Read the first chapter of, My Charming Protector.

My Charming Protector

Chapter One





Monday, 10:15 p.m.

Drifting clouds covered the crescent moon, making the night darker than normal. Shawna Thomas parked her car in her space and quickly got out. She closed her door and pressed the auto lock on the handheld device that was connected to her key ring and dropped it into her purse as she headed towards her condominium. The wind blew whipping her hair around in disarray in the same pattern as the leaves as they swirled up and around her as she breathed in the salty scent of the ocean a half a mile away. The creak of the trees and bushes as they bent with the force of the wind made an eerie sound in the night. She shivered realizing the nights were getting colder as winter took hold.
Shawna was exhausted and couldn't wait to get in out of the cold and she reached into her purse unclasping her house key from a leather strap to have it ready for when she got to her door while looking around making sure no one lurked in the shadows. She had never been afraid of the dark, or of being alone, but lately she had a disconcerting feeling of being followed and watched. She never confided in anyone about her feelings, because she was already having problems with her father, who wouldn't listen to her about her concerns for company security.
Breathing deeply she tried to relax her tense muscles, glad to be home earlier than normal. She usually made a habit of staying at work until after midnight. She got more done with no one around to interrupt her, but tonight she was exhausted and was looking forward to soaking in a hot tub and enjoying a glass of wine and letting the stresses of the day go. She had worked the whole weekend without any time off doing her own job and spent the day hustling on paperwork for her father and Mitch, so their deals ran smoothly. Shawna wasn't happy to learn that Adrian, their assistant was on vacation this week and hadn't replaced herself which left Shawna to pick up slack. Not one to complain, she just did what needed to be done, so everyone would be happy.
It was almost too dark to see where she was going when she entered the courtyard next to the pool. She frowned in annoyance, realizing that the lights out. She'd have to file a complaint with the association. Even the light in the passageway leading up the stairs to her condominium was off, leaving the whole area in total darkness. The unit beneath hers was empty, so there weren't any lights from the windows to light her way and the other patrons' units were too far for their lights to do her any good. She turned on the tiny flashlight she kept on her house keys to give her a little light to make her way.
Her feet hurt, so she took her heels off and carried them up the stairs to her home then accidentally dropped one at the top of the stairs and knelt down to pick it up. She heard something down in the court yard and on the stairs, but her light didn't shine that far, so she hurriedly stood up and poised her key where the knob should have been and realized that her door was already open. Scared, she rushed inside and tried to close the door behind her, but whoever it was on the stairs shoved the door open and knocked her down. She screamed as she fell backward, then moaned in pain as her head hit the entry floor where she suddenly saw stars. She groaned as she looked around seeing the light on in her second bedroom where her office was, giving her just enough light to see a shadow of a man inside, then was unexpectedly jerked up by the person from outside wrenching her shoulder.
"Ouch!" she cried.
"Shut up, you bitch!" Her cry angered him and suddenly he threw her back down onto the floor and grabbed her neck and struck her hard in the face with his fist. Shawna screamed and tried to wiggle out of his hold, but instead of getting away, she was yanked back and literally choked. She coughed and suddenly couldn't breathe as his hold on her tightened. She didn't want him to hurt her anymore, so she stopped struggling.
"Please ..., can't ... breath," she choked out in desperation. He let go and kicked her as he laughed at her. Shawna covered her face and rolled in a ball to help protect herself from his abuse.
"What the hell is going on in there?" Shawna heard the other man yell in frustration. "Keep it down, or we'll have the whole complex here."
"I hit the lottery," the man over her snickered, "I get her first." Shawna felt the man over her touch her back as he knelt down over her.
"What?" Shawna heard the second man's voice a little clearer as he must have come out of the office." Shawna felt repulsed at being touched by the creep and tried to get away from him, she tried to see who the second guy was, but he disappeared into the office again.
"The bitch came home early."
"Leave her alone, we need her to tell us where it is." He shouted, breaking glass could be heard as he trashed the room he was in.
"What do you want?" Shawna asked in a small voice, hoping she could just tell them what they wanted to know, so they'd leave. She felt dizzy and could actually feel her face start to swell where she had been struck. The man who hit her laughed.
"Tell us where you have the discs, the ones that have the security codes on them."
"I don't have them."
