Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“He’s awake!” Stella jumps to her feet and rushes to my side.
Sin’s already there glowering down at me. “It’s about fucking time.” He crosses his arms over his chest and looks away. Damn, he must’ve been truly worried. That reaction from him equates to a mental breakdown for a person with actual emotions.
“Where is she?” I peer around the room, my vision a little out of whack but clearing.
“Lucius.” Stella uses a calm tone, one that should be reassuring.
It only causes panic to well up in me. “Evie!” I yell. “Evie!”
A nurse walks in, her sneakers squeaking on the tile floor.
“Where’s Evie?”
“Excuse me?” She checks the beeping machines at my bedside.
“Evie Witherington! Where is she?”
“I can’t give out information on other pati—”
“She’s down the hall. Teddy is with her.” Stella steps in front of the nurse. “But you can’t see her.”
“Why not?”
The nurse finishes her check. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake.”
“Teddy knows.” Sin taps a message on his phone.
“Dr. Vinemont is not his doctor.”
“Yes, he is.” I don’t care what bozo they have assigned to me. No one will take better care of me than Teddy. Not to mention he’ll have no problems prescribing me the good stuff.
“Thanks for your help.” Stella gives her a pleasant smile. “We’re good here.”
Stella clearly isn’t able to be convincingly sweet anymore, because the nurse scowls as she turns and leaves.
“Evie. Tell me.” I stare at Stella.
She glances at Sin.
“Take me to her.” I start reaching for the IV stuck in my arm. “Or I’ll find her myself.”
“She’s in a coma.” Sin says and swipes my hand away from the tubing. “Teddy did chest compressions on you until the ambulance arrived and continued doing them until they got you hooked up to a compression machine. It kept you alive until they were able to do a blood transfusion to stabilize you, then surgery on your leg and arm to stop the bleeds and remove the slug fragments.”
I look around. “How long have I been here? What happened to Evie?”
“Three days.” Stella sits in the chair at my bedside. “You’ve been awake a few times, but you were under anesthesia. She had to have surgery, too, and she hasn’t woken up. They’re keeping her sedated so she can heal.”
“Heal what? What’s wrong with her?” I feel like screaming.
“She had a bad concussion that had gone untreated. Her brain started to swell, and they had to drill a hole in her skull to relieve the pressure.”
I scrub a shaking hand down my face. “Will she live?”
They exchange another glance.
“Will she live?” I yell.
“They don’t know.” Sin reaches up and unhooks my IV bag from the stand. “Come on. I’ll take you to her.”
“He’s not supposed to be moved,” Stella chides.
“If he dies, he dies,” Sin deadpans.
“Too soon.” Stella sighs and curls into a ball in her chair.
Something tells me they’ve slept very little over the past three days.
I try to sit up higher in the bed, and pain ricochets through my body like another bullet. “Jeez.” I groan and lie back.
“You’re barely out of the woods. Don’t get cocky.” Sin maneuvers my bed into the hall, and we roll past room after room.
“Is she going to live?” I feel like a stupid child asking that question.
“She’s a fighter. She’s proven that.” He doesn’t say any more. He doesn’t have to. If it can be survived, then Evie will survive it.
I clench my eyes shut and try to remember what happened. The last thing I recall is her running to me. She was strong enough to run to me. So this induced coma must be precautionary or something. It can’t be that bad.
Sin wheels me into a room at the end near the nurse’s station. Teddy stands, his face haggard, his baby beard growing out in golden hairs.
“Any change?” Sin asks.
“No.” He comes over and helps pull me into the room. “Good to see you awake.” He smiles down at me.
“How is she?” I try to crane my neck up to see her. Once again, the pain punches me in the gut.
“Lie still. We’ll put you right beside her.” Teddy moves the bed around with practiced ease.
When she comes into view, my heart somehow leaps and sinks at the same time. It’s her. Her red hair and fair skin, the pink lips I want to kiss even now. But she’s pale, her eyes taped shut, and her head wrapped in gauze. Dark half-moons show under each eye, and a drain runs from underneath the back of her head.
“Her brain isn’t swelling more. That’s good news.” Teddy doesn’t look me in the eye.
“What did he do to her? How did this happen? She ran to me at that fucking house. She ran. I saw her.”
“She likely suffered the initial concussion from the car wreck. That’s what imaging seems to show, anyway. An initial blow.”