Broken and Powerful

Chapter 4

JEDA

Jeda had been alone in the make-shift hospital room for roughly an hour with an IV in her arm to give her fluids. Dr. Johnson tried to give her something for her pain but she claimed she wasn't in any and didn't need it. Instead, he just left the bottle on the counter next to her with a glass of water in case she did need it.

She had two broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder that he put back into place, and her fingers had been broken. There wasn't much he could do about her fingers now since there was so much scar tissue surrounding them.

He had spent an hour cleaning all of her wounds and investigating the bruising on her body. They didn't talk much after she got back from the X-ray except when he told her what he was doing.

She was now staring at the ceiling while her mind was racing and her body throbbing.

She wanted to ask Stefano why she was here but he never came back after his outburst.

Why would he bring her here? It's not like he cares about what Jerad did to her.

She remembered what Dr. Johnson said about it not being normal in their gang to harm women. They only hurt people from other gangs and left the families out of it.

She started to wonder what was in the shipments that they were willing to kill people to protect it.

All Jeda knew for sure was she had to get out of this place before she could find out. She was a sitting duck until Jerad eventually came back.

She didn't have a very high chance of getting out of here and she would be stupid to try. She couldn't even escape just Jerad, much fewer hundreds of men.

Where would she go if she did make it out of here? She had nowhere to go. No family. No friends. No way to contact anyone. She didn't even know where she was.

It would be pointless.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by the curtain opening and Stefano walking in. His eyes automatically snapped to hers and she looked back down on the forced habit.

"Why do you hardly ever make eye contact?" Stefano asks in a silent voice and she just shrugs her shoulders. She saw him getting closer to her until he was next to her. "Use your voice."

The intenseness of his voice forced her to answer. "It's a sign of intimidation. Unless told to do so, I never do."

"Is that what Jerad told you?" His voice laced with malice. She simply nods her head. "Look at me."

Slowly she raises her chin and moves her eyes until they connect with his stunning emerald ones. They just stared at each other for a few minutes before she broke the silence.

"Why am I here?" She asks and he blinks as if snapping out of his thoughts.

"Jerad had a meeting and wanted you out of the house," He says and she shakes her head.

"That doesn't make sense," She tells him and he raises an eyebrow in a questioning manner for her to explain. "Why would he send his boss to watch over his girlfriend while he has a meeting for the boss?"

He smiles at the realization of how stupid his lie was and chuckles lightly to himself. When he looks back up and tries to make eye contact she put her eyes back down. He reaches out towards her face but she flinches away from him.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Jeda." He tells her while pausing, his hand still a few inches away from her cheek. When she relaxes a little he puts his fingers under her chin and lifts it until they make eye contact again. "I'm sorry for raising my voice earlier. I didn't mean to direct it at you."