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Adam barely winced as the doctor stitched up his torn hand. It wasn't that he felt *no* pain in spite of the local anesthesia, but he'd gotten pretty good at not reacting to pain a long time ago.
He thought about Amy Dumas, knowing she was out in the hospital's waiting room. She had absolutely insisted on staying until he was ready to leave. She had even wanted to come into the room, but the nurse hadn't allowed that since she wasn't family or his wife, or even girlfriend.
As the doctor patched him up, the tall blond man briefly reflected on his life. His childhood had been anything but happy. For the first eight years of his life, he'd had a wonderful, loving mother, but no father - the man had never married his mom and had walked out when she'd been six months pregnant. And then, Mike had come into their lives when he was almost six... Before then, it had always been Mom and him. Mike had changed everything. Unfortunately, it hadn't been for the better.
The man had been okay for the first few months. Adam had even liked him. He'd bought him and his mother gifts, taken them on nice trips... But then, it had all fallen apart when he'd begun showing his true colors - *abusive* colors. Mike would yell, scream, curse... It got to the point that Adam would run to his closet to hide out so as to drown out the horrible sounds. A lot of times, he even fell asleep on the floor of the closet, along with a blanket he'd brought with him.
Then, after about a year, Mike became physically violent toward his mother. He'd only really seen a slap delivered to her for the longest time, until Adam wandered outside to the yard when he was seven and a half. They were out there, by the garage, arguing about the garden hose, of all things - and that was when he saw Mike *punch* her.
He hadn't done anything... Well, he'd burst into tears and run back to the house, but that was it. He'd always hated himself for that, for not standing up to that monster and defending Mom that day.
"All right, you're good to go now."
The doctor's voice penetrated his bitter thoughts. Adam looked down at his hand, which was now sporting not only stitches but a bandage as well.
"Try to keep that dry for the next week. You can come back next Friday and we'll remove the stitches."
The tall blond man nodded as he glanced up at the man.
"Thank you."
A moment later, Adam headed out of the room and down the hospital corridor. As he approached the waiting room, his gaze instantly caught sight of her. The beautiful redhead was sitting off to one side of the room, her arms wrapped around herself. She appeared worried or anxious. A television set was tuned to CNN and was bolted up high for the view of all occupants of the room, but the woman was not paying any attention to it.
Amy raised her head and immediately caught his gaze. She quickly got to her feet and approached him, meeting the blond man halfway, her eyes taking notice of his wounded hand.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her hazel eyes filled with concern as she met his green orbs.
Adam nodded.
"I'll be fine." He grew silent as they walked together, side-by-side down the hospital hallway to the exit doors.
The redhead eyed him with concern, awe and some other emotions she couldn't quite name. She was still so overwhelmed by what had happened so short a time earlier. This man had saved her life... They hardly knew each other, were basically strangers... Yet, he had risked his own life to save hers. She got this notion that she should do something, thank him in some way, somehow. But she had no idea how she could possibly repay him for what he'd done.
"Are you going to be able to get where you need to go?"
Her thoughts were startled by the man's sudden question. This time, he was eyeing *her* with genuine concern. They had rode an ambulance to the hospital, so they had no means of transportation on hand.
"I... I guess so," she replied. She felt uncertain, but she supposed she could walk back to her house. Thank goodness she had insurance for both her car and the photography equipment she'd lost in the fire. Luckily, she had a lot more supplies where that came from, safe at home.
Adam stared at her wordlessly, with extreme intensity. Inside, he was roiling with a myriad of emotions. He knew where he had to go, who to approach once he got away from here. He had questions, and he needed answers.
"All right," he finally said. "I really have to run, but thanks for coming with me. See you around."
The redhead opened her mouth to speak, but she was so utterly surprised that no sound emerged. She raised her hand in a wave, although he was already briskly walking away.
"Yeah... See you around."