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I'm going crazy. I'm losing my mind. If she doesn't wake up soon, I'm going to lose it completely.

''How long will it take her to wake up?''

The nurse is obviously losing patience with me. ''Soon, Mr Campbell. Everything's fine with her so she'll be up soon enough.''

This is what she was repeating this whole night already and the word soon is starting to slowly piss me off. She said she'll wake up soon three hours ago. What does soon mean in nurse's language?

''She's passed out for way too long.''

The nurse sighs. ''It's normal. She won't wake up until the drugs don't start to ease off. Which will be soon.''

That word again. I narrow my eyes at her and go with my hands through my hair. But then I see a movement on the bed where Rory is laying. I instantly go to her and grab her cold hand in mine.

Rory blinks her eyes open and tries to focus on her surroundings. She quickly pushes herself up, trying to sit up, but the pain she must feel prevents it and she moans out, wrenching my heart even more.

I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her. ''Careful there, baby girl,'' I say lowly.

The beeping of the machine gets faster, indicating that her heart is starting to beat faster. She turns her head and looks at me, then sags on the bed and sighs out in relief.

I can clearly see the confusion in her eyes, probably wondering what is she doing here.

''What am I doing here? What happened?'' she asks with a groggy voice. She turns her gaze down her body.

I stare at her. ''What do you remember from last night, Rory?''

Meanwhile, she's putting her thoughts together, recalling the events that happened, I get her a glass of water and put it to her lips softly, helping her sip.

''Not much,'' she says. ''Just that I went out with Lily. We talked, we danced, we drank ...'' She shrugs. ''And then there's blackness.'' She frowns. ''I don't remember anything else.''

I nod. ''You passed out.''

''Oh.'' Her eyebrows draw together. ''But why?''

That's the answer I'm dreading to tell her. I doubt her reaction will be the same as mine as I got the call. The first thought that rushed into me was a hope that she's okay, that she'll be okay, that she isn't hurt and nothing happened to her. When I found out the cause of her laying in the hospital, weak and unconscious, the only thing I could think about was finding the bastard who drugged her myself and kill him with my bare hands.

I stare deeply into her eyes. ''Rory, you've been drugged,'' I inform her.

She seems to process my words for a moment and when she does, she grips the sheet tight in her fist. ''Drugged?'' she whispers.

A knot forms in my stomach. Before I can say anything else, a doctor steps into the room, smiling warmly at her. ''Hello, Ms Warren. How are you feeling?'' she asks her, looking at the machine beside her head and writing something down.

''I'm fine,'' Rory says. I know she's lying. I know her and I admire how strong she is in a situation like this, even though she should never go through it.

The doctor, Mrs Hamilton as I learned before, comes near the bed and asks, ''What do you remember of the last night?''

Rory furrows her eyebrows, looking at me. I squeeze her hand in comfort, willing her to stay strong through this and showing her that I'm not going anywhere. ''Uh, not much,'' she murmurs.

Doctor Hamilton nods. ''Ms Warren, do you know what happened to you?''

''I've been drugged apparently?'' she says, looking at me again.

Doctor Hamilton nods again. ''Yes, you have. You've been drugged with a Rohypnol, also known as a rape drug,'' she explains. Hearing these same words again raises the temper inside me. ''Don't worry, you were lucky that you had a friend with you who immediately called for a help. We've also run tests and they came out clean, meaning nothing happened to you while you've been unconscious.''

Rory stares blankly at the doctor's face. I think she finds this hard to process, which is completely normal.

''The police will come in later to ask you some questions. Nothing big, but they are looking out for the one who did it. I suggest you get some rest now,'' the doctor says, looking pointedly at me.

I straighten my mouth at her. ''I'm not leaving,'' I say, squeezing Rory's hand harder.

Doctor Hamilton only shakes her head at me in desperation and walks out. Rory turns her head to look at me and I smile tightly at her, forcing it for her. I brush her hair back, speaking softly, ''Are you feeling okay?''

