Roses & Thorns

Chapter Twenty Four: Back Home

I woke up in a bed that wasn't my own which wasn't much of a surprise since I hadn't been in my own bed for the past two or three weeks.

However, this bed in particular felt even more amazing than the one I'd melted in at the lake house. The bed sheets were a light charcoal color that enveloped my entire body and the thick pillows surrounded my head.

I pushed up and squinted due to the natural light that pierced through the large windows and flooded the room. I was in someone's bedroom, on someone's king sized bed, with someone's large shirt covering my bra set.

There wasn't much personalized furniture within the slate gray walls of the room, but it helped to know that I wasn't stuffed into a basement.

A knock sounded on the door across the room and before I could respond it swung open and Hannah appeared. I felt the tense grip that I had on the sheets soften instantly and I was completely reassured of my safety.

She grinned when she noticed that I was alert, set the wooden tray that she'd been holding on the edge of the bed, then rushed to give me a tight hug.

"I'm so happy to see you!" She gushed.

"Really?"

"Yes, of course!" She released me. "I hated that Ashton found out we were in separate cars." Hannah handed me a banana and a bottle of water. "But not as much as Donovan hated himself for everything I assume."

"Should I eat?"

"Yeah, have a couple bites before I give you this pain killer. There's more food downstaires." She explained.

"Where am I?" I asked as Hannah crossed the room to open the blinds wider on each window.

"Donovan's room. We figured no one would disturb you in here."

I peered out the window and saw the cloudy sky tucked behind staggered buildings and roof tops. "We're in the city?"

"Yeah," Hannah smiled, "we're back home." She placed her hands on her hips.

Home? Now even I knew that was a lie because it was a foreign word to me. She had even said "we" as if I belonged in this picture. Any other time I would've rolled my eyes but Hannah seemed to believe those words so I just stared at her blankly.

"And before you ask, please don't worry about Lush right now. I just really want you to rest up. There's no more hiding and no more hostage situations. I promise." Hannah reassured though, again, I wasn't quite sure if I believed her. I trusted, her but I didn't know if I could believe her for this.

I moved to the side of the bed and grabbed the banana, taking a small bite.

"There're some clothes on that chair for you and and there's a towel in the bathroom as well." She pointed to the chair by the window and then to the doorway leading to the bathroom. "Come downstaires when you're ready to eat. If you're not feeling up to it then I'll bring food up here to you." I nodded and waited until Hannah left to head into the bathroom.

For the first time I felt as if I were more safe than usual. I'd taken an actual hot shower without fear of wasting the hot water supply or being rushed to finish. I was wearing clothes that were straight off the racks and still had tags on them. Maybe a white blouse and pants weren't seen as luxury items to some but they'd clearly cost a pretty penny and Hannah had gone out her way to buy gold jewelry as well for me.

It was all so new to me after everything I'd been through. Even walking through the penthouse apartment to the kitchen was a different feeling to me because I was free to know my current situation as opposed to all the other times when I was oblivious.

Hannah and Pharrah were being the island of the kitchen when I walked in. Pharrah was hovering over a waffle maker and Hannah was pouring a glass of cranberry juice.

"Have a seat Rosemary, Pharrah made waffles." She gave me the cranberry juice while Pharrah came to slide a few waffles onto my plate. Her expression was different than I remembered. She was a lot less enthusiastic. Maybe Donovan hadn't proposed yet.

"Thank you." I looked down at the food pleasantly surprised.

"Good morning." I heard a new voice enter the kitchen. Glancing over my shoulder provided a pleasant surprise as Donovan approached in a deep green shirt that gave him a warmer exterior than I was use to. My heart sped up with boarderline excitement from the sight of him, the same reaction I'd had last night when he rescued me.

"Good morning. Ashton called asking for you earlier this morning. Also, on an unrelated note, would you like coffee or tea?" Hannah leaned on the counter.

Donovan touched the back of my chair. "Coffee please." His back went to the two other women so that he could face me after responding. "How're you feeling?" He asked. He didn't look as if he'd been up all night even though I knew the drive from Ashton's had been a long one.

"I'm okay." I tried to avoid studying him too hard since I knew my mind would run wild from how close we were.

"The doctor's going to come see you today. Hannah will let me know how it goes."

"Where'll you be?" I asked as Hannah set a cup of coffee down for Donovan.

"I'll be here tonight." He answered reassuringly as if he knew I would feel more secure with him present.

"Donovan, stop distracting Rose from eating." Hannah insisted, staring down at her phone while leaning sideways on the counter.

Donovan chuckled and took a single sip of coffee then set it aside. "Call Ashton back and put all of Rosemary's stuff in my room." He told Hannah before grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl and heading out of the kitchen.

Pharrah was gone when I turned back from watching Donovan leave. Hannah followed my gaze at the empty waffle maker and smiled mischeviously.

"Today's her last day working for Donovan."

"Why?"

"Because you're all he's been talking about."

"I was kidnapped." I cocked an eyebrow assuming that common sense and sympathy were lacking in this equation.

"She's an idiot." Hannah shrugged. "Eat up. We have to see the doctor and get the rest of your clothes from the store."

I didn't want to see the shady doctor but if Donovan requested it then I had to go. What I wanted most however, was answers about everything that happened last night because I still wasn't sure about one thing: did Donovan actually care about me?