"You lie!" he yelled. Shawna cringed as he stood over her. "You won't live through the night little lady, you're mine, if you can't deliver what he wants." Shawna couldn't see what he looked like, it was still too dark, even though the office light was on. What she did see of his face was contorted as if he had on a nylon over his face. He came closer, but she scrambled to the open door and screamed, but she was yanked back like a rag doll. The beating she took could have lasted a minute or for an hour, she didn't know as she blacked out. When she did come to, she tried to move, but everything about her hurt. She tasted her own blood as it ran into her mouth from her nose. She could barely move, the injury to her shoulder made her think it was broken, but when she tried to push herself up, she cried out as white hot pain shot up from her wrist making her realize that her wrist was broken for sure.
Nothing in her life prepared her for what she was being subjected to. The beating continued as he kicked her legs, sides and stomach and even kicked her head when she brought her knees up to protect herself.
She called out for help hoping that someone was outside who could hear her cries. She sobbed as tears streaked her face and fear clenched her entire being. She tried to get away again not caring that she was hurt, She had no idea why she didn't just give up, she couldn't fight him, she just hoped that he'd soon lose interest.
Her attacker suddenly stopped and twisted her around to her back and held her down with his body, he pushed his hips into hers and laughed. The smell of his body odor and his acrid breath made her gag. His strong after-shave added to her nausea. Her assailant's face was distorted by the nylon he wore adding horror to what was going on and she knew she'd never forget how he looked. She whimpered feeling herself drift off, but she came to seconds later as he groped her. He unbuttoned his pants and she began to cry knowing what was going to happen. She screamed at the top of her lungs as the man fumbled with her clothes calling for help, but his hand covered her mouth to keep her from making any more noise. His other hand grabbed at the buttons on her pants breaking the threads that held the buttons in place and yanked them down.
"You make another sound and I'll kill you now." Shawna knew he was going to kill her anyway and when he covered her mouth again she bit hard into his calloused hand drawing blood. He yanked his hand back hard and then back handed her.
"What the hell, man! We need to find out where the discs are. Has she talked yet?" The man who had been in the office came out, yanking the other man off of her.
"No!" The attacker grated as he stood up. "She said she didn't have them. She'll talk when I get done with her." He laughed.
"No, she'll talk now, and you'll leave her alone."
"No way," the man who attacked her postured and hit the second man. Shawna thought that the second man would go down since he was smaller and thinner, but he just stood there like a brick wall. He took a gun out and pointed it at the attacker.
"Try that again, and you'll be buried where no one would think to look. I hired you to help me, and you're not helping." Shawna watched realizing that her attacker was on the slow side. The man with the gun continued talking. "Now, we have a job to do and she is not to be touched anymore. Am I clear?" Shawna was amazed at how the attacker backed down. It was obvious who was in charge. During their exchange Shawna had inched her way towards the open door. She knew she couldn't run, but she'd scream and draw anyone's attention that she could. "Where do you think you're going?" The small guy with the gun asked, he pointed the gun at her. She stopped trying to get to the door, but he looked out as if something caught his attention. "I hear people out there." He looked at the bigger man. "You moron, you should have closed the door." The attacker leaned down and picked up her purse from the floor ignoring him, he took her cash and the key to her car. "What are you doing?"
"You told me, I get her car."
"Look, Shawna, if you don't tell me where the discs are, I'm going to let my friend here have a go at you, he won't stop until your dead, or begging to be dead, so tell me where they are."
"You know me?"
"See, the important thing is, that you don't know me," he told her with a laugh, "Now, just answer the question."
"It's at work, in a safe."
"You have a copies here. Where are they?"
"They're not, here." She cried, barely able to talk.
"Next time I'm not stopping my friend here. I've had it up to my eyeballs, with your know it all attitude."
"I get to be the one to put you in your place," the attacker said, as he came towards her with a disgusting snicker, you dream about me, you hear?"
"A real man, wouldn't resort to beating and raping a woman. Didn't you know that?" Shawna said, with sarcasm. She didn't know where she gained the courage to say aloud what was in her mind knowing it would provoke him, but she was glad she did. If he was going to kill her after whatever atrocities he planned to do, at least he'd have those words to chew on.
“Shut up, I'm a real man!" he lost control and smacked her hard across the face. "You're just like the rest, and I'll shut you up just like I did them. One day soon, you'll know exactly what it's like for a man to take you, I'll be your last one," he promised.
Shawna used her good hand to push herself up and in doing so, her hand brushed up against her high heel. Her fingers curled around the shoe. With strength she didn't know she had, she scrambled up, screaming like a mad woman and swung the heel hitting the man's surprised face. A deep sense of satisfaction poured through her when he howled in pain grabbing his face. Blood streamed down dripping down the front of him and through his fingers.
