lucy possibly know? "Terri, we all know. We just didn't talk about it because you didn't talk about it. You have to leave him." Terri shook her head, the fear in her eyes unmistakable. "I can't. The last time I tried he nearly killed me." The words were barely above a whisper. Lucy immediately was at Terri's side and slipped her arms around the woman. At Terri's hiss, she stopped though. Her critical eye watched the woman and she shook her head. "How badly did he hurt you? I think you need to see a doctor, girl. You can barely breathe. Your lips are nearly blue. You look like you need to be in a hospital bed yourself." "I can't stop working..." Terri fought for breath. She just couldn't get enough air. Grasping the counter, she shook her head, the world going dark as she fainted. Lucy was close enough she caught Terri before the woman could fall to the ground and called out to others around her. Luckily the other nurses and a couple of doctors came quickly to her aid. Soon they had Terri settled into a patient bed as she explained what happened. Dr. Samantha Fox quickly took over and decided she'd be the one to take care of Terri. Based on what Lucy said, she listened to the lungs first and ordered an immediate x-ray. Shaking her head she looked at the other nurses. "I hope she doesn't have a punctured lung. But with the ribs broken, which is what it sounds like might have happened, and her working anyway, she likely does have one. There are no lung sounds on the left side. Get her to x-ray now! I want this looked at so we can get her taken care of before we have something worse than just a pneumothorax on our hands. Can't have one of our best nurses out, now can we?" Her words spurred everyone into action and the floor was suddenly moving in well precisioned order. Terri was quickly gotten to X-Ray as ordered and a chart was started for her as a patient. Very soon, the results were done and Dr. Fox was ordering Terri to the operating room to correct her collapsed lung. ************ Jonathan still hadn't gotten that girl out of his mind. He had just been too busy with things at the den to be able to do anything about it. Finally he had gotten the extra security in place like his brother wanted and everything seemed to be in order there. Now, he could concentrate on finding this Terri Scott since she had never called his firm. A few discreet checks got an address and the fact that she worked at the local hospital. He would have to talk to Samantha. She worked over there as well. Always nice when some of your clan had medical leanings and took to training at the local hospital in order to keep tabs on their young that way. Maybe Samantha would know about Terri since he got the impression she was a nurse by the scrubs she'd worn the day he bumped into her. Better yet, maybe he'd just go pay a visit to Samantha at the hospital. It had been a while since he'd talked to her and he could always use the excuse of beefing up security. With his mind made up, he left the office with a message for his brother that he was headed out to talk to Samantha regarding the recent issues they'd been having. Down in the garage he slipped behind the wheel of his Dodge Durango and headed out toward the hospital. It was a nice day out despite being cold. He'd always enjoyed the fall weather and this November day was proving to be a nice one. It was about twenty minutes later when he pulled into the hospital parking lot. The hospital wasn't huge, but it didn't need to be for their city. They weren't a large city and they were not that far from a rather sprawling metropolis of a city just to the north. Out here they didn't keep the very severely injured or sick cases, they sent them up north for treatment. But at the same time, there were many things they could take care of if the need arose. Jonathan parked his car and headed into the hospital. Knowing where Samantha's office was, he headed directly there, but was rather surprised by all the hustle and bustle on the floor where she typically worked. Pausing at the nurse's station, he looked around and asked the clerk what was up. "So, did I miss something on the way in? Did we get a really sick or injured patient or something?" The clerk cocked her head at Jonathan a moment. She noticed all the nurses were rather busy and then offered, "Well, one of the nurses suddenly took ill and Dr. Fox is now taking care of her." Jonathan nodded his head and looked around. "Well, when Dr. Fox has a moment, I'd like to speak with her if I may." "That may take a while. Dr. Fox just took the patient to the operating room. I'm not sure how long they'll be. " Just then Lucy came back down the hallway. Upon seeing Jonathan talking to the clerk she was surprised. She hid it well; however, when she slipped an arm around his waist and nearly purred in his ear. "Well hello, handsome. Never thought I'd see you here." Jonathan had to disengage himself from Lucy quickly. He offered her petulant look a