Unconditional Love

Chapter Five

My eyes slowly blinked open, the bright light from the sun outside hurting my eyes. I groaned as I covered my eyes. I wanted the pain to go away along with the light. All I wanted was to go back to sleep and forget about everything that had happened.

I felt a soft hand stroking my hair back. Their fingers were running through my hair, gently comforting me. I felt the bed shift slightly and heard movement throughout the room.

"Don't worry, you can open your eyes now. I just closed the blinds so the sunlight doesn't come in as bright" I heard Josh say.

I slowly blinked until my eyes were open. True to his word, the blinds were, in fact, shut. I just looked around to see there was a nice couple who seemed to be around forty or so.

"Hello, Rose. I'm Josh's father, Ian, and this is his mother, Delilah. How are you feeling?" The man said.

"I'm tired and I want to go home," I said.

"Okay, we'll let you go home. Josh, help her get dressed and drive her back home. Report to my office when you get back," Ian said.

"Yes, father. Will do," Josh said.

I watched Josh's parents stand and leave the room. Josh walked over to me, carrying a bag of clothes. He set the bag down beside me on the bed.

"Where's Jessica?" I asked.

"She's already on her way home. Jackson and her got back from shopping and she was exhausted so she gave me your new clothes and Jackson took her home. Don't worry, she's safe. I also have a new phone for you," Josh said.

I carefully sat up with the help of Josh. He peeled the blankets away and I cringed at the sight of the bandage wrapped tightly around my calf. After thinking that I had only dreamed about the entire ordeal, the bandage was basically a slap in the face welcoming me back to reality.

I looked back at Josh to see him pulling out a pair of underwear from the bag. I cringed when I realized that I was only in the big, loose sweater that he gave me.

"Did you...? Did... Did someone...?" I started panicking, not being able to complete me though.

"No!" Josh said quickly. He seemed to catch onto what I was trying to imply without actually saying it. "The people here are very respectful and I trust them with my life. If I find out that any of them even attempted to take advantage of you I would end them that very second."

"Okay," I whispered.

Josh carefully slid my legs into the underwear and pulled them up as far as he could with me still sitting. He pulled out a pair of patterned fleece leggings from the bag and started to pull them up for me.

"Can you stand?" Josh said. He gripped my arms tightly as I moved to the edge of the bed. "It's going to hurt so just do you best. When you're standing you can lean on me."

I stood up and immediately wanted to sit back down. The pain was intense and I whimpered loudly. I blushed brightly as Josh quickly pulled up the leggings and underwear. When he was done I sat back down on the bed.

"My goodness! How aren't you in unbearable pain. I was only shot in the leg but you were shot in the stomach!" I said.

"I have a really high pain tolerance?" Josh said. It sounded more like a question than an actual statement. He turned to the bag and pulled out a black sports bra and black sweater and handed them. "I'll let you do this part to save you from even more embarrassment from being naked in front of people."

Josh turned so his back was to me. I pulled off the hoodie and put on the sports bra and sweater. Josh turned back around and bent down by my feet. He put socks and a pair of black combat boots on my feet.