She nods her head. ''Just shocked. I mean, why would anyone want to drug me? And with a rape drug?'' she asks, her voice shaking.

That's a million dollar question I've been trying to solve the whole night. Hopefully, it isn't because there's someone after her and tries to hurt her. My body gets tense at the thought. ''I don't know, but you can be sure I'm going to find out. And when I do ...'' I shake my head, not finishing that sentence.

''Do my parents know?'' She's almost afraid to ask.

''No. Lily called me straight away and I came to the club then drove you straight to the hospital. I called Brooke a few hours ago just to inform her what happened. She freaked out, but I managed to calm her down once I knew for sure everything was fine with you. And Lily had to go home when it was confirmed you're okay.'' I put my forehead on our joined hands, breathing hard. ''God, Rory, do you even know what could've happened tonight? I ... I can't ...'' I take a deep breath. ''Apart from the obvious, you could also die.''

My body starts shaking at the thought. It seems like everything is tearing apart inside of me at just thinking about this. To see her cold, still body laying somewhere after being ... no. No. No!

Rory puts her hand on my head and softly goes through my hair, rubbing me gently, soothing me. It helps. She always manages to calm me down with a touch.

''I'm here, Braden, nothing happened to me,'' she says gently, kissing the top of my head. I lift my head up and search her lips for a deep kiss, full of meaning.

She's the one calming me down and soothing me when it should be the other way around. She's proving it yet again how much stronger she is than she gives herself credit.

I'm calmer after that kiss. I don't say anything. I take my shoes off and slip next to her on the bed, wrapping myself around her and squeezing her to my body. It makes me feel so much better to hold her in my arms where I can feel her hot flesh on mine and feel her heart beating against me. I also know she needs a comfort, but she's stubborn enough not to ask for it.

''You know you don't have to stay with me, right?'' she asks me, but she doesn't want to let me go.

I place a kiss on her neck. ''I'm not going anywhere, baby.''

***

Rory is good to go home the next day. I never left the hospital and I told her I'm going to take her home and take care of her. She's going to need a lot of rest and I don't want to leave her alone in a state like this.

I'm still worried and shaken up about what happened to her. I feel that if I look anywhere else but her, something's going to happen to her.

The police officer came in the morning and asked her some questions, nothing big. Just what she remembered and if she remembers anyone suspicious. They were sure they could look at the tapes of security cameras and find a person who did it.

After speaking with her, I asked the officer if he can step out with me because I wanted to have a word with him. With a last kiss on Rory's forehead, I went out, followed by the police officer.

''When you find who did this to her, let me be the first one to know. If you don't find him soon enough, I'm going to start looking for him myself.'' I go straight to the point, levelling him with my stare so he knows how serious I am.

I see that the police officer, Brad Jeffrey, I read on the name tag, wants to say something about this, but he changes his mind and only nods, saying, ''Will do, sir. But you have to let us investigate this.''

I smile tightly at him. ''I will. I'm only saying you shouldn't take too much time. Because if I find him first ...'' I shrug, letting the sentence unfinished.

Brad straightens his form. ''You realise that what you're implying on is considered as a threat?''

I sheepishly stare at him, stepping closer to him. ''You can consider it however you want. But someone drugged my girlfriend last night. If you think I'm going to sit back and do nothing about it, you are sadly mistaken.''

Brad stares at me for quite a few seconds, probably trying to figure it out if I'm joking. But then he decides on nodding again. ''You'll be the first one informed if we find something new. Is there anything else?''

I sigh. ''No. That's all.'' I watch him walk away, going with my hands through my hair in frustration and anger building up inside of me at knowing that the person who did this to Rory is freely walking somewhere while she's here, laying in the hospital, all shaken up.

I don't tell Rory anything about the conversation I had with the officer. I don't want to worry her.

When I drive her home, Rory sleeps. A various of different things go through my mind on the way home. I'm anxious to leave her with anyone else but me.

