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Levesque awoke with a start, his eardrums hurting due to the screaming.
"What the hell...?" He literally jumped out of the bed, furious that he'd been wakened out of a peaceful, pleasant sleep. It had been probably the best sleep he'd had in years, as he'd never been able to truly rest in that damned hellhole of a prison.
Limping as quickly as he could manage to Nora, he raised a meaty hand and tried to keep from bellowing too loudly at her. If she were to fuck everything up for him...
"Shut up!" he yelled. "Just shut the hell up, you dumb bitch!" Although it was dark in the room, there was enough light filtering in through the window that he could make out her form in the chair to which he'd tied her.
Unbelievably, she ignored him. In fact, she picked up the frequency of her shouts and screams.
"Help me! Get me out of here!!"
Her voice was finally cut off as Paul brought his hand down, slamming it across her face in a vicious slap.
Nora's head was rocked to one side, her breath leaving her lungs in a gust as pain shot through her. He had hit her pretty hard, and even if he'd tried to be gentle about it, the blow still would have hurt due to his much greater strength. And that was when she realized there was blood trickling. She couldn't do a thing but start to cry, as her hands were still bound.
"Good... You finally shut up. You idiot, look at what you caused yourself," the burly man barked at her. He flipped the bedside lamp on and instantly noticed the blood. Her nose was bleeding. Most likely, he'd broken it. Well, that was her own damn fault, but it was more trouble for him. She would probably beg, plead and cry for him to take her to a doctor to get patched up.
She cried so softly, her eyes downcast. She couldn't even look at him. She hated that she was giving him the satisfaction of her tears, and the knowledge that he'd hurt her, but she couldn't help it. And apparently, people minded their own business at this fleabag hotel. In spite of her screaming moments earlier, not a soul had come by to knock and see what the trouble was. They probably thought they were having rough, wild sex. It disgusted her.
Levesque shook his head as he glared at his former girlfriend. How pathetic she was. He made a quick dash to the bathroom, retrieving a white washcloth. Once back in the main portion of the room, he approached the brunette and pressed it to her face.
Nora's eyes went wide, and she started to shrink back as soon as she felt his large hands touching her. For the briefest moment, she thought Paul was going to try to suffocate her with the washcloth. However, she realized then, with relief, that this wasn't the case and he was only trying to clean the blood off of her.
Her crying ceased, though she stared up at him fearfully, unsure as to what he might do next after her little outburst. She felt horrible. What a big mistake she'd made in screaming. She was bleeding and in pain - a lot of it. Her guess was that he'd broken her nose when he'd backhanded her. And if the bleeding didn't stop, she knew she could end up choking on blood in her sleep - if she slept. She swallowed hard at that horrid thought.
She had to get out of her terrifying predicament. Somehow, some way, she had to outsmart Paul and run away from him first chance she got.
*
"Adam?"
"Hmm?" He could barely utter the reply, as he was nearly asleep at the wheel.
"Why don't you let me take over?" Jay asked, reaching from the backseat to touch him on the shoulder. "You look tired, and I'm wide awake. Come on."
"Okay." He got a brief glance at Amy in the passenger's seat as he pulled over onto the highway's shoulder. The redhead was sound asleep, her head turned slightly toward him and against the headrest, her lips slightly parted. At least she was getting some rest, which was more than could be said for him.
Adam and Jay met one another outside as they switched seats and driving duties. The shorter blond man clapped a hand to his best friend's shoulder.
"Get some sleep, man. I'll be okay," he assured him.
Although Adam had some worry that the other man had to be very exhausted himself, he was in no shape to argue. He noticed their friends' vehicle pull up slowly behind them as they waited, and got into the backseat. He stretched out as best he could, trying to get comfortable. With his height, it wasn't easy, and he was tired enough that he probably could have fallen asleep if he was standing.
Jay glanced into the rearview mirror, taking view of Kurt, Stephanie, Shane and Torrie in the car behind them. Kurt was behind the wheel now, but he noticed the Olympian suddenly switching places with his girlfriend. He idled on the shoulder until he saw that they were ready, then led the way.
Fortunately, the drive to the next motel was relatively short. The blond man hadn't realized just how tired he truly was until he became aware of the fact that he'd yawned about eight times in two minutes.
He pulled the car into a blessedly empty spot in the small lot, thankful that Stephanie had easily found one
just across the street.