I stared at his face.There was still powder smeared faintly along his arm, like chalk.
My chest tightened until it hurt.“Hey,” I whispered, because I didn’t know what else to say.“You better not die on me.”
His eyelids didn’t flutter.He didn’t squeeze my hand.Nothing.I reached for his fingers anyway, wrapping mine around his, careful of the IV lines.I needed to feel life under my palms.
His skin was warm.
Alive.
I leaned closer, voice shaking.“I should’ve turned around.”The guilt was gnawing at me.
A nurse near the door cleared her throat, a gentle reminder of time limits.I straightened slowly, squeezing Lamonte’s hand once.“I’m gonna fix this,” I murmured.“I’m gonna find him.And you’re gonna wake up and call me an idiot like you always do.”
Still nothing.But I said it anyway, because I needed to believe words had power.When I stepped out of the room, the hallway felt colder.
I walked back toward the main waiting area for the ICU where Nita was, my mind already spiraling toward Char.
Because Lamonte was breathing, yes.
But Char—Char had come within inches of never breathing again.And I had to look at her.I had to hear her voice.I had to know she had life in her too.Nita was pacing when I found her, arms wrapped around herself like she was holding her body together by force.
“How’s Lamonte?”she demanded.
“Alive,” I stated.“Being transferred to ICU.Sedated.Critical, but alive.We’ll be able to have visits in blocks of time once they have him moved to this area.”
Nita’s eyes squeezed shut.“Thank God.”
Then her gaze snapped to my face.“Now take me to Char.”
“They still might not let you in,” I said gently.“But I’m going to her.I can get in under the need for a report.”
Nita’s expression sharpened.“So you can see her but I can’t?”
Anger flashed, hot and unfair, and I didn’t blame her for it.“It’s an active investigation right now.I’m not doing it to hurt you,” I said, voice low.“By now they have posted an officer outside her door.They’re also limiting visitors because she coded and because they’re trying to keep the environment controlled.I’m using the only leverage I’ve got for us both.”
Nita’s lips trembled.“Tell her I’m here.”
“I will,” I promised.“I swear.”
She grabbed my wrist again, eyes shining.“Dante, please.If she wakes up and she’s scared?—”
“I’ll be there,” I said.“I’ll be there.And I’ll make sure she knows you’re here waiting to see her.”
And I meant it, even though part of me didn’t know how to be there without breaking apart.The ICU doors opened with a hiss.Char’s room was dim, lit by soft monitors that blinked green and blue.The steady beep of her heart rate was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.
She lay in the bed like she was already gone and her body hadn’t gotten the message.Her face lacked the color it normally had, bruises bloomed along her throat, dark fingerprints stamped into her skin like a signature.
My stomach turned.I stepped closer, hands shaking.I would make him pay.For every bit of pain he put her through, for what he had done to Lamonte, yes, he would pay.
There was an IV line in her arm, another in her hand, oxygen cannula under her nose.A bandage covered the inside of her upper arm, right where the skin was tender and thin.
Injection site.
Rage rose in me so fast I thought I might choke on it.
A nurse came by the glass door to her little area.She looked at me, questions dancing in her eyes.
“I’m officer Dante Verdone.I was on the scene.Just checking in on the victim.Needing a statement at some point.”
