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“I’m sorry, sir,” the receptionist says getting our attention, “but all I can tell you is she went into surgery a little while ago. The doctor will be out to speak with you all as soon as she can.”
I grind my teeth, breathing heavily. We already knew that shit. The receptionist continues to stare, like she’s unsure if I’ll need a doctor of my own. “How long will the surgery be?” I ask, my chest expanding and deflating like a ton of bricks.
“I don’t know but I will notify the doctor's team to send someone out to update you all ASAP, okay? I wish I could help more but I don’t have the authority or the information.”
I mutter a thanks and park my ass on one of the green chairs, my weight heavy against it. Everyone else follows suit, Lexi sitting next to me, while Gabe and Jax make their way across from us. There are about ten other people in the waiting room, some together some alone, scattered into their own circle of doom.
“I had no idea he was hitting her,” Lexi says, her voice cracking. “How could I not know, Damian? I’m supposed to be her best friend. I only knew about the verbal abuse and begged her to leave. I should’ve done more, but I—I just didn’t know what.” Her body breaks into a tremble and she buries her face into my shoulder and sobs.
I drape an arm around her, not having anything else to give in return. No tears of my own, no words of comfort, no empathy. I’m barely holding on, just a bomb ready to detonate, taking out everyone in its path. I need this doctor to come out and tell me what the hell is going on before I go and find out on my own.
Lexi lifts her face up, sniffling while wiping her eyes. “I called her mom before I got here. She’s on her way.” She leans her head back against the wall, clearly not expecting a response.
The double doors open again but this time a tall, slender woman walks out, probably in her fifties and wearing navy scrubs.
“I’m looking for family of Lilah McDaniels.”Finally.
Lexi jumps up getting her attention. “Right here!” The doctor walks over, glancing at each one of us, her face stern but sympathetic, as she delivers what I suspect to be bad news.
Chapter 20
Damian
“Hello, I’m Dr. Martinez. I’m sorry we kept you waiting.” She looks at each of us, her brows wrinkling, the lines between them standing out prominently. “I know how stressed you must be but this is where we are right now. Ms. McDaniels suffered a traumatic injury to her nose, which caused it to break requiring immediate surgery. The surgery will take about three hours.” Lexi draws in a sharp breath while I try to squash the rage seeping into my veins. He hurt my baby, and he hurt her badly. He’d better hope they find him before I do because I’ll kill him, I’ll drain the life out of him slowly, until he begs to die.
“I know this is upsetting but we will do everything we can for her.” She jams her hands into the pockets of her scrubs as she continues. “There was also a hematoma in her nose that required drainage, but there were no complications.”She could’ve died on her own blood.Oh fuck.I push my fingers into my eyes, the anger within my body growing.
The doctor stares at me for a second as she clears her throat. “Her left cheek suffered trauma as well, but nothing is fractured, which is good news. She does have a bone bruise there, however, but that will heal on its own. There is also a small nick on her neck, which has been cleaned up and bandaged. I want you all to be aware that she has extensive damage to her face. One of her eyes is partially swollen shut and there are black and blues around both eyes, not just from the incident, but from the surgery as well.”
“Oh Lilah,” Lexi cries.
“Shit.” I think that was Jax behind me, but everything sounds muted as my heart pounds noisily within my ears.How could I let this happen?
“I’m sorry for upsetting you all but I don’t want anyone to react with shock in front of her.”
“We understand, Doctor,” Lexi whimpers.
“My other concern is a possible concussion. She has swelling on the back of her head so I will be keeping a close eye on that. If she does have a concussion, I suspect it’s mild. However, we will monitor it just to be sure. The CT scan thankfully revealed no brain bleed.” I cup my mouth, the muscles inside me spasm, ricocheting throughout my body until it feels as though my bones will snap.
“Once she’s released, she will need someone to stay with her for a few days. Does she have anyone who would be willing to jump in and help?”
“She has me. I’ll stay with her,” I say. I don’t know where her mother lives, but with that piece of shit on the loose I’m not letting her out of my sight.
“Okay. Very good. I will be back with another update after the surgery is complete.” She walks back inside, and I pray like hell she can help Lilah. She doesn’t deserve any of this. She deserves to smile, to be taken care of, and to be loved.
I ball my hands into tight fists, turning to the guys needing them to mobilize and start a hunting party. His parents have plenty of resources to help him get out of the country and it’ll be a cold day in hell before I let that happen. “I appreciate you guys being here but—”
“You don’t have to say it man,” Gabe says, cutting me off, “we’re off to find him. I texted Samantha and a few others earlier to help with the search. She texted us the addresses of all the homes his family owns, and a few members of the team have already began looking.”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “She also contacted the private plane company they use, so if any member of the family decides to take a sudden vacation, we’ll know about it.” He clasps my shoulder as I release a deep breath, feeling a little bit of relief. I have no doubt our team will locate him.
If someone is out there, Samantha will find them. She’s our killer hacker and bomb expert, who joined the company when it first began. Ash is fucking screwed. I wish I could see his face when he’s captured.
“We’ll find him brother,” Jax adds. “I promise you that.” His eyes swear an oath, one I know he’ll carry through or die trying. “You just stay here and take care of your girl. We’ll keep you posted.”
“I need to know as soon as you find him.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll send you a picture.” An evil smirk breaks across his lips. “And I’ll make him nice and pretty for you.” I hope Ash feels every bit of pain she felt when he beat her without mercy. His time is coming.