longsuffering smile. Ever since he had bedded her once two months ago, she was convinced he was hers. To him, it was just a fling. He was still looking for his mate, but she was biding her time until he claimed her for his mate. He had no intention of doing that. "Hi, Lucy. I came to talk to Samantha actually." "Oh." Her face fell at that. "And here I thought you came to see me." He had forgotten that she was the reason he avoided the hospital. In his hurry to see if perhaps Terri did work here and Samantha may know her, he totally forgot that he avoided this place because of Lucy. Her clinging was more than enough to drive him away from a lot of places. "So, I understand Samantha is in surgery?" He decided changing the subject was in order. "Yeah. One of the nurses had a collapsed lung. She's draining it and making sure she's okay." Nodding his head in understanding, he looked around the unit at everyone scurrying about. Seemed like a bit of a fuss was made. He frowned slightly. "How did that happen on the unit?" "Well, it actually didn't. The girl has an abusive husband. She came in having been beat by him rather badly, broken ribs, that sort of thing. She tried to work anyway and it caused a punctured lung from what Samantha figured." A small growl was forming in his throat, but he fought to keep it down. Jonathan knew there were humans here at the hospital and he didn't want others to hear. How could a man treat a woman like that? Women were meant to be treasured, not beat up like that. "Please tell me she is pressing charges?" "Oh I doubt it. She's very afraid of the man. Said the last time she tried to run away he nearly killed her." Lucy was oblivious to the effect her words were having on Jonathan. She wasn't even looking at him now, looking instead where Dr. Fox was walking down the hallway from the operating room. Jonathan was busy trying not to growl loudly and trying not to see red. "She is doing much better now. We caught the pneumo in time to repair it. She'll be okay, but needs time to heal. Her body is just covered in bruises and you can see where she's had breaks before that have healed on their own especially in her ribcage." Samantha was talking to Lucy who was hanging on her every word. The concern for her friend was actually etched on her face. Lucy actually reached out and hugged Samantha. "Thank you! I'm so glad to hear she'll be okay. Do you think she'll actually listen to me and leave him now?" "I doubt it, Lucy. She is scared. But keep supporting her. She needs it, especially right now. It's going to take some time to heal." Lucy nodded and looked at Jonathan almost apologetically. "I'm going to see if she's okay. She'll want someone there when she wakes up. Otherwise knowing Terri, she'll try to jump off that recovery table and work again." With that Lucy was off down the hallway. Jonathan looked confused a moment, then looked to Samantha. "So, this nurse who was hurt. She wouldn't happen to be named Terri Scott, would she?" Samantha was about to ask why Jonathan was there. Then the question was asked and she simply looked at him. With that, she reached up and took his arm, guiding him toward her office. "Come on, we can talk better in my office. You obviously came here needing to talk about something and you have some questions." They went into Samantha's office. The office was a small room, just a desk and a couple of leather bound chairs as furnishings. Samantha shut the door as they entered, then the two of them settled around the desk. "So, you know Terri's name. What else do you know?" "I ran into her, literally, at Starbucks the other morning. Something...something about her has stayed with me. I can't get her out of my mind and it's causing me to not be able to concentrate on my duties." A small smile crossed Samantha's lips. To be young again. She shook her head with a chuckle, a hand moving up to brush at the gray strands of her hair. "I see. So you really know nothing about the woman then? Let me tell you about her. She has worked here as a nurse for going on five years now. She came to us desperate for a job already with her RN license. Apparently, her husband of about eleven years has kept her on the run or something like that. I don't know all the details, so you'll have to forgive me. Anyway, she had to leave her last job and didn't really have references. I sensed her good heart and gave her the job. I wasn't disappointed. It was Lucy who realized what was going on with her husband though. To say he is abusive is too simplistic. He beats her. She is always covered in bruises and has more wounds physically and mentally than I can count. Neither of us are sure beyond that what he does to her other than she is convinced she cannot leave him. Go easy with that one." Jonathan listened and as he did the growl started in his chest. The man had no idea what he was doing. You can't treat a lady like that! It wasn't right! The growl was intensifying as Samantha told him