BK 2 - Chapter 22 - Kitty's Tears
Emergency personnel arrived at Ronaldo's apartment a few minutes after Kitty and Aiden left. At first, they thought he was dead. When they checked his vital signs, they felt a pulse, but it was weak. They quickly wrapped his wounds to try and stop the bleeding before putting him on the stretcher.
Marlena had been an EMT for over ten years and had never seen anything like the wounds on Ronaldo. When she saw the missing fingers, her first thought was that someone had cut them off, but the edges weren't clean like a cut; they were ragged as if they were torn off.
She had assumed the wounds from his chest to thigh were from a knife, but on closer inspection, Marlena wasn't so sure. They were perfectly spaced and uniform. If she didn't know any better, she would think he had gotten attacked by a large animal.
"Floyd, what do you think happened to this guy?" Marlena asked as they picked up the stretcher to load him into the back of the ambulance.
"I don't know, but whatever it was, it doesn't appear to be human. It'll be interesting to see what the police find out." Marlena got into the back with Ronaldo while Floyd drove.
Detective Kason Clark walked into the apartment, looking at the pool of blood on the couch and the floor. He didn't know what happened, but whatever it was, Ronaldo was lucky to be alive. As soon as the officers arrived at the scene, they realized it was going to be out of their league, so they called Kason.
As he walked around the messy apartment, he noticed the rope on the couch and more on the floor. Kason assumed the assailant used those to tie up the victim. The apartment was in too much chaos to know what was evidence and what was Ronaldo's mess.
Kason saw a large clump of golden hair on the ground and wondered if Ronaldo had a cat. He saw no signs of one, but that didn't mean anything. He decided to let the crime scene investigators do their work while he went to check on Ronaldo. The best way to find out what happened would be to talk to the victim himself.
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Ronaldo heard a loud beeping, and he closed his eyes tighter as the sound felt like it was going to penetrate his head. He could hear voices talking, and for a minute, he thought he was in his apartment. When he remembered the girl and the lion, he quickly opened his eyes but regretted it instantly.
The lights were so bright that he had to squint to make anything out. When his vision cleared, he realized he was in the hospital, and the voices were doctors and nurses. One of the nurses noticed his eyes were open, and everyone crowded around the bed.
"Ronaldo, can you hear us?" He nodded. He was trying to get his thoughts in order even though his brain felt jumbled. He knew he couldn't tell them the truth. No one would believe him anyway, but more importantly, he didn't want the lion to come back and kill him.
"Can you talk?"
"Yes," Ronaldo said in a whisper.
"I'm Detective Clark. Can you tell me who did this to you?" Kason asked him, hoping he would be able to shed some light on what happened. Ronaldo noticed the man off to the side that wasn't in scrubs.
"I don't know. They took me by surprise, and the next thing I remember is waking up here." Ronaldo suddenly felt the pain in his chest where the lion had scratched him, and when he brought his hand up, he saw it had been wrapped in bandages. He started screaming in pain.
Kason watched as Ronaldo screamed, and the medical staff gave him something for the pain. As he fell asleep, he knew he would need to come back later; Ronaldo was too out of it to be of any help.
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Kitty and Aiden passed the ambulance down the street from Ronaldo's apartment. They weren't worried about him turning them in. Who would believe that a lion attacked him? He also wouldn't want to get in trouble for kidnapping.
They drove back to their apartment in silence. Kitty was trying to get the image of all that blood out of her mind. Aiden was worried about her and how she was acting with everything that had happened. He knew it would all catch up to her, and he wanted to be there when it did.
When they got to the apartment, Aiden called and ordered some sandwiches to be delivered. They showered together, and Aiden gently washed Kitty's long hair. She'd never had anyone do that for her, and it felt amazing.
Their food was delivered a few minutes after they got out of the shower. Neither had barely spoken a word. Kitty was the first one to break the silence.
"Are you mad at me?" She looked down at her sandwich, not wanting to meet his eyes.
"Why would I be mad at you?" Aiden reached over and took her hand.
"I had Harley attack that man, and I know you don't like to mess with humans." Kitty hoped he lived, not because she felt bad about hurting him. She wanted to make sure he delivered her message.
"He kidnapped you. He's lucky I didn't have Harley kill him. No, I'm not mad at you. I'm worried about you, and now I'm never going to want to let you out of my sight." She looked up into his eyes and saw how serious he looked.
"I was scared that I'd crossed the line and you would change how you felt about me. That man didn't hurt me, but when I saw him, I saw everyone who had hurt me. I wanted him to pay for all their sins." Kitty willed herself not to cry because she didn't want to appear weak.
Aiden saw her struggling to control her emotions, and it frustrated him. He wanted her to understand that crying and showing fear was okay. That didn't make her fragile in his eyes. He moved his chair next to hers and ran his fingers through her hair.
"I understand. Harley wouldn't have let you go overboard. If anything, he was ready to do more, but you stopped him. Look at me." She looked into his eyes, still trying to hold in her tears. "You can cry, Kitty. It will help if you let your emotions out. You will always be the strongest person I know; crying won't change that. You'll feel better getting it out rather than holding it in."
She listened to his words and couldn't stop herself any longer. The tears flooded out, and when Aiden pulled her onto his lap, she sobbed against his chest. She wasn't just crying for today but for years of heartache and pain.
He held her, rubbing his hand on her back. He didn't like hearing her cry, but he knew she needed it. Kitty had been holding so much in and not letting herself feel for too long.
When she finished, she was drained, but she felt better. It was hard for her to let go and show her true emotions. Aiden had been the only one to see some of her feelings, but she still tried to hide many of them from him. She knew he would never think less of her, but she was so scared of appearing to be a damsel in distress when that was the farthest thing from the truth.
"Do you feel better?" Aiden kissed her forehead and held her tight.
"Yes. I didn't realize how much I needed that. I never wanted to appear weak because that's when people know when to pounce on you. If I acted tough all the time, they'd leave me alone, but I'm afraid, Aiden. I'm scared of Ricky sending more people, and I'm worried I won't be enough for you, and you'll leave me. Those are my two biggest fears right now."
"First of all, you're more than enough for me. If you let me mark you eventually, you'll understand better about the mate bond. It's not like humans, where you can fall in and out of love with each other. The bond is stronger than that. We'll feel each other's pain and emotions. We won't only be connected as partners; it's more like we're united in mind, body, and soul." Kitty thought about what he said and was almost ready to let him mark her.
"I would tell you to mark me now, but I would still like to talk to Cat one more time. I want to know what to expect for the weeks I'm going through the changes. It will happen, Aiden, and you'll be stuck with me. Are you sure that's what you want?" She was playing with him as she ran her hand under his shirt along his muscular abdomen.
"Let me show you how much I want you." Aiden lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. He spent the rest of the day showing how much he loved and worshiped her. They knew Ricky probably wouldn't care about the message they sent, but they could breathe a little easier for now.
