Don't Let Him Get You

Chapter 18

  Once Kiara was somewhat calm, Ronan and Lillian allowed her friends to come in briefly to check on their friend. Everyone was glad to see that she was awake, but they were cautious around her because of the terrifying way she had gained consciousness. Lillian and Ronan told them to head home and let their parents know that everything was fine. They promised that they could all come over on Sunday to keep Kiara company. They reluctantly agreed to see her tomorrow and left after giving her a tight group hug.

Now, Kiara sat alone with her aunt and uncle, fiddling with her fingers.

Ronan gently held her small hand in his large one, letting his rough thumb graze her soft skin. "Sweetheart... we don't want to push you, but you have to tell us what's going on."

Kiara felt the familiar tension of tears building behind her closed eyes. She took a deep, shaky breath. Could she tell them about the stalker? What if his threat against Ronan was real?

"Honey, your friends mentioned the possibility of someone taking pictures of you and quickly speeding away. Why wouldn't you tell us about this?" Lillian leaned forward to see Kiara's face contorted in terror.

Tears landed on the sheets of the hospital bed. "I didn't think anything of it."

"Didn't think anything of it?! Kiara, someone was taking pictures of you!" Ronan's voice raised slightly. He had seen cases like this quickly escalate into kidnappings or worse.

"Don't raise your voice Ronan." Lillian tried to remain calm.

"I wasn't sure if the pictures were of me back then."

"Back then?" Ronan caught onto her phrasing. His question made her breath hitch.

"How are you sure now?" Lillian asked cautiously. She was afraid to hear the answer.

Kiara rubbed her tears away and felt the start of a headache. "Can we go home, please?"

Lillian sighed. "I'll tell Damon, maybe he'll agree to send you home, but he might want you to stay here to be monitored. I brought some new clothes for you since the police took your other ones."

Lillian left the room to find her co-worker and let a nurse know to help unhook Kiara if she was allowed to leave. Ronan watched his niece try to hold back more tears and reached out to pet her hair. He remembered that this always calmed her and reminded her of her dad.

"I'm so sorry." Kiara's voice wavered.

Ronan kissed the crown of her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for. We're gonna go home now and let you rest. Then we'll talk about what's going on and I want the truth, Kiara. Someone almost took you and we could've lost you. This is no time to keep secrets."

Just as Kiara was about to apologize again, a nurse walked into the room and let them know that she was here to detach Kiara from the machines and the IV. Once the nurse was done and left the room, Ronan helped Kiara stand and led her to the bathroom with a bag in his other hand.

"Get dressed and then we'll leave right away." He smiled at her encouragingly before closing the door.

Kiara carefully took off the hospital gown and let it fall to the ground. As she bent slightly to put on her pants, she noticed that her hip was bruised from how hard she fell to the ground. Once she was dressed, Kiara glanced in the mirror above the sink. She swallowed back a sob as she saw the dressing wrapped around her head slightly speckled with blood. Kiara noticed that they had to shave the side of her head slightly in order to stitch the wound. Just below her wound, her face was turning a dark blue and was scratched from the stone veneer of the house.