“You bitch! ... Damn!” The language he used, came out in an angry rush. "It's already broken ..., damn it to hell." Pain shot out from her shoulder as he grabbed her and kicked her with his pointed boot. With every ounce of breath left in her she screamed, hoping and praying someone heard her. The other man hit her face effectively shutting her up. She rolled up in a ball to protect herself from the abuse they inflicted on her. Suddenly something very heavy dropped on her and everything went black.

The two men ran down the stairs and hid in the bushes just as a security guard rushed into the court looking around. They stood quietly as the man shined his flash light around and as he came around to their side of the court yard, Shawna made a whimpering noise. The security guard rushed up the stairs and went into her home.
"We could have taken him."
"Shut up!"
Suddenly the couple who lived across the pool area came around, the man held a gun.
"Dan, is everything okay?" The man yelled up the stairwell to the security guard.
"No, Shawna's been hurt. I just called the police, come on up and be with her, I'm going to look around."
The men were trapped in the bushes and waited for the couple to go up the stairs, then they suddenly took off. The woman screamed as she shined her flashlight back and caught sight of them. A gun shot out in the dark hitting the building.
"Oh, my God, they're shooting."
The burglars got to the parking area and the smaller man couldn't believe that the alarm on Shawna's car went off.
"Ha, there it is." The large man said, he ran to it and jumped in.
The smaller guy stared in disbelief at the guy and went on to his own car. He didn't want to get caught, already the whole night was a bust. They almost got caught and they still haven't gotten what they came for. He'd never work with this guy again. His anger simmered, the idiot was going to pay for his actions. Too much money was on the line for that kind of nonsense.

Tuesday, 6:10 p.m.

In a dream, she heard voices, until now she had not been able to open her eyes, but even still her eye lids were heavy and it took a few minutes to force them open. The lights in the room blinded her sensitive eyes and she closed them again. She tried to move, but her body was like a dead weight and pain pulsated through her. She tried to open her eyes once again as she whimpered in pain.
“I see you are coming out of it, "a female voice said, in a soothing voice. "I'm so glad, what a relief. Hey, Jeffery, can you please let the doctor know that she's waking up.” Shawna heard focused on the female voice that sounded as if it came out of a long tunnel. She blinked trying to get her eyes to focus. At first everything was foggy and blurred. She tried blinked her eyes to clear her vision, but only one came open. Slowly everything came into focus. She was in the hospital, there were two nurses doing whatever nurses did with the complex machinery that surrounded her. Wires and tubes were connected to her in various ways. She coughed when she tried to talk.
"What's going on?" Her question barely came out in a whisper, her throat hurt.
"Shhh, you've been in a coma."
“How'd I get here?" She asked, with persistence, between coughs. Her throat was dry. "Drink." She asked. She realized that she had oxygen tubing at the base of her nose as she moved her hand over her face. She touched it then tried to relax as the nurse's aide came back with a cup and gave it to the nurse.
"Have an ice chip, that'll help." Shawna accepted the ice chip and let it melt in her mouth. "My name is Jane Whitaker. I'm your nurse tonight and this is Jeffery, your nurse's aide. He'll be helping me."
"What happened? Why am I here?"
"You were assaulted. Do you remember anything at all?" The nurse asked.
Shawna tried to think. "Just images that don't make sense, why would someone attack me? I went home then ..." She shook her head as tears fell down her face. Images and shadows of memories came to her, but nothing made sense.
"I'm here if you want to talk, but first let's get you feeling better."
"I hurt so bad, my whole body is throbbing."
"After what happened to you, it's to be expected. You are lucky to be alive. Would you like to sit up a little?"
Shawna nodded as looked at the nurse who was working the controls of the bed, she had kind gentle eyes. A dark distorted face came to mind, being thrown on the floor and then kicked. More tears slid down her face as her memory began to clear.
"You remember, don't you?" Shawna nodded at the nurse, unable to speak as the woman stood by the bed and held her hand in comfort. “Try not to worry about it now, you need to think about getting better." She let her hand go and helped put a pillow under Shawna's head. "The controls are here." She explained as she showed her how to use them.
“How long have I been here?” Shawna asked, as she tried to sit up a little more. Dizziness assailed all of her senses. She lay back again, closing her eyes as nausea hit.
“Whoa, young lady, you had better rest for a while. You’ve been through hell and back," the doctor said, as he came into the room. "You came in late Monday night. It‘s now Tuesday evening.
“Will I be okay?” Shawna grimaced at the pain when she tried to moved, but couldn’t. He came up to her and examined her eyes with a small light then wrote something down on the chart he had put on her tray table. His hair was black, with a smattering of gray on the sides.
