His eyes were glassy when they met mine, so much fear and anger in his gaze, I barely recognized him. His touch was still sweet and the only thing grounding me at the moment.
“It may be a long night, but I’ll be right there with you. Okay?”
I nodded, clutching his arms when the street started to spin around me again. I was fairly certain the sirens behind me this time weren’t only in my head. I needed to be patched up and go to sleep—and then figure out where the hell my perfect country life went wrong.
26
JUDE
Beinga cop had come easy to me from the beginning. I was a firm believer in following rules and doing everything by the book, never having to think twice about it on any shift. Even on the worst days, I saw things in black-and-white, not allowing much gray because it became a slippery slope. Keith always loved to say how when cops get sloppy, criminals get away, so you needed to keep your emotions in check.
Then I saw the woman I loved bleeding on the ground, and I didn’t give a shit about process or rules or anything else but tearing the son of a bitch responsible to fucking shreds.
A blinding rage shook me as I rode in the ambulance to Kelly Lakes Hospital with Claudia. Even after what had happened, she was almost herself, joking with the paramedics on the way.
Her injuries were minor from what I could see, but I could tell she was shaken up, even if it hadn’t fully hit her yet.
All I could think about was the slab of concrete Artie had been about to pummel her with before I’d thrown him off her and what would have happened if we had gotten there five seconds later.
I balled my hands into fists at my sides as I followed her stretcher into the ER, the thought filling me with even more fury. They settled her behind one of the curtains and assured us a doctor would be in shortly to treat her.
“What are you doing all the way over there?” she asked in a scratchy voice and crooked her finger at me.
“I’m here, baby.” I came up to the side rail of her bed and picked up her hand, holding it between both of mine as I brought it to my lips. “I actually think you did break his nose.”
“Sounded like it,” she said, lifting her shoulder in a slow shrug. “Eric taught me that move as a kid. Strike fast and hard, and if you land it right, elbows can be lethal.”
“My beautiful badass.”
My stomach sank when her smile faded.
“I’m proud of you.” I swiped the hair away from the dried blood caking across her forehead.
“I went down swinging, at least.”
“Shit, Claudia.” Leo winced as he closed the curtain behind him.
“I heard about an attack by the bar and just texted Kristina to see if she’d heard from you.”
He set down the chart and came up to the side of the bed.
“The doctor will be right in, but let me have a look.” He took her face in his hands, examining the cut across her forehead and the growing bruise along her cheekbone. “I’ll get you some ice for that. I don’t think you’ll need stitches, but I’m sure they’ll order some X-rays. It’s slow tonight, so we should be able to get you in and out quickly. Any blurry vision?”
“Not now, but a little before. I’m mostly just ugly.” She uttered a sad chuckle.
Leo smiled and shook his head. “No way. How’s the pain on a scale of one to ten?”
“Five? Maybe?” She darted her eyes to me, a smile trying to pull across her mouth even now. I was too keyed up to do anything but nod back.
“After you see the doctor, I’ll get you something.”
She smiled back at him when he squeezed her shoulder.
“Leo,” one of the nurses called as she peeked inside the curtain. “I need your help. We’re trying to treat this guy with a broken nose, and he keeps thrashing around. We need your firefighter muscles.”
“Thrashing around? Why?”
“It seems like he’s pissed because he’s handcuffed.”
