I Dated Brian Quinn

Chapter Seventeen

"Brian, I'm fine." After three weeks of bed rest, Jackie was trying to convince Brian to let her leave his house.

"I'll drive you where ever you want to go." He grabbed the keys to his jeep and stood near the door.

Jackie sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Brian, you know I love you, right?" She waited for him to nod before she continued. "I've been in this house for almost an entire month. You've been doting on me nonstop. I think we could both use a breather."

"I'm not letting you out of my sight." He crossed his arms and stood against the door.

"I need this." Her voice was soft. "I need to convince myself that I can go out in to the world and not be looking over my shoulder. I need this for my sanity and my courage, Brian. And you need this too. You need to know that you don't have to protect me all day, every day. Please understand that."

He softened his stance. He'd been worried about the first time she would leave without him. He hadn't been looking forward to it, but she was right. She needed to prove this to herself.

"Please?" She was begging him now.

Jackie had made an appointment with her doctor so that she could confirm her pregnancy and start getting the care she needed. Since she still hadn't told Brian, she needed to go to the appointment alone. And maybe, once she had talked to the doctor, she would be able to tell Brian as well.

"Just a few hours. And keep your phone on you because I'm going to be calling you." Brian walked toward her.

When he stood in front of her, he lifted her right wrist to his lips and kissed it tenderly. The blue dot tattoo that had been there before was covered with the scaring from the stitches. It was like it never existed.

"I'm okay. It's not the worst thing that could have happened to me." She ran the fingers of her left hand up through his hair and pulled his face to hers, kissing him hard. "Thank you."

He handed her the keys to his jeep and stepped to the side.

"I can take my jeep." She held his keys out to him.

"Take mine. It'll make me feel like I'm there."

She wrapped her fingers around the keys and nodded. Whatever it takes to get out the door alone, she was willing to do.

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Jackie made it to her appointment with only a few minutes to spare. She'd been nervous about being followed, but relaxed when constant glances in the rearview and side mirrors proved she wasn't.

She signed in and sat in the waiting room to fill out her paperwork.

She glanced around at the other women there. Their stomachs all adorably sticking out at various stages of pregnancy. A few had men with them, holding their hands. Proud papas taking in every second of the pregnancy.

She felt a tinge of jealousy, but reminded herself that Brian didn't even know about the pregnancy, so she couldn't expect him to be here.

When she glanced down at the papers in her lap, she caught sight of the new scar across her wrist. Her attacker had taken something from her. The reminder that she was stronger than her grief. It pissed her off to know that hidden in the raised scar was that tiny dot that meant so much.

She looked away from the scar, not wanting to get upset in the waiting room. When she did, she found herself staring at her own picture on the front of a magazine.

Brian Quinn's Girlfriend in Horrible Accident. Those words were written beneath a picture of her in a wheelchair and Brian pushing her out of the hospital. Her head was down, her face covered with a ball cap pulled low. The bandages on her arm screamed to the world.