“With some time and a lot of rest, you'll be fine. My name is Dr. Daniels. You gave us a scare, young lady, we almost lost you when you came in and I wasn't sure if you were going to come out of your coma. I'm glad to see that you have a strong will to survive."
"Died?"
"You came close, your heart stopped, but we got it going again and now you are awake. It should be smooth sailing now. You may be able to even leave in a couple of days. We need to monitor you to make sure there aren’t any complications. You have a concussion and I had to give you some stitches on the back of your head. I was told a bookcase landed on you, before you were found. Your ribs are bruised, your collar bone has a hairline fractured and, you have some broken bones in your hand. You have a brace on your wrist and hand until we get a cast on it tomorrow. You’re going to be very uncomfortable for a while.”
The doctor, gave her a thorough examination. She grimaced at his probing touch for the next few minutes.
“I don't see any new areas of concern, but your contusions are of a serious nature. I'm worried about internal injuries that could cause bleeding which is one of the reasons I want you to stay in the hospital for a few days." He wrote more notes on her chart.
"Can I have something for the pain? Everything hurts.” Tears fell down her face.
“I’ll have the nurse give you your pain medicine through your IV. It'll take effect faster. Are you up to talking to the police? A detective has been waiting for you to wake up to talk to you.” Shawna nodded. "I’ll check on you later. Try to get some rest after the detective leaves.”
“Shawna, is there someone you'd like us to call?” the nurse asked, as she came in, concern evident in her expression. "The paramedic brought your purse in and we found your father's number, but he didn't answer."
"My father is in Japan on business, he'll be gone for another week. I don't have any other family. Shawna’s mind drifted to Mitchell McGreggor, her father’s partner. She wished with all her heart that he was with her at this very moment. He was still in San Francisco and would be back before the weekend, or he was supposed to be. He sometimes went to his cabin in Colorado after a long harsh week. “You can try Mitch McGreggor. He's in San Francisco on business. He'd be the only other person."
"There is no one else?"
"No," she stated, simply. There was Rose Hunt, an older woman who had become a friend at work, but she didn't want to burden her. She also had a bad feeling about the people at work, like she couldn't trust anyone. Her memories were still vague, but fear was there. She gave the nurse Mitch's cell phone number from memory and tried to remember how she got to the hospital. “How did I get here? Who helped me? I can’t remember?”
“I believe I heard the police say that a security guard, who patrols the complex where you live, heard your screams. He's the one who called the police." She vaguely remembered flashing lights and sirens. A tech came in with a syringe interrupting her reverie. He proceeded to give her pain medicine through her IV. The nurse smiled, with gentle caring eyes. "Before the police detective comes in to talk to you, is there something I can get for you?”
“Yes, I want more water." She said. The nurse left the room and quickly returned with the water. A large impressive man was following her. He came to the side of the bed looking around taking in every detail. Shawna guessed him to be over six foot, he had a muscular build and was in his late forties. He took his wallet out and flipped it open, showing her his badge.
“Ms. Thomas, I’m Detective Ed Lumbrowski." His deep voice had a slight New York accent.
“Here's my card." He placed it on her tray table then poured some water into a cup for her as the nurse helped her to sit up a little more with pillows.
“Thank you … Mr. Lumbrowski."
“Call me Ed." He shook his head in disgust as he looked at her. "I need for you to tell me everything you can remember, so I can get the guys who did this to you."
"I don't remember much, but I'll try." Shawna started from the beginning, giving as much detail as she could remember, but it was difficult since most of her memories remained fuzzy.
"I can't remember. I'm so sorry."
“Look, I know how difficult this is. You've gone through something very traumatic. Anything at all will help. Were they large, thin, tall short, white, or other minority?"
"Both were white, the one who attacked me, had on pointy boots. He was at least a head taller than me and he had a southern accent. The other one was smaller and a little shorter, he was the one in charge. He said he knew me, but I can't place him." Staring off, she thought about the monster who hurt her. “He was lean and had a hard body. Both of their faces were covered with what looked like a nylon."
"What makes you say, that the smaller one was in charge."
"He was more bossy, the other guy followed his directions."
“Do you remember if they were looking for something specific?"
"I don't know, that part is still very vague."
"You, said you hit one of them?”
“Yes, with my heel .., I hit the larger guy. I remember him yelling in pain saying his nose had already been broken, blood was everywhere. I don’t remember anything else, other than him kicking me."
