“Hey, Presley, I’m going to take over your patients until Cheryl can get here. Can you step out to give me a quick report?”
“Sure,” Presley said and kissed Ariel’s forehead before she stepped outside with the other nurse.
“We’re going to pick up some food,” Phoenix said and gestured to me and Dash. “Flint, you stay here. Duke and Diesel are in the parking lot if you need them before we get back.”
“Make it count,” Annabelle said.
“Of course, doll face.”
I was almost giddy when we left the hospital.
2
PRESLEY
As I sat by my daughter’s bedside, I tried to get a handle on my emotions. I was scared for my daughter, angry at her for putting herself in the position she was in, and embarrassed at the way I reacted to the man who rescued her.
I just couldn’t make myself understand how it happened. It wasn’t that I didn’t think my child was capable of sneaking out or breaking the rules, because obviously she was. But she just wasn’t like that. And we’d talked about alcohol, drugs, and date-rape drugs many times. I was an ER nurse, for crying out loud.
When we talked about me picking up a few night shifts at the hospital, she said she felt comfortable staying home alone overnight and promised not to have anyone over. She also promised to let me know if she was going anywhere.
I thought I was doing okay, but I suddenly felt like a failure as a parent.
“Would you like some coffee or something to eat?” Ember asked and pointed to a table filled with bags of food and cups of coffee.
“Oh, um, yes, please,” I stammered. “Where did all of this come from?”
“The guys went and picked it up,” Ember explained.
“Oh, I didn’t realize they’d left. I’m sorry, I’m not usually so antisocial. Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Annabelle said. “You’ve got a lot going on. Is there someone we can call for you?”
“Thanks, but no. My parents are out of town. If I call them, they’ll come home right now, and I don’t think they need to do that just yet.”
“Come on,” Ink said. “Have something to eat. Aren’t you nurses always telling the family members to eat, sleep, and take care of themselves?”
“Only the nurses who like dealing with hypervigilant, overzealous family members say that,” I said.
“I bet there’s still some truth to it,” Ink said and ushered me to a chair. “You can at least keep me company while I eat.” He pushed a bedside table in front of me and pulled up a chair on the other side. Phoenix handed him a large bag of food, followed by two cups of coffee. “We just got a little bit of everything from the breakfast menu—bacon, eggs, ham, hash browns, grits, toast, pancakes. Help yourself to whatever you like.”
“And biscuits and gravy,” Ember added from across the room.
“Biscuits and gravy, please,” I said.
I was about to dig into my food when I heard one of my coworkers shout for help, followed by, “Page Urology and General Surgery, stat!”
“I’m going to go see what’s going on,” I said and rose to my feet.
Ink reached out and gently grabbed my hand. “You should eat,” he said simply, but it felt weighted.
When I looked down at his hand clasping mine, I thought his knuckles looked red and swollen, but he let go of my hand andpulled his back before I could get a good look. “Okay,” I said and sat back down.
The commotion from earlier died down. From what I could overhear, three guys were found outside the ER. They had been beaten, and one had serious injuries.
No … No.No freaking way.
I tried to eat my meal without looking at his hands. Ireallytried. But I was sitting directly across from Ink. I was working on my second biscuit when Ink reached for a napkin and my eyes went straight to his knuckles. His red and swollen knuckles. I tried to remember if I looked at his hands before they left to get food. If I did, I didn’t notice anything.
