“I’d take that as a compliment if we didn’t look more like twins than cousins.”
I chuckled. “Go see if they’ll keep you updated. I’ll sneak into the observation room.”
He slapped my back and moved away as I searched for a set of surgical scrubs or a lab coat.
30
HAYDEN
Declan chased after Jackson’s gurney as I closed my eyes. The sight of Jackson’s blood pouring out of his open chest onto the floor as they rushed him to surgery would never leave my mind. It would haunt me like some of the missions I’d been on. Like the image of the helicopter getting further and further away as I plunged to earth and the water sucking me under until everything went black.
I stood in front of Katie’s room, next to Heidi, my arms crossed over my chest. Trying, and failing, to figure out where and how things went so fucking wrong, but there was no use. Somehow, they gained access denied to the team without some strong-arming.
“Hayden?”
I turned toward Lucia as she came out of Katie’s room.
“Where’s Scott?” I asked.
Our phones buzzed with an incoming notification. She flipped her screen around, showing me the text from him saying he was with Foster and Declan.
“Good. How’s Katie?”
Lucia looked back over her shoulder at where the doctors and nurses surrounded Katie.
“She’ll be okay. The chief is blowing my phone up.”
I pulled mine out and, yep, same. I flashed my screen at her, and she sighed.
“What are we gonna do?”
“Ignore him. We don’t work for him. The label hired Holt. We came at their request. Walker Holt signs our checks, not Conrad Carter. We don’t owe him an explanation.”
“Has he called your dad?”
“Not that I know of. And if he has, Dad’s probably not answered. I love that old man, but he spends his days thumbing through photo albums, staring at pictures of my mom. He retreated into himself when I enlisted and it became worse after the shit with Mara and my accident.”
“Does he even know you got married?”
“No. I answer if he calls, and if I’ve not heard from him in a few weeks, I call him, but he never stays on the phone for long. And when he does, every question I ask is answered with a story about Mom.”
Before she could comment, Celeste and a doctor came out of the trauma bay, the glass doors sliding shut behind them.
“How is she?” I asked.
The doctor looked at Celeste, who waved at me, Lucia, and Heidi. “They’re part of Katie’s security team and covered under the POA.”
“Okay. Given that the security company has medical power of attorney, I can say that Katie has suffered a severe head injury. Looking at the wound, I feel confident she hit her head when she fell to the ground.”
“So, she hasn’t been shot or hit with anything?” Heidi asked.
“Not that I can tell from the injury.”
“What’s next, doc?”
“Well, as soon as we get her scans back, if there’s nothing more concerning than the concussion, we’re going to move her out of the trauma bay until she awakens.”
“Okay. Sounds good. Thank you,” I said, shaking the man’s hand. I turned to the women surrounding me and asked, “I know it’s early yet, but have you heard anything?”