“When you came in some of your finger nails were broken, we took swabs to test for DNA. We found the high heal with blood on it, if it is his, it’ll help convict him when we find him. If we are lucky, he may have a record and could already be in our data base." He smiled at her. “You’ve been very helpful." He looked at his notes, then back at her. "You're place is pretty trashed. What bothers me is the fact that the assailant targeted you like he did. He went after you with rage, as if it was personal. I want you to be careful. If anyone comes around who is remotely suspicious you call the police and call me." Shawna looked at him thoughtfully and nodded.
"Okay."
"How'd you get home that night?"
"I drove."
"What kind of car do you have?" Shawna told him what he wanted to know. He looked at her with troubled gray eyes. "Your car was stolen."
"I remember that the larger guy took my money from my wallet along with my keys. I'm not surprised."
"Was there anything in the car that was of value, something important?" Shawna studied her hands as tears fell from her eyes and shook her head. "No, I don't keep anything of value in my car. I'm really tired, detective." Shawna said, not wanting to talk anymore. He looked at her with speculation. “I’ll be in touch soon, and please call me if you remember anything more. I also need a list of everyone you know." He looked at her with concern. "Whoever it is could still be after you. If there is something I can do, please call me."
"Thank you."
After he left, Shawna closed her eyes. Sleep finally came as the pain medicine started working. Much later she woke up when the nurse came in to check on her.
"Are you hungry for some real food? I have pudding, jell-o and juice. We need to see if you can handle that, before we introduce a regular diet."
"Yes I'm hungry, but can I try getting up first?"
"You think you are up for that?"
"Yes, I want to get out of here as soon as possible. I can't do that if I lay around."
"Okay," the nurse smiled with approval. "I'll walk with you in case you get unsteady. Take it slow, okay?" Shawna nodded.
The nurse helped her up and made sure she was covered properly. She put the IV that was connected to her hand on a pole with wheels and walked with her around the halls for a few minutes. It felt good to walk, but she got tired fast. The nurse helped her back to her room and into her bed. The exertion it took made her extremely tired. "I can't believe how much that took out of me."
"You'll get your strength back, I'll bet tomorrow you'll feel a little more with it. I'll go and get you some food. You need all the energy you can get."
"You said that my purse was here?"
"Yes, it's in your bedside drawer." The nurse gave it to her after she got comfortable on her bed. Shawna dug through it finding her wallet, an extra set of keys and her cell phone, but when she looked at the screen on her phone, it was cracked and it wouldn't turn on. "Oh, great, it's broken." Shawna would not be able to see what calls she missed, nor would she be able to get a hold of anyone. All of the phone numbers were trapped in the memory of the phone.
The nurse came back with a tray and put it on the table. She picked at her pudding, but she couldn't eat. Sadness overwhelmed her. "I tried calling the number you gave me for Mitch, but I couldn't get through. I couldn't even leave a message."
"Okay, I'll keep trying him, if I remember right he was having problems with his phone. Thank you." The nurse left her alone after that.
Memories of when she was eleven and living in a boarding school, popped into her mind. She had come down with chicken pox with four other girls. Loneliness hit hard. The other girls had family members come and visit them. Her father traveled for a living, and wasn’t around for her. She'd asked him to come visit her, but he never made it. It wasn't the first time, nor the last time he disappointed her.
When her father asked her if she wanted to work at McGreggor's Software and Design, three years ago, she jumped at the chance. Not because she needed a job, but because she wanted a chance to get to know her father. She might as well have been on a different planet, considering he never took the opportunity to spend time with her. He didn't listen to her as well. She was the smartest, and most intelligent of everyone who worked at McGreggor's and he didn't take her ideas and warnings seriously.
She suddenly remembered why the men had broken into her home and why she was assaulted. The men were after information. The security codes on the disk they wanted would have given them anything they wanted and more. Fresh tears fell from her eyes. She wondered if her dad would take her seriously now. She knew he wouldn't come home early, because he was in Japan on an important business deal. The customers were potentially a significant player to the future of the company. She saw no reason to call him. Until now, Shawna held out hope that maybe one day, things would change with her father and they'd get closer, which was why she stayed at the company, but the reality was, she was wasting her time and energy. He hadn't listened to her about the concerns she had for security at the company. Almost being murdered made her think about her life a lot closer, she didn't want to be somewhere she wasn't appreciated and heard and knew she'd be making some changes very soon.
"You look sad," the nurse said as she walked in. "Want to talk about it?"
"I was thinking of my mother."
"Do you want to call her?"
"I wish I could. She died when I was nine years old."
"I'm sorry, that must have been hard to deal with."
