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I make my way to him and squeeze his shoulder. He stands up when he realizes it’s me and I hug him. I can see pain etched on his face. “Man, she’s going to be all right. You can’t think any other way,” I tell him as we sit down.
“She’s pregnant. We can’t lose another baby.” He chokes back a broken sob. My heart stops for a second.Another baby?What’s he talking about? I put my hand back on his shoulder and decide now isn’t the time to ask, he’ll tell me when he’s ready.
It isn’t long before Bree appears with Rhett. He appears ashen and broken. I notice he has blood on him. He must’ve hugged Lucy on the ride over. I glance at my own shirt and see her blood. My blood boils thinking about someone hurting her. If Jade isn’t dead, which I’m sure she is, considering what happened tonight, I’ll make her pay. What the hell did she do to Lucy?
Bree and Rhett both make their way to Sterling, asking about Ivie. I move a few chairs over against the wall to give them some privacy. My ears perk up when I hear Lucy’s name.
“Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Lucy. I’m not getting into all the details right now, but that’s the only secret I had. I swear I had no clue how deep Harlan’s hatred for me went, much less that he involved his daughter in it. Jade has been in our home countless times over the years. I need to make this right, with Ivie, Lucy, and Rayna,” Rhett tells Sterling.
I hope he’s true to his word. I’ve always had him pegged as an honorable man. They continue to talk as I’m lost in my thoughts of Lucy. The doors to the elevator open again and Dean sweeps in this time, worry evident in his features. He asks about Ivie and Lucy. I know why he’s asking about Ivie, but why the interest in Lucy? Does he think since he can’t have Ivie, her sister will be the next best thing? Jealousy runs hot through me. Which is absurd…and new.
“You good?” Bree asks as she sits next to me.
I hadn’t seen her approach I was so blinded by my emotions. It appears Rayna just got here too. She’s Ivie’s mom. “Yeah, why?”
“You had that fierce look in your eye like you were getting ready to take someone down… studying them. You forget I’ve watched you and Sterling spar for years. Heck I’ve sparred with both of you.” She eyes me, not convinced.
Before I can say anything else, the doors to the patient treatment area open. All eyes turn to it—that’s when a wheelchair carrying Lucy is pushed through. Her unswollen eye flicks to Sterling and she makes her way to him to ask about Ivie. When he tells her there’s no word yet, she reassures him. She also thanks him for saving them—then, she finds me.
Even banged up, she’s beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone as beautiful as her. I cringe a little seeing her swollen, black eye and the stitches now in her head, right at her hairline. I need to talk to her and find out what truly happened. I see angry bruising on her arms… looks like fingerprints. She sees where my eyes have landed and tries to hide them from view.
Rhett walks over to her, and Sterling steps back to give them privacy. He puts his arms around her and pulls her to his chest like any loving father would do, cradling the back of her head. I see her small frame shake with more quiet sobs. He stands there holding her and rubbing her back as if they’ve always had a father-daughter relationship.
Part of me wants to take her from him and keep her in my arms, where I know she’ll be safe. I can protect her… help her heal. It suddenly dawns on me—I’m an idiot. I can’t do that. I’m nothing to her. She said so herself to Aaron, the paramedic. I turn away and find Bree staring at me with an amused smirk on her face.
“You like her, don’t you?” she asks. She’s smiling, but I can tell she’s being serious.
I pin her with my poker face. “I’m just concerned. She’s really banged up.”
Bree rolls her eyes dramatically. “Don’t lie to me, Tate. I know y’all went out. I also know you. You don’t give girls a second glance if you’re not on the prowl. So, is that it? Or do youlike her, like her?”
“You don’t know everything about me, Briella. I hate to break it to you,” I deadpan.
Bree shifts beside me, and I feel her presence. “Lucy, how are you feeling?” I ask cautiously.
She sits close to me in her wheelchair. Up close, I can see the dark circle under the eye that isn’t swollen and bruised. “I’m not okay right now, but I will be.” She flashes me a quick smile. “I wanted to tell you thank you, you know for helping save us and…you know.” Her cheeks turn the cutest shade of pink, the cheek that isn’t bruised, that is.
I know she’s referring to me holding her and not leaving her side until she all but told me to. I return her smile and grab the hand that doesn’t have an IV in it. I don’t speak, I just stare into her eyes.
The doors open and Dr. Boyd finally appears and tells us all how Ivie is. She’s stable but lost a lot of blood, and she had to have a transfusion. They were able to remove the bullet which lodged in her hip, and the baby is fine right now, but they’re going to closely monitor her.
We all breathe a collective sigh of relief. A nurse bustles in and makes her way to Lucy.
“It’s time to get you back to your room now,” she tells Lucy.
Lucy nods as the nurse gets behind her to push her away. “How long will you be here?” I blurt out.
“I’m not sure. Overnight at least. I had to twist an arm or two to be in here and wait until we had news about Ivie, so I guess I better go back with the nurse now.” She turns her face away.
I step in front of her and the nurse. “I’ll check in on you before I leave, okay?”
She smiles sadly. “You don’t have to.”
The nurse waits for a moment in silence with us before pushing her gently toward the set of doors she came through earlier. I watch her leave. What’s happening to me? I can’t stay away from her even if I wanted to,and I don’t want to. Something is drawing me to this girl and I’m not sure it’s something I want to examine too closely.
My nurse’s name is Lolita. She has platinum hair and it’s twisted into a knot at her neck. She gets me settled back in my room. “Your boyfriend can visit you or even stay if you’d like.”
I smile at her briefly, “I appreciate it, but he isn’t my boyfriend, and I’ll be fine on my own.”
