I ripped the curtain open and headed toward the commotion, my body and feet moving on autopilot as I found Artie. Claudia had gotten him pretty good. His face was more swollen than hers, with angry bruises across the bridge of his dented nose and blood still dripping from his jaw.
“That bitch hit me.”
As I watched him thrash around the bed without an ounce of remorse, knowing how the difference of a matter of seconds could have made this the worst night of my life, something snapped inside me, and I lunged for the bed.
“You fucking son of a b—”
I caught the wide-eyed gazes of a few nurses in my periphery, but all I saw was red as I went right for Artie’s throat.
“Nope. Step back, Davis.”
Keith’s voice sounded far away even though he was right in front of me, pushing against my chest as I tried to fight him off.
“I said, step back! Stay with Claudia and let Max deal with it.”
I stopped charging forward and pushed his hands away. Keith was the same chief he always was, the calmest one in the place as he took control of everything.
“If Max is here, why are you?” I spat out when I met his gaze.
Keith didn’t flinch and regarded me as if I had just lost my mind. Maybe I had since all I could still think about was beating that asshole until I broke more than just his nose.
“Artie made a fuss on the way to the station that he needed medical attention, and Max radioed in that he was bringing him here. I came to protect you from doing something stupid.”
“Stupid? How would you feel if it were Maya? Bleeding and lying in the street, and you saw the asshole attacking her, holding a piece of concrete over her head?” A growing lump in my throat cut off my air, and all I could manage was an angry whisper. “If he’d hit her in the right spot—”
“But he didn’t.” Keith’s voice was soft as he put a tentative hand on my shoulder. “She’s here, and she needs you. That piece of garbage is never going to hurt anyone else in my town again, but you need to play ball and do things my way. And to answer your question, if it were my wife or niece or any woman I loved on that street, I’d want to pummel the piece of shit responsible until there was nothing left. But I don’t have the luxury of rage in this job. None of us do. Becoming the bad guy doesn’t stop them, and you know that.”
I took in a steady breath through my nostrils and let it out, attempting to slow my heartbeat enough to stop it from pounding in my ears.
“I remember Larry telling me he installed a camera right in front of the bar. Hopefully, it’s at a good enough angle to see the rock he was holding over her, and we can get him for attempted manslaughter. You’ll come in as a witness and hold your shit together in front of the judge, and this asshole will get what he deserves. My way, got it?”
“Got it, Chief,” I said, pinching the back of my neck as my still-raging pulse began to slow.
“All right. Now let’s go see Claudia, who’s probably worried about you after you most likely ran off like a madman.”
I nodded, heading back to her with Keith stepping behind me.
Leo was holding an ice pack over Claudia’s beautiful, bruised face, adjusting her hand over it when they both turned to us.
“Security came and said they didn’t need my firefighter muscles anymore, so I stayed with Claudia,” Leo said.
“You didn’t kill him, did you?” Claudia asked from behind the ice pack.
“No, I managed to stop the Hulk before he smashed,” Keith quipped and came up to the side of her bed. “How are you doing, kiddo?”
“I’ve had better days, Uncle Keith.”
“I’ll go.” Leo squeezed Claudia’s shoulder. “Yell if you need me.”
“Thanks, Leo. Glad you were a nurse today.” I couldn’t tell if it was a smile or a wince on her face. Watching her in obvious pain almost made me lose it all over again.
“Me too.” Leo’s grin faded as he came up to me. “For what it’s worth,” he whispered, “if he’d hurt Kristina or one of my girls, I would have wanted to chop him into fucking pieces. I wish Keith hadn’t stopped you.”
I managed a weak laugh. “Thanks, Leo.”
He nodded after he closed the curtain behind him and left us alone.
“I’m proud of you.” Keith smiled as he leaned over her bed. “That jerk is a bloody mess.”