I decide that, to hell with it all, I'm taking her home with me. I have a better protection there than she has in her own flat and I'll sleep better, knowing she's safe with me.

I take her up to my bed and tuck her in, making her comfortable, careful not to wake her up. I watch her sleep for a long time, just sitting there, silently staring at her soft creatures, wondering what I'd do if anything happened to her.

I rub my face with my hands, the tiredness of past hours already making itself present, but I'm not letting myself sleep. I drink a big cup of coffee and then make myself comfortable on the bed beside Rory, taking my shirt off and work on my computer for hours, not even taking a break to go to the bathroom.

When Rory wakes up, she shoots up on the bed quickly, blinking her eyes open and looking at the surroundings.

''Careful, babe,'' I say to her and her eyes come to me. She looks confused.

''Where are we?'' she asks, looking at all our surroundings.

''We're at my place,'' I say.

She turns her surprised eyes at me. She stares at me for a full minute, mouth gaping, but I don't return her stare, even though I can feel it on me.

I can only imagine what must go through her head and I'm thinking of the best way to tell her it doesn't mean anything else than her being here so I can look out for her better.

''We're at your home,'' she says subtly.

I look at her and raise my eyebrows. Her face confirms my thoughts. My face falls and my eyes turn cold. ''Don't think much about it, Rory. You're here because it's easier for me to look after you here.''

Now her face falls. She looks crushed, but I don't want to bring any of her hopes up. ''Oh. Okay,'' she says, but then she narrows her eyes at me. ''I could easily stay at my flat, though. It's not like I can't walk or move. Besides, Brooke would be with me.''

I rake my hand through my hair in distress. ''Please, just let me deal with this on my own, yeah? I want to have you under my eyes, at least until we don't know who spiked your drink.''

I see the battle in her eyes, see she wants to protest. But she doesn't. She must know she can't object me on this, too. She's surely not stupid.

She settles back down on the bed and watches me work. Long minutes pass when she just continues staring at me, but I don't look at her, trying really hard to concentrate on the work before me.

Rory sighs and closes the gap between us, putting her head on my shoulder and her hand on my stomach. I look at her sideways but stay silent.

''Are you mad at me?'' she murmurs, staring at my chest.

I give her my full attention now, not believing her words. ''Mad at you?'' I repeat, staring down at her.

She nods her head against my chest.

I lift my hand up, terribly trying to touch her and soothe her, but I change my mind and drop it back down, clenching it into a fist. ''Why in the world would I be mad at you?'' I whisper, afraid to speak any louder.

Rory shrugs. ''For going out. For getting drugged. I don't know.''

Now I do touch her, putting my hand on her chin and softly turn her head so she looks at me. I caress her cheek with my thumb, feeling her soft, delicate skin under my fingers. I can't help myself. I got used to feeling her, to touching her, and I can't stop myself now. It's even tougher now, because I want a constant reminder that she's here with me and everything's okay with her. ''Are you seriously asking me this?'' I question softly, but I can't keep the hard, stern undertone out of my voice.

She doesn't look away from my stare. ''Yeah,'' she says quietly.

I shake my head in disbelief. I push my laptop away and pull her closer to me. ''Come here.'' She sits on my lap with her legs bent on either side of me and I hug her close to me. ''I could never, ever be mad at you over something that's not your fault.''

She nods against my chest, snuggling closer to me. It's a good feeling to have her seeking my comfort because I'm more than willing to give it to her.

When I find out who did this to her, I'm personally going to destroy him.

I entangle my hands with hers and kiss the top of her head. ''I promise you, Rory, here and now, that I will find out who did this to you.''

She already told the police officer and me about the man in the club that was bothering her. She said she didn't know him and the police officer said that most of the victims never saw the attacker before in their life. Which made even less sense as to why she'd get attacked.

''Are you hungry?'' I ask her after a short amount of comfortable silence.

She nods again against my chest and I chuckle. ''Come on, then, princess, let's fill your stomach.''