about what Terri's husband did, how he beat her and kept her scared. He didn't even know his eyes were red now and he was growling audibly. "Jonathan, you may want to calm down." There was actually amusement in Samantha's tone. If she had to say it, Jonathan was reacting to a mating call. But she could be wrong. She knew he hated when women were mistreated. "How can he do that! And you had to take her to surgery? To help her breath?" The anger was not going away, if anything it was getting worse. "Jonathan! Calm down!" This time it was said with a tone of authority. She really did not want to call Dave to get him to calm down, but she may have to if he didn't calm on his own. "She's okay! I was able to help her. She's fine now. I promise." "I want to see. I have to see." His voice was almost desperate as he said that. Against her better judgment, Samantha picked up the phone and asked if Terri had been transferred back to her room. Getting the affirmative, she nodded to Jonathan. Standing, she moved toward the door. Before she opened it however, she stopped, her body between him and the door, not letting him through. "I don't think this is the best of ideas. But I will be there, and so help me if you do anything to hurt this girl, I'll hurt you myself and don't think I can't, Jon!" There was a promise in her voice and a steel in her eyes. He simply nodded, heeding her words, knowing she meant what she said... No Real Monsters Ch. 04 Terri woke up with an IV in her arm. Looking around she knew something wasn't quite right, but she couldn't quite place it. The pain hit first, but it was dulled. She struggled to remember why things didn't make sense. Shifting slightly on the recovery bed, she alerted Lucy to the fact that she was awake. "Terri? Look, don't move too much. You've still got the broken ribs, although Samantha set those as best as she could. And now you have a chest tube. Are you hurting?" The concern in her friend's voice was genuine, she could hear it, but Terri was more worried about what Mike would do to her once he found out she wasn't bringing in her money like she was supposed to. She tried really hard to move out of the gurney. Her body would not obey her though. With a groan, only her right hand rose slightly and came down back beside her. "What do you mean chest tube?" she managed to get out finally. "You had a collapsed lung and went to surgery. You've only just woken up from it. Dr. Fox was able to get you stable again. You'll be in bed for a couple of days with those ribs. Now, are you hurting? She gave you a PCA." Terri glanced around her, seeing Lucy by her side and the fact that she was indeed in the recovery room off the surgical ward. With another groan, she murmured, "He's going to kill me." "He won't get near you here. We won't let him," Lucy stated bluntly, extremely sure of herself. One of the other nurses from the operating area nodded to Lucy. Lucy stood up and began to wheel Terri to another area. "There, we can move you over to the recovery ward now that you're awake. Soon we can take you to a room on the floor." Terri was starting to wake up more and more now and this time the groan she uttered was pain filled. Lucy stopped the gurney immediately and looked at her friend with a critical nurse's eye. She shook her head and reached over pressing the button on the PCA pump once. "You may not think you are, but I can tell from that grimace on your face that you're in pain. There, that will make you feel better. Now remember, you can't heal if you're in too much pain. You're a nurse, you know better!" Terri was about to protest but the pain medication made her very sleepy. She decided to doze for a little while. With the beating, the surgery and everything she really was worn out. She would let Lucy take care of things for a while and just relax. The next time Terri woke, Lucy was offering her ice chips. She was still in the recovery area and it struck her as odd considering the only time she'd ever been here before was to pick up patients to take them to their beds on the floor. At Lucy's behest, she ate some ice chips and let them melt in her mouth to moisten her lips and tongue. It actually felt good to do that, so she let Lucy feed her a few ice chips at a time until she had finished a whole cup. Once she had finished the cup, it was like this was what the nurses in the recovery room were waiting for as they came over and checked her vital signs once more. The nurse nodded to Lucy, writing a few notes on Terri's chart. She placed the chart on the end of the gurney. Lucy nodded back to the nurse and then looked to Terri. "Well, we can head back to your room now." With that, Lucy stood from the seat she had been occupying and with the help of one of the aides she wheeled Terri back to the floor. Once they were on the floor, they found the room assigned to Terri. She and the aide gently helped Terri back into the bed settling her with pillows as needed to make sure that she