When she tried to push him away he shoved her so hard that she fell against the pavement and hit her head on the concrete. Before she lost consciousness, she felt him wrench her rings from her finger.
*****
“How is she?” Both Talia and Rosalee came rushing into the private waiting room. Thomas had his back turned towards the door, his hands shoved inside his pockets. He turned to them swiftly, a bleak expression on his handsome face. He'd been in a meeting when he'd gotten the call and he'd stood there for a moment before rushing out and going to the hospital.
“They're still examining her. She was downtown and was mugged. The person took her jewelry. The worst part of downtown and that was where she found herself. What the hell was she doing there?”
“Maybe feeding some homeless person,” Talia said dryly. “It’s true, Mother,” she added when Rosalee gave her a warning glance. “Your wife bleeds for the hopeless and downtrodden. Have they caught the person?”
Thomas nodded. “A drug addict. They caught him trying to pawn the jewelry nearby. He's in custody.”
They looked up when the doctors came in. “How is she?”
“Concussed.”
“The baby?” Thomas asked, holding his breath.
“The baby is fine. Your wife will be out of it for a little bit and she'll most likely wake up with a headache, but she'll be fine.”
“Thank you. I would like to go in and sit with her.”
“Of course.”
Thomas turned to his mother and sister. “Go on back. I'll be staying until she wakes up.”
“Don’t be too hard on her, darling, she is who she is,” His mother said, putting a hand on his arm.
“I'll try and remember that when I tell her what I think of her actions,” he said with a slight smile.
*****
Donna woke up a few hours later with a splitting headache and to a darkened room. She opened her eyes slowly, trying to bring the room into focus. A groan escaped her as she tried to move her head and Thomas immediately sprang to his feet. He'd been watching her and had no idea that he'd fallen asleep.
“Donna?” He sat on the side of the bed cautiously, his eyes scanning her face.
“Where am I?”
“You don’t remember? You had an accident downtown. You were mugged.”
“Oh.” She groaned as she struggled to get up.
“Don’t.” He held her back down. “I'm going to call the doctor.”
“Our baby?” she whispered.
“Thankfully, the baby is okay.” He started to get up, but she held onto his arm.
“I know I shouldn't have gone into that area—”
“It’s too late for that now.” He shook himself free and pressed the button to get the doctors into the room.
“Please talk to me.”
“We'll talk later when you aren't in pain,” he told her a little brusquely. The doors slid open and a team of doctors came in. “I'll go and get a cup of coffee.”
He sat in the doctor’s lounge with the coffee cradled between his palms. The adrenaline that had flooded his body on hearing the news about her had left him and he was now faced with crushing weariness. On his way to the hospital, fear had gripped him so much that he'd been unable to function and that was why he'd been happy that he'd had someone drive him instead of him driving himself. The call had paralyzed him! The thought of losing her had been more than he could bear, and he'd been gripped by the worst fear in his life! He knew that she was rash and impulsive and altogether a bleeding heart, but she had to realize that the minute she took on his name, she'd become a whole different person and couldn't very well go wherever she pleased! He'd been tied up in meetings all day and hadn't gone to check on her as was usual. He knew that she had a meeting with the decorators but that was in midtown—he should have insisted that the woman come to meet her in the office. What the hell was she doing in that seedy part of the neighborhood? He tossed back the awful swill that passed as coffee in the hospital and got to his feet. He'd left the room because he was afraid that he would say something he would regret. Even now, he wasn't certain he was rational enough to face her.
*****
“The doctors said they were keeping me overnight to make sure that I'm okay,” she ventured when he came back into the room. Her dark brown eyes scanned his face and saw the tension there, knowing instinctively that he was very upset. “I know it was stupid of me to go downtown, especially to that area, but I had a sudden craving for calzone and I remembered they sell the best kind.”
“They don't deliver?” he asked tightly as he pulled up a chair next to the bed. He wasn't touching her, and she suddenly felt the need to feel his arms around her.
“I wasn't thinking.” She spread her hands helplessly. “I noticed the guy at the side of the building, but I didn't pay him any mind. I just went in and out and didn't really notice my surroundings. I'm sorry Thomas.”
“Well at least you hadn't gone there to feed the homeless.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you have a tendency to think that you alone can save the world and right every wrong there is. Even if it means putting yourself and our baby in danger,” he told her coolly.
“Look, I get it that you're angry that I ventured into that part of town where no Hoffman is supposed to go—”
“You think that is why I'm upset?” his eyes glittered dangerously as he stared at her. “I was in a goddamned meeting when I got the call that my wife was lying on the sidewalk downtown. Do you have any idea how I felt at that time?”
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
“Are you?” he got to his feet abruptly. “Why say you're sorry when you're going to do it again? I was scared spit-less Donna! I had no idea what I was coming here to find, and I couldn't stand it. Do you get that?” He shoved his trembling hands into his pockets and walked out of the room!
Chapter 14
“Could you go and find him and see if he's okay?” Donna asked her sister-in-law, who had come back to visit.
“He does better alone when he's mad.” Talia looked at her shrewdly. “And I take it that he is mad. You scared him. I've never seen him so frightened before. Then again, I've never seen him react around a woman like he does you. I've never seen him in love. You strip away the untouchable look from him and I think that he isn't comfortable being vulnerable, but he is where you're concerned.”
“Thank you for making me feel guiltier than I felt before,” Donna said dryly.
“You're welcome, darling,” Talia said with a grin. She glanced at her exquisite watch and got to her feet. “I actually have a date.”
“Anyone I know?”
“Someone I've been friends with for years. We're both single and going into something tentative.” She leaned forward and kissed Donna on the cheek. “My brother loves you; he just needs sometime to calm down.”
“If he isn't in here in the next fifteen minutes, I'm going to find him and piss him off some more,” She warned. “Any word on the guy who mugged me?”