"It was, my father didn't know what to do with me and put me in boarding school."
"That's terrible." Shawna closed her eyes, not wanting to talk anymore. The memories were hard to deal with, especially in her condition when she needed someone who actually cared about her enough to be there for her now without being an obligation. She didn't want to feel sorry for herself, but it was hard not to. She never realized that the nurse took her leave.
Memories of when she was young came to mind, it had been difficult to make friends, so she spent a lot of time reading and studying. Being gifted had its rewards and she took advantage of the opportunities the school gave her, the teachers liked her and she blossomed under their tutelage. She was gifted in many areas, but she took to the sciences more. She enjoyed computers and technology as well, and she excelled in programming and had an insight about where the future of technology was going and she wanted to be a part of it. Hard science was predictable and you knew where you stood rationally speaking. With soft science, the human element and why people did what they did wasn't something she wanted to look at, though she understood it well.
Mitch McGreggor came to mind, she worked with him, but didn't really know him on a personal level. Their relationship was purely professional. He was older than her by seven years and they didn't have anything in common except for her dad and the company. She'd overheard some of the employees refer to him as the company playboy since he was always traveling and never lacked beautiful women. Shawna knew he wasn't the playboy others perceived him to be. He had dated a few women since she knew him, but there had been no one serious. He was aloof most of the time, because he had his own demons to deal with.
He appealed to her and she often daydreamed about him, but that was as far as it ever went for her, if he ever looked at her, she never knew it. She was just his partner's daughter, someone he could depend on to get things done, or consult with when they needed direction. It also fell on her to be the company's IT person as well, because when the employee quit, he wasn't replaced. She didn't mind being involved with everything, because she liked knowing what was going on in all aspects of the company.
Reaching for the hospital phone with her good arm, Shawna slowly punched in Mitch's cell phone number. He inherited the company when his father died and that was when her father stepped in to be his partner, or he would have lost it. He normally kept his phone on him, but for some reason he did not answer. Like the nurse, his phone didn't let her leave a message. Shawna placed the receiver down on the phone base and tried to relaxed.
The next morning Shawna tried calling the company Mitch was supposed to be at.
“Yes, I’d like to talk with Mitch McGreggor, it's an emer ... "
“Hold please.” The girl on the other end interrupted. The phone went silent. She tried to call again, but couldn't get through. She'd have to try later.
The doctor came in to see her around eleven that morning and by then Shawna had enough of being in the hospital. She didn't get any sleep the night before and now she just wanted to be in her own bed.
“You really shouldn’t go anywhere by yourself." Dr. Daniels, told her. “I want to know that you’ll be monitored in case something goes wrong. You have a lot of bruises and I want to make sure there aren't any internal injuries.”
“You've taken every test imaginable. I promise that I’ll take care. Right now I just want to get home and get some sleep. I’ll call a cab, so I won’t be driving. The concussion isn’t giving me any problems. I've been up and around. I can recuperate better at home." She knew she was pleading. “I’ll get myself to a doctor if something isn’t right. I promise."
He looked at her thoughtfully. “I'll let you go tomorrow after some of the test results come back. You have a lot of bruising that could pose a lot of problems if you get any clots. I want to see you a couple days after you are released, if you can't get in to see your primary care physician."
"I will, I promise. Thank you."
"No going back to work either. You need you're rest. I'll sign a release for you when I see some improvement. Take it easy for a few weeks and rest." Shawna promised to do as the Dr. ordered, but, she would've agreed with him, had he said the world was flat just to be able to go home. The next afternoon as soon as soon as she got her discharge papers, she called a cab.
"Hey lady do you want some help?" The cab driver asked her. "You don't look so good."
"No, I'll be fine. I just need to take it slow." Shawna got out of the cab and reached into her purse looking for her money, then realized that she didn't have any cash.
"Lady, this ride is on the house. You look like you deserve a break. I hope whoever did that to you is in jail."
"Thank you." She tried to smile, but couldn't. She knew she was a mess. She didn't encounter anyone else which was a relief to her as she walked through the courtyard. She slowly went up her stairs and stopped at her door. The memories of that night closed in on her as she looked down at the door knob and almost couldn't put her key in.
Taking a deep breath, she gathered all of her courage and pushed the door open, next she reached inside and flipped the light switch and to her horror she gasped at the sight in front of her. The first thing she saw was dried blood smeared all over the tile and broken furniture. Her book case was on the floor and her books were strewn around the room. Her television was on the floor. Broken glass was everywhere. Her heart beat in fear and a cold chill made her hair stand on end as memories of that night overflowed. A knot of emotion filled her and tears pooled in her eyes, but she refused to give in to the anxiety as she stepped into her home and looked around. The place was a disaster. She took a deep breath gathering all the courage she could muster just to make herself step over her books and broken glass that were strewn all over the floor. Emotion flooded her, she began to shake at the memory and she wondered if she had made a huge mistake in coming home.