was comfortable. Lucy sighed and patted a pillow behind Terri. "I have to get back to work. I've taken a lot of time to make sure you were settled, but Dr. Fox wanted me to make sure you didn't pull your IV or PCA out." She gave a grin to her friend. Terri managed to look sheepish. She knew that had Lucy not been there when she first woke up in recovery and such, she probably would have pulled out the IV and tried to get out of the gurney. In this case, she would have undone all that work that Dr. Fox had completed too. With a wink at her friend, Lucy started to head out the door. Dr. Fox and Jon nearly bumped into Lucy as they came down the hall, intent on coming into the room to see Terri. Lucy wanted to stop and ask why Jonathan was going in to see Terri, but with Samantha there, she really didn't dare do so. There was a look at Jonathan that he didn't even see, one of jealousy, but Lucy went on her way to get back to work. There would be words later. Dr. Fox walked in first, Jon hanging back so that Terri couldn't quite see him. Samantha picked up the chart and offered a smile to Terri who lay in the bed and looked up at the doctor who had so kindly given her a job when she first came to town. She had been desperate for a job when she came to town and they couldn't look at her too closely or they would have known how Mike had come into her place of employment and nearly killed her and a co-worker. It was a nasty piece of work. He was still wanted there for aggravated assault and had forced them to move to this state in order to get away from the cops. "How are you feeling now, Terri?" "I'm...well, I still hurt, but it's better, thank you, Dr. Fox." Terri's voice was soft as she answered Samantha. A wince belied her words as she shifted slightly in the bed. Samantha shook her head. "You know I gave you a PCA pump. Use it. You'll be much more comfortable and heal better." Saying this, Dr. Fox moved over toward the IV pole and pushed the button for the medication so that Terri got her pain medicine. At that point, Jon stepped into the room more fully. He couldn't help himself, he was drawn to this woman and the more he was around her, the more he realized it. Terri was still paying attention to Samantha and didn't notice Jonathan coming closer to the bed. "I know. I just hate that it makes me so sleepy." "Sleep helps the body to heal!" Dr. Fox said with a small amount of amusement in her voice. She looked back to Terri and shook her head a little. "You can't expect to heal overnight with the injuries you took. You had broken ribs, which pierced a lung so one collapsed. I had to punch a hole in it and drain the fluid and blood out of it in order to fill it with air again you know." Nodding, Terri sighed heavily. It wasn't the first time Mike had hurt her so badly. It was just the first time she had collapsed at work like that. "I'm sorry I..." Shaking her head, Samantha stopped her. "You did not cause any trouble. You were hurt and now you're getting better. And do not worry about him. We take care of our own here. That includes you now." At that Jonathan had to speak up. "Yes, Terri, that definitely includes you." There was almost a growl in his chest as he said this. He had put two and two together as they talked. This person who had hurt here would not hurt Terri again if he had anything to do with it! Terri was surprised to see Jonathan there. She couldn't move fast, but the shock was evident on her face. Her eyes shifted to him and she gripped at the blankets slightly before a hand went to her hair, suddenly self-conscious of how she looked. With her blonde hair down around her shoulders for once and her green eyes watching him, she must really look a sight. "I...I never expected to see you again," she murmured. "I didn't even call you." The blush that crawled up her cheeks at the memory of their first encounter was funny considering all he did was spill her coffee. A hearty laugh was given at that comment. "I go where I am needed even when not called. And I am actually needed here. You need someone to keep this monster at bay and that's just what I'm going to do. My card did say I'm a lawyer if you'll recall." She began to shake her head vehemently. "I can't...he'll..." Her breathing began to get erratic and she was soon close to hyperventilating at the thought of doing anything to keep Mike from hurting her again. Dr. Fox was quick, she pulled a syringe from her pocket and injected it into the IV line. The effect was nearly instant. Terri calmed down and soon was asleep. With a slight shake of her head and a frown, she turned to Jonathan. "I told you to take it easy with her." There was a look on Jonathan's face that was full of confusion and yet something else too. It was almost a fury. How could someone strike that much fear into a person? What had he done? "Do you know where she came from before she came here?" "Yes, I do. I did some looking after I hired her. Discreetly, of course. I didn't