Only You (Stevens Book 12)

Chapter 16

"I'm not going back to Los Angeles!" Mave argued from her hospital bed the next day as she crossed her arms and clenched her jaw.

"Mave, you were pushed down a flight of stairs and drugged all in one day. I don't think it's safe for you to stay here." Sam said through gritted teeth.

They drove Mave straight to the hospital from the restaurant the night before and ran blood work, which determined that she had been given one of the many date rape drugs that were on the market. All they could do for her was to monitor her vitals and let her sleep it off.

Sam had made quite a stir when he entered the emergency room carrying an unconscious Mave Stevens in his arms, and by the time the papers hit the newsstand the next day, he was a household name. 'The Savannah Doctor Who Saved Mave Stevens!'

"If you tell me you don't want me here, Sam, I'll leave. But, if you're trying to make me leave for my sake, then no." Mave was turning red in anger. "I am not going to let her take over my life. She might take it from me in the end, but as long as I'm alive, I'll live it the way I want!"

"I don't want to see you get hurt anymore!" Sam insisted.

"Fine, I'll move back to the house in town if you don't want me at your place." Mave turned to look out the window and away from Sam so he wouldn't see her tears. She got that she was bringing only trouble to those willing to have her around, but if Sam sent her away, it might finish her. She would probably go and stand in the street and wait for Angel to come and finish the job.

"Can I come in?" Henry asked, sticking his head around the door.

"Sure," Sam said. "You can help me talk some sense into her."

Mave could feel Sam's stare fixed on her profile.

"I got the detective in Los Angeles to fax me over the drawing of Angel that Aunt Norah did." Henry handed it to Sam. "Does she look familiar?"

Mave turned her attention to Sam and watched him scan the image, his jaw growing hard. "Is this what she looks like, the woman who hurt you and keeps trying to hurt you?" His eyes met Mave's.

Mave nodded.

"I don't recognize her, but are you sure this is all real?" Sam asked as he handed the image back to Henry.

"What do you mean?" Henry asked as he looked at the image.

"She looks like a Halloween witch. Who walks around in the world looking like that on purpose, especially if they are going to plan and execute a kidnapping?"

"You think this is a disguise?" Henry was thoughtful.

"I think someone like that is easily recognized. The person who has come after Mave the past few days disappears in the crowd." Sam shrugged. "It's just a thought."

"It's a good one, and since we know that you and Mave's relationship is the motivation-"

"What do you mean our relationship is the motivation?" Sam asked, looking at Mave. "I know that it's someone who knows both me and Mave from when we were young, but what does our current relationship have to do with it?"

"When she pushed Mave yesterday, she said 'he's mine' before she ran away. I assume the assailant meant you." Henry said, as he looked between Mave and Sam, confused that Mave hadn't told Sam.

"Come on, Sam, she had to know about us. Why else would she use your name to get me to open the door?" Mave huffed.

"You're telling me this is some jealous woman who thinks I belong to her instead of Mave?" Sam asked as he looked between her and Henry.

"Yes," Henry said, "does that sound like anyone you know?"

Sam shook his head as he watched Mave. "This is all my fault?"

"No, Sam. It's not. It's not your fault that some unhinged woman is running around in the world thinking that you belong to her because you don't. You belong to me and have since we were kids."

Henry started to blush a little and cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable by Mave's statement. If Mave weren't so worried about Sam falling down a rabbit hole of what-ifs, she would have teased Henry.

"This is why I need to stay here. The more she sees me with you, the angrier she gets and the more likely she is to try again!" Mave tried to reason.

"You want her to hurt you again?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"We want her gone, and we have to catch her somehow." Henry agreed.

"You haven't exactly been on your A game, have you? You've had two chances to catch her and haven't managed it yet!" Sam lashed out.

"That's fair," Henry said softly. "I underestimated her, but I won't again. Lincoln has been at the bar all day. He's keeping an eye on Tammy."

"Tammy?" Sam asked in disbelief. "It can't be her."

Henry shrugged. "She had easy access to Mave's drinks last night as the bartender, she's known you since you were young, she knows Mave, and she was on vacation about the time when Mave was taken; it all fits."

Sam frowned and sunk into the visitor's chair. "I don't believe it."

"Nothing's for sure. We're just checking it out."

Henry said his goodbyes and left her and Sam alone.

"Do you really want me to leave, Sam?" Mave asked softly. He hadn't said that he did.

"No Mave. Having you with me makes my days better, but I don't want you hurt, and I definitely don't want you hurt because of me." He shook his head, and his beautiful brown eyes looked so sad.

"Face it, you're irresistible," Mave tried to joke, but he didn't smile.

Mave pulled all but the IV line from her body and stood up, wheeling the saline bag across the floor with her, climbing in Sam's lap.

"You have alerted the nurses to an emergency; they're going to come running in here any minute." Sam shook his head with the ghost of a smile at her rebelliousness.

"Then I had better hurry up," Mave said as she curled up on his lap.

"Hurry up with what?" Sam asked, pulling her close and burying his face in her neck.

"Will you marry me, Sam Evers, and make an honest woman of me? I never want to be without you again." She leaned back and looked into his eyes.

Sam took a deep, relieved breath of air into his lungs and let it out slowly. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question? Isn't that more traditional?" His voice was husky as he pulled her close.

"Nothing about our relationship has ever been traditional?" Mave pulled his face close to hers, awaiting his answer.

"Yes, Mave Stevens, I will marry you." He took her lips in a fierce kiss. "I'll have a diamond and ruby engagement ring, thank you," he teased.

"Don't think I won't buy it for you!" Mave laughed happily.

"So long as it fits your finger, love." He kissed her again just as the door swung open.

"Dr. Evers!" the nurse exclaimed.

"She looked like she needed mouth-to-mouth nurse," Sam broke the kiss long enough to quip, and then he returned to kissing her again.

Mave sighed in delight as she let dreams of her future float through her mind.

Sam was most definitely hers!