“No!” She said aloud, closing her eyes to gather courage. “This is my home, and you won’t scare me away." No one heard her, but it was like making a stand for her rights, and that gave her the nerve to go into her kitchen after locking the door behind her. Whoever made a mess of her condo, didn't mess with the kitchen. The memories flashed in her mind as she really got a good look at her home. She visualized what happened to her in great detail and couldn't stop the tears as they fell unfettered down her face. She shuddered at the images that plagued her mind, then took a deep breath. She would not let them get the better of her. Forcing herself to take charge by looking at her place in a clinical way helped. She walked through her home and decided that the kitchen and her room were needed to be straightened up first. The attackers didn't do too much to the kitchen, and her room didn't take much to straighten. Clothes were thrown around, but that was it. It was difficult to do too much with her hand in a cast, but she managed to do get done what she wanted, before exhaustion took over.
Shawna went to the front room and looked around at the entry, where the blood was and wanted to clean it up, she picked up a few books, but she got lightheaded and almost passed out. She needed to rest. It would definitely take a lot more energy than she had at the moment to get it done.
She looked in her office and felt sick to her stomach. She had thousands of dollars worth of equipment, and it was unclear if any of it could be salvaged at this point. Her phone was dangling from the desk, but was still attached to the phone line and to her surprise the message machine light was blinking. She set the phone back up on the desk and pushed the button to hear her messages. There were a few solicitors, and the rest were from work.
"Hey, this is Stan. Rumor has it that you went on vacation. Dang girl, give us a little warning next time, so I can prepare better. I need your advice on some things, so if you get this, call me." Shawna listened to the next few then heard one from her assistant, Darcy.
"I have an emergency, I don't know how long I'll be out, sorry." Shawna wondered who spread the rumor of her being on vacation, but she was too emotionally distraught to call back. Of all of the engineers, Stan was one of the best at the company.
She looked around and was relieved to see that her drawings and paintings were left untouched. She suddenly remembered her jewelry, the three necklaces and her mother's wedding ring were supposed to be in a box on top of the closet and when she looked, the box was gone. Her heart sank and a deep sorrow took over. Other than a few photos, those were the only things left to her that had more sentimental value than anything else in her possession. She had meant to get a safe for her important possessions, but kept putting it off. Now she was sorry. A safe was clearly something she needed to invest in.
Chills shook her body, she turned the heater up and headed to the bathroom to take a shower after taking the pain pills the doctor gave her. Her movements were slow as she stripped, then realized she needed to keep her cast dry. She found a plastic bag and wrapped it. If she was careful, she'd be able to keep it dry. She used her other hand to turn the water on to get the hot water going. Looking at herself in the full length mirror she saw what was supposed to be her reflection and didn't even recognize herself. She turned away not wanting to face the horror of what was done to her and stepped into the shower letting the warm water spray over her achy body. Tears fell down her face as she wondered why she had been beaten so bad. The warm water helped to relieve some of her tight muscles, she took her time and washed her hair with her good hand careful not to touch the sore area where she had stitches.
A little later, she stepped out and dried off the best she could and slipped her nightgown on over her head. The pills she took earlier were making her sleepy, so she ignored her reflection and went to her bedroom and crawled into bed. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

A ringing sound in the depth of her dreams woke her up. When she tried to reach for the phone, she couldn’t move. Her whole body was a mass of throbbing pain as she pushed herself up with her good arm careful of her shoulder. A sharp pain from her bruised ribs took her breath away. The ringing of the phone didn't stop. Trying to clear the fog in her brain, she finally was able to sit up and reach for the phone.
“Hello?” Shawna whispered in a weak voice.
“Shawna? Mitch here. I just got into town and learned you haven't been into work all week. Are you not coming in today? It's already nine o'clock.”
“Nine?" Shawna had a difficult time thinking. If it was possible, she hurt more now, than she did the day before.
“I don't understand, Shawna. I come back today to find nothing’s been completed. I was counting on you to get the rest of the contract revised this week since Adrian went on vacation. I faxed them on Wednesday for you, before I left to go to my cabin."