I carry her through my suite and I notice her studying everything intently. I take her in the kitchen, placing her on one of the bar stools and she pulls my shirt that I dressed her in before over her knees.

But damn, I love seeing her in my clothes. I watch the movement and can't help but feel affected. She's sexy. I can't seem to help myself around her. I swallow hard and then turn around so I don't do anything to scare her off. I need to be more careful with her now, not attack her like an animal.

I focus on preparing the meal.

***

In the following weeks, everything falls back to normal again, the accident at the club almost forgotten – by Rory at least. Not by me. It's still haunting me.

She visited her parents a week after the incident and told them everything. She told me they reacted how she suspected the would – they were mad because she didn't tell them immediately, but their concerns overcame their grudge.

She took her antibiotics and after weeks, she finally stopped waking up in the middle of the night, screaming on top of her lungs those frightened screams that got me out of the bed every night and soothe her down.

I insisted she takes a few days off work so she can truly get back on her feet and overcome the shock. Surprisingly, she agreed.

She got some visits from Lily and Brooke stayed at home most of the time to be sure she's okay. Basically, everyone was keeping an eye on her because everyone was shaken up about what happened to her. But Rory finally got enough of it and she exploded one day, yelling at all of us to stop treating her like she'll break.

She got mad at me, too, when I refused to be intimate with her after the first few days of the attack, trying to be considerate and giving her time. But she had none of that. Let's say I was completely right and make-up sex truly is the best kind.

So everything quickly went back to normal as if nothing happened. But now Rory was feeling unwell sometimes and that started to worry me. She tried to reassure me that it might be just a small cold. So I didn't bother her, but I kept a close eye on her if it might be more serious than she's telling me to.

When I wasn't with Rory, I was either working or at the gym. Or bothering the police every day if they found anything new.

''Still nothing useful yet, but we're working on it, Mr Campbell,'' was the answer I received every day. It was starting to piss me off and I was seriously thinking of hiring a private investigator. This is taking too much time. Honestly, how hard can it be to find a person when you have the videos?

It makes me frustrated and impatient. And also weak, because I don't know what to do. I don't know whether I should protect her, and how, because I don't know if she's in real danger and someone's still after her. It's exhausting.

I only know that I can't let what happened to her repeat itself.

***

On Friday, Rory sends me a text that she has something important to tell me. I told her we're going to talk tonight when I come over.

I don't think much of it and I'm not truly bothered about what she has to tell me. I'm sure it's important, but I don't think it's anything serious.

Boy, I couldn't be more wrong.

When I come to her and Brooke's flat, I go straight to her bedroom and knock on her door.

''Come in,'' I hear her say.

I come in, smiling from ear to ear. ''Hey.'' She stands up from the bed and wipes her palms on her jeans. I come to her to give her a hello kiss like I do it every time, but she's not really into it today.

I look at her and as I see the expression on her face, I become serious as well, a funny feeling settling inside of my stomach. ''What's wrong?''

She looks down at her feet. She looks unsure and lost and it makes me even more confused.

''We need to talk,'' she mumbles down at our feet.

''Rory, look at me,'' I demand, although I do it softly.

With a deep, shaky breath, she lifts her eyes up to me. She looks pale. ''Maybe you should sit down first,'' she says, smiling nervously.

What is going on? My eyebrows shoot up all the way to my hairline. ''I'm good,'' is all I say.

She nods her head, staring at me. ''I don't even know how to start, I just ... God.'' She puts her hands over her face, sighing into them.

I uncover her face, the panic now rising high inside of me. ''Rory,'' I say simply, staring straight into her eyes.

She takes a deep, deep breath, inhaling as much air as she can, and shoots out, ''I think I'm pregnant.''

And the world swirls around of me. My eyes widen and I take two steps back, releasing her hand. I feel like she slapped me. The world is spinning around before my eyes and I feel myself getting sick. Tell me I heard her wrong.