want her to know that I knew her history. Her husband nearly killed her and an old co-worker of hers. Claimed she cheated on him before." "Oh." He looked at the woman he was beginning to think was his mate. The more he saw her the more he realized he didn't want to be without her. The more he wanted to be there to protect her and take care of her. "I want the information. I want to look into this so I can get to know her and what he did to her. I need to be able to take care of her if...if I'm going to be able to make this work," he said to Samantha finally. Samantha grinned. Yeah, Jon had it bad. When the mating bug bit, sometimes it bit hard. "Come to my office and I'll get you the information I found. I put it away so that no one else would find it. I didn't want her to know I knew and I didn't want any of the other staff to see it." Jonathan and Samantha stepped out of the room. As they went out the door, a lone figure slipped from behind the door where she'd been listening moving silently until she stood over the bed looking down at the now sleeping Terri. Lucy's eyes which had been so kind to Terri before had hardened toward the girl she had always called her friend. "Why you? Why did he have to pick you? I liked you!" There was now a distinct note of jealousy in her voice. "Well, we'll just see about this!" Lucy turned on her heel and headed out of the room a moment later... No Real Monsters Ch. 05 Terri woke some hours later with a distinct sense of dread. It had to be quite late now. She stifled the groan that nearly gave her away, not wanting to alert any nurses that may be right outside her room. Shifting in the bed, she winced, feeling her ribs protesting the slightest of movements. Dr. Fox had been right, Mike had done a number on her and she was going to regret moving, but if she didn't get home, he would come find her. She really liked this job and these people. There was no way she was jeopardizing the good thing she'd found here by making him come find her. Forcing herself to move slowly, she worked her way through the pain that made her want to scream. Silent tears fell down her cheeks as she finally made it to the edge of the bed. It had taken her fifteen long minutes just to move so that her feet were no longer in the bed and she was sitting on the edge and every single moment was pain-filled. Now the chest-tube was spitting out more blood-filled fluid into the little container sitting on the floor beside her and Terri ignored its tell-tale sign that she was injuring herself further with what she was doing. Grabbing the bars of the bed, she pushed herself to an almost standing position. That was the mistake. The pain was too much for her to bear. This time she did cry out. Her voice was able to be heard outside of her room and down the hallway as she nearly screamed in pain. It was enough for her to faint and fall to the floor. Nurses from the station came running to the room at the noise. Sarah shook her head when she saw Terri, tsking softly. Motioning to one of the orderlies, she got the now unconscious woman back into her bed. "Call Dr. Fox. She will want to know that Terri tried to get out of bed. She said to call her if anything like this happened." Sarah began to take Terri's vital signs to ensure no major damage had been done. She did note that the drainage in the chest tube container had increased and wrote this in the chart. "Hmm, hope she didn't tear some of her stitches out." With that, she resolved to stay by the woman's side and pulled up a chair. She motioned to one of the nurses and directed them to bring some of her charts to her. Once this was done, she settled down to do some charting while she waited for Dr. Fox to come in to see the patient. She was determined she wouldn't leave Terri's side until Samantha came in. ********** Jonathan's phone went off around three am. He answered it readily, not being able to sleep well tonight. His dreams had been plagued all night by some nameless dread. He couldn't quite see it, just that something had kept pulling Terri away from him and it kept him frustrated and mad all through his dream. Once Samantha's voice came across the phone, he was alert. Sleep was placed no longer a priority. He rolled over in bed, getting up as the doctor spoke. "You say she tried to get out of bed? Wouldn't that hurt her worse? I'm coming with you. I don't care. I'll be more careful this time and I won't mention him. But I'm coming." He hung up the phone and hurried into the bathroom. He wore nothing but his boxers to bed and it was easy to see that his large physique was all muscle. Stepping into the shower, he quickly got himself clean and shaved. Grabbing a towel he headed back into his room and threw on some clothes, a pair of jeans and a clean polo before grabbing his keys from his bedside stand to meet Samantha at the hospital. Jonathan pulled into the parking lot of the hospital about twenty minutes later. He hoped that Terri hadn't seriously