Shawna groaned as a sharp pain radiated through her body from her ribs. Her head hurt and it was hard to concentrate. He was saying something else, but she didn’t even hear him. She began to cry. She was miserable. She saw her reflection in the mirror above her dresser as she sat there on the edge of her bed. Her hair dried all tangled. The whole side of her face was swollen and her eyes were black. The bruises on the rest of her face and neck were darker than she had remembered. Tears continued to fall silently. Her voice quivered with emotion as she tried to tell him what had happened to her.
“Ah ..., Mitch, I was assaul…” She began, but was rudely interrupted.
“Don’t start letting your personal life interfere with your job. Shawna this deal is important. I thought you knew that.”
Shawna sniffled, and the tears kept coming. "I know that Mitch, but ..." He cut her off again and this time she took the phone away from her ear missing everything he said. It rankled her that he thought she'd deliberately think the worst of her. “Mitch I don’t have a personal life. All I do is work." She said, after putting the phone to her ear again, but was interrupted again as he continued to talk over her. She finally had enough. Her voice rose, and for the first time ever, she yelled at Mitch. “Shut up! ... Shut up and go to hell!" Hanging up on him, made her feel better and she even smiled even though her face hurt. She had never said that to anyone before and it felt good, even liberating.
Mitch sat in his office chair surprised at what had just happened. "Shut up ... Go to Hell?" He'd never heard her cuss before, much less raise her voice. Three years on the job had never shown him this side of her. Unassuming, methodical, reliable, calm, cool and collected, with no surprises, described Shawna Thomas to a T. She was smarter than anyone he ever known and he depended on her a lot more than he was willing to admit.
At first he was annoyed with her behavior, and then he chuckled to himself. His cell phone didn't work at the cabin, so he expected to miss some calls, but it had been on the blink all week. He dropped it once and the screen broke, but at the time it didn't act up. When he went into town on Friday morning to get a few things he called Steve his right hand man to check on everything and realized there were a lot of problems, because Shawna had not been there and he didn't know how to get a hold of her since she wasn't answering her cell phone. Mitch ended up sending Steve on a trip to repair some of the damage while he booked a flight back home. He couldn't get a hold of Shawna and that irritated him. He seethed all the way back home on the red eye frustrated that he couldn't stay at the cabin, he wanted to get in some fishing in before the first snow of the season hit.
He sat back in his chair rubbing his eyes trying to clear his mind feeling exhausted from being up all night. Maybe she was sick, maybe she was tired from a late night date. He shook his head truly irritated by her not following through with the tasks that needed to be completed. He could not understand why she had let him down.
Guilt suddenly stabbed at him for yelling at her, she was the hardest worker he knew and to her credit, he had never known her to take time off. He wanted to apologize to her for yelling. She picked up a lot of the slack at work when he and her father were out of town knowing it took her away from her own job, but she had never complained.
As he thought about her, "Go to hell", comment, he grew more concerned. He dialed the phone again. When she answered, he heard her crying softly, he felt his stomach tighten and something grabbed at his heart.
“Shawna, I'm sorry I shouldn't have bitten your head off like that. Are you coming into work?"
“Mitch, it is Saturday, I…I’m sorry, I can't." Shawna hung up on him. Mitch stared at the phone and tried calling her again and this time no one answered. "Man, I made her cry." He said, aloud. He sat there for a minute thinking about the whole situation. It wasn't like her and it didn't add up. He tried calling her again, but she didn't answer. "Oh, hell." He grated to himself. He got up and left the office. He'd go see her personally.
Shawna ignored the phone. Instead, she locked herself in the bathroom. The mirror reflected her image like a horror movie. She made a mistake in coming home. She was afraid of being there, every noise made her jump and the memories of that night came back in flashes that terrified her and this angered her, she didn't want to be afraid. She looked horrible and didn't want to face anyone looking the way she did. Shawna turned on the warm water and stepped into the shower after taking the brace off. She wished again that she had a tub to soak in. When she got out she went to her room and slowly put her favorite sweats on. It was hard to move and she had to go slow, but she did it. She'd be comfortable and they'd keep her warm. She then swallowed some pills the doctor gave her.
Fear of the assault gripped her. What if they came back? She wondered if she'd ever feel safe again. She managed to put her sling back on, so it would take the pressure off of her arm and shoulder and went to the front room. The medicine she took earlier was beginning to help. She wanted coffee and was about to go into the kitchen when the doorbell rang. She looked at the door afraid to answer it, then heard Mitch yelling.
"Open the door Shawna. I know you're in there. Come on." He continued knocking. "I know you're home." Shawna wearily looked at the door and finally unlocked it.

Read the rest of the story when you download it on Kindle, My Charming Protector.