''Maybe you should really sit down,'' she offers weakly, fear shown on her face.

I ignore her, still not recovering from the bomb she threw at me. ''What?'' I whisper, backing away. Please, please ... I didn't hear her correctly. This is not happening.

Rory laughs nervously, watching me carefully. ''I mean, I'm not really sure, I haven't visited the doctor yet but I took three tests and they were all positive. And I've been throwing up in the mornings and –''

''Throwing up?'' I repeat, feeling like I'm in some sort of a trans. I rake both of my hands through my hair, pulling at the ends. ''Jesus fuck,'' I mutter, turning away from her, looking at the wall. The bile in my throat is rising dangerously. ''Jesus fucking Christ, how in the fucking hell is this possible, Rory?'' I sound as angry as I feel.

''I don't know,'' she mumbles.

I turn back to her, my hands clasped behind my back. ''You said you were on the pill. Have you lied to me?'' I ask, my tone murderous.

I swear to God if she did this on purpose ... if she ends up being just like the rest of the other women I dated when they wanted to do similar things to trap me to stay with them ...

Rory shivers, but I can't think straight due to the numbness in my body and the big cloud in my brain.

''I didn't lie to you, Braden!'' she defends herself. ''I don't know how or when happened and how it is even possible but I guess I'm now carrying your child and –''

I put my hand out, stopping her. ''Don't. Fucking. Finish. The. Sentence.'' What is she going to tell me next? How much she loves me and how she's planning our wedding? Goddamn! This is seriously not happening to me ...

She clamps her mouth shut, her bottom lip trembling.

''If it's true, that you're really ... pregnant,'' I can't even think about that word and what it means without a distaste in my mouth, looking down at her stomach in a grimace. ''I'm going to support this child if you're going to keep it.''

She stares at me in disbelief, putting her hands protectively on her stomach. ''If I'm going – ? I already love this child, Braden. How can you even imply I wouldn't keep it?'' she asks me in a quiet tone, my voice shaking.

I look at her stomach again, stating the obvious. ''Because this baby wasn't conceived with love,'' I say and now it's her, taking a step back. This is a test. I want to hear what she'll say to this, what excuse she'll come up with.

''That's not true,'' she says, tilting her chin up high, even though a tear falls down her face.

It's not happening. It's not happening. Please, no ... My eyebrows draw together. ''What are you saying, Rory?'' I'm actually afraid of her answer. Because her answer depends on how this thing is going to turn out between us.

''I love you,'' she exhales, tears now freely spilling down her face. ''I've loved you for a long time now,'' she tells me.

I want to throw up. I turn my back to her again, wiping my face with my hands, my moves hard. I laugh dryly and then punch a wall in aggravation, trying to release some of the tension and anger her words bring me. All I can think about is how she stepped up her game and how she's trying to trap me to stay with her. So she can hurt me. It's all like Victoria again. I can't go through this again.

''This is getting better and better,'' I yell out to no one particular.

''Braden, please ...'' she pleads me softly.

I sharply turn around, clenching my fist. ''Please, what, Rory?'' She stares at me with round eyes. I take two steps toward her. ''Please what?'' I scream into her face and she winces. I don't even care anymore. ''We had a fucking deal that you broke! I know women your range, you little vixen. But you're not going to keep me just because you're pregnant and spilling nonsense. You hear me?'' I lean into her face. ''I am not going to stay with you. You're not going to pull me into your trap because I'm smarter than this!'' The venom is basically spilling out of my mouth.

She watches me with tears spilling down her cheeks. She can't stop crying. She reaches her hand out to me, but I step away from her touch, not being able to even be near her right now. This, her words put me in a bad state. I think either she's a good actress and she planned all of this or everything's real. But this all seems ironic how it turned out.

''Braden, you don't mean that,'' Rory cries out.