hurt herself. What had she been thinking trying to get out of bed so soon? Honestly, he would have a word or two with that girl! Shaking his head as he stepped out of his car and shut the door, he met Dr. Fox as she walked up to the doors of the emergency department. They had arrived nearly at the same time and since these doors were always open, it was easier to just go in this way rather than getting buzzed in through the front. Nodding to Samantha, they headed through the automatic doors and took an almost immediate right down the hallway intent on the acute care wing. "Sarah is with her now. She wouldn't leave her side once she pulled that little stunt, so Terri hasn't been out of bed since she passed out." "She passed out?" Jonathan was more worried now and his voice showed it. Samantha smiled in spite of herself. Yeah, the wolf had it bad. Ah to be young again. "I'll check her out and see what kind of damage has been done. Sarah said that the drainage to the chest tube increased for a time, but has already slowed down, so that's a good sign. Her lungs remain clear which is also a good sign. I don't think she did any permanent damage." Turning to Jonathan, Samantha stopped him before they got too far down the hallway. She looked up at him. Tilting her head she paused as if studying him, obviously thinking about something. "Look, did you read through that stuff about her last city? Did you get what she went through before?" "Some of it. She has an abusive husband. He did this to her. I gathered that, yeah." His voice held a low growl. "Yeah, but did you see what he did to her at that hospital and how he nearly killed the other woman there? Did you see why she left? Why she came here scared that I'd check references? Why she came here with only the clothes on her back?" Samantha's voice held a hint of desperation. She had to make Jonathan understand why Terri was terrified of Mike and why she had tried to crawl out of her bed even as painful as it had been. It was something that Jonathan needed to know and needed to see before he pushed things to a point where he wounded her further without meaning to. She could tell that he was thinking; that he was really working to understand what she said. "I think I'm beginning to see. That other nurse at the last hospital had nearly convinced Terri to leave him, huh? She was going to finally get out from under his thumb and in exchange for it; he just about killed the both of them. So she left. She left so that other girl would live." His voice got louder and angrier as he spoke. Samantha shushed him, subtly reminding him that they stood in the middle of a hospital hallway. Nodding, she began the walk to Terri's room again. Now that he understood, he would be able to help Terri with what she was sure was going to come. Samantha had no doubts that Mike would come to the hospital to get Terri. It wasn't a matter of if; it was a matter of when. The two of them walked into Terri's room just then to find Sarah still seated near the bed. She was calmly writing her nursing notes into the various charts that were scattered around her on the bedside stand that she used for her table. Looking up at hearing the footsteps, she paused in her writing and nodded to Dr. Fox and Jonathan. The pen was placed into the chart she was working on to save her place and she moved toward the two of them. "Terri seems to have stabilized. She hasn't woken since her attempt to get out of bed. Her vital signs have been stable. The chest tube drainage is less bloody now and has decreased in quantity. The one thing I can't be sure of is whether or not she has pulled any stitches internally. Externally everything seems fine. Her lungs continue to sound clear and there are no muffled or missing sounds to the side with the chest tube. I haven't needed to give her any pain or sleeping medications." Samantha nodded at the nurse's report, pursing her lips. She moved over to the girl in the bed pulling her stethoscope from around her neck and listening to her lungs for herself. After making sure the lungs were okay, she checked on other areas. Taking Terri's pulse and respirations next, she nodded to herself and turned back to Sarah. "Thank you. I think for now we can safely say she seems to be fine although she certainly tried to scare us all. Please keep a very close eye on her for the next 12 hours. As long as everything remains stable and her chest tube drainage shows no further increase or gross amounts of blood, I think she'll be out of the woods." Sarah nodded at the orders and pulled out Terri's chart. She handed it to Dr. Fox. Samantha proceeded to write her orders into the chart including a few changes to medications for Terri, than gave a nod to Sarah. With that done, Samantha and Jonathan walked out of the room and headed toward her office. Once in Dr. Fox's office, she motioned for Jonathan to sit and then grabbed a couple bottles of water, handing him one. Settling into the chair