Ryer came back a short time later after I had done all my crying and whimpering in pain. He had bags of things in his hands from what I could see from laying on my side on his couch. Ryer was quick to set some of the bags on his table and come over. He moved the pillow from where I had it and moved it lower down before he moved the position of my legs. He didn’t explain why he did, but the pinching feeling in my legs was much less noticeable now. This made me wonder was exactly what Ryer did before he joined Maddox and this group.

He walked away, but came back with another pillow, and he lifted me like a sack of potatoes and stuffed the other pillow under my head and shoulder. He was muttering under his breath when he went back to the table.

“I went a got some things to help with your back.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“You were in immense pain and I needed to go grab some things to help assist you.”

“Why? You know I don’t want your help.”

“Yeah, I’ve got that. But Maddox asked for me to do so. So here we are.”

“I’m sure Alexi and Creed are just as skilled as you, and I don’t need your help. They can help me.”

“Listen Sasha, I have some experience in this so just suck it up and let me help.”

I bit back the urge to tell him he was a liar and just wants to use this to get close to me. Ryer was moving around the kitchen, tucking some things away here and there. I watched him the best I could from the couch. We had never really talked too much more than a simple conversation, but the man had forced a kiss on me and even gone so far as to bite me on the shoulder. I was well aware this man was trying to lure me into his bed. I wasn’t the slightest interested in his offer to fuck him. It wasn’t like I was immune to his ‘southern charm’ either. Ryer definitely had a charm to him, But I wasn’t one to want to sleep around, not even for that charm.

Right now, he was just a thorn in my side who didn’t understand that I wanted him just to back off a little. Closing my eyes, I just relaxed the best I could and listened to the sounds of Ryer moving around in his space.

He was quieter than Alexi and Creed, so I had to focus a little harder to actually hear him moving around.

“Sasha when you are hungry let me know and I can prepare something for you.”

I just lifted my arm and gave him a thumbs up. He didn’t respond he just went back to what he was doing.

“Also, I have plenty of gel ice packs for your back as well. When you feel you can move around again, I’ll show you everything I picked up for you.”

I let out a deep breath and relaxed the best I could into the couch. It didn’t take long for sleep to start to creep into all my senses. I didn’t even bother to fight the incoming sleep, hell I felt like I needed it.

The feeling of someone shaking me awake was enough to pull me from sleep. I would have lept up off the couch, but I couldn’t. I was being held down.

“Shhh. Sasha calm down. I had to wake you and I didn’t want you to jump up off the couch. You need to take some more pain pills before your last dose wears off.”

I tried to roll over, but he held me in the same spot still.

“Sasha, you can't roll over, you will hurt yourself.”

Opening my eyes entirely Ryer was knelt down, his hands holding me in place. He had a pill bottle and a cup of water beside him.

“I’ll help you up.”

I didn’t fight him. I just wanted to take the pills and go back to sleep. I took the pills and swallowed them, before trying to lie down again. But Ryer held me up.

“Let’s get you something to eat.”

“Let me sleep.” I hissed out.

“I can’t, You can’t be sedentary for too long, you need to move around and strengthen your spine again.”

“Just who the hell made you my doctor!” I snapped, tired and upset now.

“Sasha, I’m not your doctor, but trust me, I know what I am doing.”

“I don’t fucking believe you.”

Ryer sighed before heading to a desk and pulling out files. He brought a single set of files with him back to the couch before he handed them to me. The files were old and I could see some of the gold sealed certificate peaking out of the top folder.

Opening the folder, the certificate was labelled to Ryerson Kelly and was for therapy and rehabilitation.

“I thought you were Ex-Special Ops.” I snapped.

“I was, check the rest of the files, you will find some of my awards and my discharge notice.”

I did exactly as he said and found exactly what he said I would.

“Now do you trust that I know what I am doing?”

“For the moment,”

Ryer took the paperwork back, it was clear why Maddox wanted me to stay here. Well, Ryer was the kind of help I needed, I didn’t want it. Not from him at least. I watched Ryer take the papers back to his desk and put them back in the drawer where he had pulled them from. Ryer removed the pillows from around me when he came back. He then helped me up off the couch, and pain shot down to my toes, making me want to vomit.

“Sasha, breathe.”

“Shut the hell up!” I hissed out in sudden pain. I knew to breathe, but it was hard to do when I was being paralysed with levels of extreme pain.

Ryer didn’t say another word, he just helped me to the kitchen table and sat me down in one of the chairs. It was covered in what looked to be some kind of heat pad. He had turned it on in advance to pulling me to shit on it. He stuck the remote in my hand and headed to the stove. I watched him pull out pots and pans.

“You’re not allergic or sensitive to anything are you?”

“Not that I am aware of.”

I was trying my best here to remain civil with this man, even after he assaulted me. In my current state there was little I could do, and I knew I needed his help. But accepting his help was going to be the hard part.

“After dinner, we need to place some covered ice packs onto the surrounding area avoiding your spine directly.”

The heat on my spine felt great, it was soothing. I sat and watched Ryer chop and cook all kinds of ingredients. A few sudden dings went off, Ryer wiped his hands on the cloth by the sink before pulling out his phone.

“Ryer speaking.”

He moved around the kitchen, stirring what he had made all well speaking on the phone. They switched back and forth in Italian and English; it was clear Ryer only knew enough to get by and that was it.

“I’ll swing by and check it out as soon as I’m done making Sasha something to eat.”

The person on the phone responded, and then he hung up. I sat here intrigued by the phone call, but he didn’t even share who he had spoken to.

“Who was that?” I asked finally, My curiosity getting the better of me.

“Just work.”

His answer did little to satisfy me. My phone, which had been in my pocket when I arrived back at the complex today seemed to have gone missing. I checked all the pockets I had before clearing my throat making Ryer turn to look at me.

“My phone?”

“Oh, it’s over here, plugged in, it fell out of your pocket on the couch.”

I forced myself to stand up. And slowly, I walked to get my phone, though my back was stiff, and I had breakthrough pain walking around right now. Ryer turned, sighing deeply seeing me coming to get my phone.

“You could have asked for it, I would have brought it to you.”

“I don’t need—-”

“I got it, Sasha, you don’t need my damn help.” The frustration and annoyance that laced in with his perfect southern accent pleased me in a way I never knew it would.

I was getting under his skin. Much like he had done to me for weeks and it only seemed fair.

“Good, You’re learning,” I said snatching my phone off the counter and disconnecting the charger. There was nothing on my phone, a few pictures and music mostly, a tv app, but that was about it. None of the texts or calls I ever got was exciting and everything was password protected if it was ‘important’ so I didn’t feel bothered that he had possessed my phone.

Using my thumbprint to unlock the phone, I had a few texts from Creed and Alexi who both seemed to try to reach out at various points in the day to find out if I was doing ok. The last text from Creed said ‘Don’t worry about missing our texts, we checked with Ryer and found out you were napping. Hell, you probably need it.’

I texted Creed back finally.

‘Hey sorry I missed your texts, I definitely was sleeping. I’m going to relax here for the rest of the day, but I’ll stop by tomorrow to chat and stuff.’

Creed was quick to respond, and I appreciated that.

‘Just let Alexi or I know and we will come to save you from Ryer at our earliest convenience.’

I snorted and Ryer turned around, our eyes met, but he didn’t ask a single thing about it. He just went back to cooking, and I looked over the figure of the man, taking in as many details of him as I could quickly before he turned around again.

We might never be friends and this might be the worst turn of events, but at least I could pay him back for all the annoying shit he did to me before.