''Oh, darling, I mean every word that comes out of my mouth.'' My lips curl up in disgust. ''This little scheme you're playing ends right now and here. I'll pay you for the child, and that's only if you can even prove that I'm the father. Or that you're not lying that you're pregnant, because I don't know what twisted mind you have.'' I breathe out the next words as slowly as possible. ''It's a game over. The rules were clear from the start – fall in love and it's over. A pregnancy does not change a thing.''

Rory bends at her knees, almost falling over, but I don't help her. I'm so far up in my mind that I can't think what's real and what's not. ''Of course this child is yours, what are you trying to say, Braden?'' she yells at me, her eyes filled with tears. ''You act like a bastard right now and you're going to regret every word you said.''

I shake my head at her. ''I doubt so.''

''You know, I really hate you right now.''

I snort. ''Funny, minutes ago you were confessing your love to me.'' I'm playing my cards here. I want her to see that I'm not stupid enough. I told her how it's going to be between us and I'm not changing the rules, not even for her. She may come to mean a lot to me, but I'm not giving her my heart so she can hurt me later.

She suddenly comes to me and slaps me across my face with all the force she can muster. ''Get out,'' she says calmly, wiping her eyes.

I'm shocked by her move. I stare at her for a long moment. ''It's sad, you know. I pity you that you can't accept my love and that you shelter yourself just because one woman hurt you. You believe you can't love, but you can, and you'll once love someone very deeply. And that woman will be the luckiest woman in the whole wide world. And that woman won't be me, unfortunately.'' She smiles sadly at me.

I want to tell her how wrong she is. How I'll never be capable of loving anyone again, because I already did once and it almost destroyed me. I'm not stupid anymore. I'm building a wall between us. I want her to hate me so it's going to be easier to let this go – for both of us.

I stare at her for long seconds. For a moment, it hits me what I did. What I'm ending. But right now, I'm so numb I literally don't feel anything. I make one last remark that I know it'll sting her. ''It's really sad to end this because you've been a great fuck.''

She closes her eyes momentarily and then shoves me away from her with every force she has. ''Get the fuck out, you bastard!'' she yells at me.

''Gladly!'' I roar back, but don't walk away for some reason. What the hell is stopping me now?

She pushes me harder, hitting my chest. I do nothing to stop her. ''I never want to see you again, you shit! I swear to God, I hate you so much right now!'' she sobs out, her yelling now almost hysterical.

She starts punching me hard on the chest. ''Get out of my face!'' she yells at me.

I grab her hands in a vice grip, leaning close to her face. ''I'll make sure we won't ever see each other again,'' I whisper viciously, making her cry even harder.

And then, without much thinking anymore, I turn on my heels and stroll out of the door, slamming it close with so much force it shakes. I hear a loud cry of pain from the bedroom, but it doesn't stop me, not even a punch on the door that follows.

Not even Brooke yelling after me, ''You really screwed this up, you jerk!'' stops me.

I answer her with slamming the front door, leaving it all behind. I'm in a haze, rushing down the stairs.

It feels like I'm suffocating. I can't breathe. I run out in the cold air, welcoming it. I stop outside, only there letting myself pause. I rake my hands over my face, through my hair and clasp them behind my neck, staring up at the gray sky.

Everything crashes into me. Every little moment. Everything I've ever had with Rory, every single moment with her, every touch of her, every kiss from her ... I realize it's all destroyed now. I realize I'll never feel her touches again, I'll never see her eyes shining from happiness, I'll never hear her laugh and I'll certainly never hear her smart mouth that I came to love so much.

Love.

Do I love her?

No. I can't. I came fond of her, but that's not love. I like her. But it's still not love. Right?

I tip my head back even more, wildly staring up. ''What the hell have I done?'' I whisper.

I get no answer. Only a silence of a sad, gray sky.

This is probably the most requested chapter you wanted to read in Braden's POV. So, here you finally have it! 

I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it helped you to understand Braden a little better as to why he did this.

Reading this chapter always puts me in such an emotional state. Ugh. Damn you, Braden Campbell!

Hope you have a nice Sunday.

x