behind her desk she sighed and looked at the man sitting across from her. She studied Jonathan for a time almost as if she were sizing him up and he actually was kind of uncomfortable with it. "What?" "Do you realize that you are feeling the mating call right now?" Jonathan's face looked like he had been smacked by hammer. The bottle of water was totally forgotten and he almost dropped it. The water splashing up onto his hand made him remember it was there and he caught it before it went to the floor. Setting the bottle onto the desk he swallowed hard. "And...what makes you say that?" "The way you act toward Terri. You growl when anyone gets near her. You're suddenly overprotective and you don't even know her. You're asking all kinds of questions about her. You had to know if she was okay, demanded to know if anything happened to her. She's married, Jonathan!" The growl sounded at those words. How dare she say that? Terri belonged to no one but him! Okay, now where did that thought suddenly come from? His hands came up and rubbed his face slowly. "I don't know what has come over me. I've been meaning to speak with Sasha back at the den about it. But I haven't had time. David has been having me work double to keep up watches and then...this." He just waved toward the hallway. Samantha gave a grin at his statement. Settling back into her chair more comfortably she put her feet up on her desk and actually chuckled. With a shake of her head she took a long drink of her water and began to laugh. "Like I said, Jonathan, she's your mate. Your reaction to my statement gave you away you know." She shook her head at him. "How long have you waited? The problem is the abusive husband and getting her to leave him." Again, the growl sounded deep in his chest. That this man could treat her like that! It tore him up inside that someone could hurt her and yet at the same time made his hackles rise. He wanted to tear this man limb from limb to protect Terri. He was about to say something when a scream from down the hall captured both of their attentions. It wasn't Terri's voice, of that much Jonathan was certain. They hesitated only a few seconds before they both rushed out of Samantha's office and headed in the direction of the scream. What greeted them in the hallway was enough to take their breath away. Samantha knew the man from his photos in the papers at the other town. Jonathan looked to her for confirmation of what he suspected. This was Mike, Terri's husband. He had gone into Terri's room, knocked Sarah out and ripped the woman from the bed. The chest tube had been pulled out, as had the IV with no regard for her well-being. Mike didn't even seem to notice Terri's weight as he stepped back into the hallway intent on heading out of the hospital. Seeing Jonathan and Samantha made him stop short and he hissed suddenly, his eyes flaring red for a second. A pause, that's all it took, Samantha knew they were dealing with a vampire and things snapped together. Why Terri had managed to survive, why she never could leave him, how he controlled her, everything. She was sure Terri wasn't a vampire, but Mike had her pretty well glamoured for her not to know. "Jonathan, Mike's a vampire. He came here as part of the group to hit the den!" Jonathan kicked into action then. Mike would die. He'd explain it to Terri later. The girl didn't belong with that vampire, she belonged to him! He moved to flank the vampire while Samantha shifted her stance, trying to keep Mike's attention on her. Samantha had to get Mike to drop Terri, that was her whole goal. She moved first to his left and shifted just her hand, growing long claws. Mike watched Samantha, his attention on her as she wanted. While her attack failed, Jonathan's did not. Jonathan was able to shift fully and came up behind Mike catching him off balance. With two wolves on him, the man realized he didn't have an advantage. Mike dropped the girl, figuring his life worth more than her. Let the bitch die this time! He took off running through the only opening he saw, back through Terri's room and out the window there. Breaking the glass, he was gone in seconds. Jonathan chased him as far as the window, but stopped when he heard Samantha calling to him. She needed help with Terri and that was the one thing he wouldn't leave behind. With a last growl out the window, he shifted back to his human form and moved into the hallway again. Samantha was busy. Mike had done a great deal of damage this time. Since he tore out the chest tube, Terri was bleeding heavily and her lung had collapsed again. "We have to get her to Sasha, Jonathan. I think she's beyond my healing this time. I only just got the bleeding to stop and I'm not sure for how long." Jonathan nodded and grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. He dialed a number and spoke a few words into it. Shutting it again, he leaned down and gently picked up Terri. "My car is fastest. David will have Sasha waiting for us."