“Thank you,” Heath told her—which was just as well, since I couldn’t look away from the dark circles under Gage’s flickering eyes.
“Gage,” I said again, mournfully. I’d known he was badly hurt, but seeing him like this was somehow worse.
Another pained groan forced its way past his lips. His fingers twitched hard against mine.
“That’s it,” I told him. “C’mon. Wake up for us, please? We’re here. Everything’s okay.”
Everything wassonot okay. And that fact was probably coming through the bond, loud and clear.
“Where—?” Gage rasped, his hazel eyes blinking open. He stared at the ceiling, his gaze unfocused.
“You’re in the hospital,” Heath said. “You’re pretty beat up, but the doctor should be here soon to give us more details.”
Gage’s eyes widened in alarm. He sucked in a sharp breath, and secondhand pain flared through the bond. “Hotel,” he gasped. “Tony. Is... is he—?”
I squeezed his hand hard. “He’s all right. He will be, anyway.”
“You saved him,” Heath added, in a quiet voice. “You saved Tony’s life, Gage.”
FORTY-SEVEN
Gage
MY HEAD FELT ALL KINDSof fucked up, like I’d taken bad drugs and wrapped my car around a utility pole. But it sounded like Jez had just said Tony was okay... and also like Heath was near tears.
I tried not to think about the way parts of my body weren’t working right, and other parts felt numb. One thing at a time.
“Say that again?” I asked—not sure why my voice sounded so weak and out of breath.
The small hand clasping mine gave another squeeze. “You saved Tony. Part of a building fell on you both, but you’re going to be okay.” Jez said. “Knox, too.”
The jittery fear that had been coming through the bond was beginning to ease a bit, and that, more than anything else, made me believe that maybe everything really was going to be all right. Then, the sense of what she’d just said penetrated through the layers of fuzz surrounding my brain.
“Th’ what didwhat?” I slurred.
The details of whatever had happened at the hotel were still swimming in and out of focus, bits of memory darting to the surface like shiny silver fish, only to sink back into the depths a moment later.
Heath still sounded shaky when he took up the tale. “We think someone set off a bomb on the roof while Jez and I were outside. The ceiling over the banquet area came down on top of the guests. We found you protecting Tony with your body, while Knox was holding up one end of a concrete slab that would have crushed you both.”
That was a lot of words all at once, but it made sense with the bits and pieces I remembered before everything went black. I’d have to remember to buy Knox a nice bottle of whiskey at some point.
“And by ‘someone,’ you mean...” I began.
“Probably Lorenzo Vozzina,” Jez said grimly. “No proof, though.”
