“Carter?” Hollis asks.
“Did you call for one of Doc’s ambulances?”Tennant asks instead of answering.
“Should be with you any moment,” Hollis responds.
I grip Boston’s fur so hard it has to hurt, but she doesn’t make a sound. She just stares up at me with adoring golden brown eyes. I keep my attention on her face, hoping it’ll help. It doesn’t.
Not when Tennant asks,“Roman still with you?”
“Yeah…” Hollis tells him. I see him glance at me out of my peripheral vision, but keep my attention on Boston.
“Take me off speaker, Hol.”
“T—tell me,” I say, loud enough to be heard.
“Roman—”
“Tell me, Tennant!” I snap.
Tennant huffs, and for the first time in all the years I’ve known him, he hesitates.
“Ten…” My voice gives out, but somehow he knows what I want to say.
“If he lives…it’ll be a fucking miracle,”Tennant says.
His tone of voice doesn’t change, and for that I am thankful. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have Tennant beinghimself, even in a situation as dire as this. Somehow…I convince myself that means Dad’s going to be okay.He has to be okay.I can’t lose the only parent I have left. Not like this.
“Fuck! I have to go. Ambulance just got here. I’ll update you when I can.”
“Ten…” I don’t know if I actually make a sound.
The last thing I hear before the line cuts off is:“I got him breathing again…”
Fire roars through me as I double over, my still-healing ribs not liking the sudden shift of position at all. But everything in me crumbles, and even though I hear my name being called, everything is so far away, so heavy and hard, and all I want to do is die.
My head spins and nausea rises up as my vision dims. I’m barely aware of falling out of my chair, or the hands that grab me as a furry body shoves at my front. But none of it matters…nothing does except the sweet, painless darkness I fall into.
“Fuck!” I rush over to where the medical professionals are working on Carter, my heart pounding uncontrollably.Fuck. If something happens to our co-ruler… Not to mention how it would impact Roman.
“Get the hell off me,” Marcus snarls at one of the medical professionals, as he refuses to give them space. Gritting my teeth, I pull him away from the scene. He turns on me and shoves me away. “Leave me be! I need to be with Carter!”
Blinking, I stare at him in shock. I’ve only seen Marcus like this one time before and that’s when he lost his daughter. Shaking my head, I snap out, “You need to calm the fuck down. They’re doing their job. Now, tell me, where are you hurt?”
He stares at me blankly. “I’m not. The fucker stepped in front of me. I told him to let me protect his ass, that he’s tooimportant, and what does he do? Sacrifice himself. I…I can’t lose him.”
Tears roll down his face and I swallow hard. This whole feelings thing…not my department. I try to find Tennant, without being too obvious, because fuck knows he’s better at emotions than I am. Marcus snorts and turns to head back toward Carter, but I catch him by his arm.
“Seriously, you need to let them do their job. They can’t work around you.”
He whirls around, raising his hand like he’s going to strike me, but before he can, Tennant’s hand catches his wrist, and Marcus goes down. Pressure points. They’re a thing.
With savage efficiency, Tennant yanks Marcus’s arm behind his back, pulling up until he’s almost bent all the way to the ground. Anything to relieve the tension. For a moment, I worry he’ll break Marcus’s arm, but Joel jogs over in time. Taking in the situation, he merely stares Tennant down. Grumbling, Tennant lets Marcus go, shoving him roughly.
“Keep your hands off Lio.” The words are soft, and almost snatched away by the ambient noise around us, but seriousness drips off each syllable, and fuck if it doesn’t make me hard to know he’d put me first.
Marcus stays down, curled over and holding his arm. I bend down, worried about my friend—even if he was an ass, briefly. “Hey, you need to get looked at. Then head back to the house, so you can keep track of what’s going on with Carter.”
Sighing, he nods and I offer him my hand. Carefully, he grasps it and lets me pull him up. “Thanks, Lio. I’m sorry…”
