She shook her head, crying, refusing to leave Evelyn.
“I will take care of her. I promise. Now, please, both of you, go!”
Aurora gave Evelyn’s hand one last, desperate squeeze before obeying. I watched until both my daughters were back in their room and the door clicked shut, shielding them from the nightmare.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered to Evy, quickly assessing the wound. It was a mess of fabric and blood. I couldn't tell how bad it was.
I kissed her forehead, then carefully gathered her into my arms. As I carried her down the stairs, police officers swarmed in. One tried to stop me, shouting about an ambulance.
“I’m a doctor!” I barked, not breaking stride. “I’m taking her myself.”
An officer fell in beside me, radioing ahead to the hospital as others rushed upstairs. On the front lawn, I saw the pale, shaken nanny.
“The girls are in their room! Go to them!” I commanded.
Then I was in the back of a patrol car, cradling Evelyn, using my suit jacket to staunch the bleeding as the siren wailed.
“Logan…” she breathed, her voice barely audible.
“I’m here, love. I’m right here. You’re going to be okay.”
“The… girls…”
“They’re safe. And you’re going to be fine so you can go back to them. Do you hear me? You have to be fine.”
She didn’t answer. Her body had gone limp in my arms.
The short drive to New York Center Hospital felt like an eternity.
*****
Chapter forty
EVELYN
The girls were fine…
That was the last, comforting thought I had before consciousness slipped away in Logan’s arms.
I had never known a fear so consuming. Staying in the car, as Logan had asked, was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. The moment I saw the babysitter running terrified from the neighbor's yard, I broke. I rushed to her, demanding to know what had happened and if my girls were safe. She assured me they had been asleep when she escaped.
But I couldn't just wait. The moment the police cars appeared at the end of the street, I ran inside.
Logan had said to wait for the police. I decided that "on the street" was close enough.
When I reached the top of the stairs and saw Rory in the hallway, with that monster leveling a gun at her, I didn't think. I just acted, throwing my body in front of hers.
What came next was a searing pain, the warm, sickening feeling of blood, and the profound relief that my girls were safe.
I don’t know how long I was out, but when I woke, a dull ache pulsed in my left side. I blinked at an unfamiliar ceiling, confused and disoriented, until a familiar hand gently covered mine.
“Hi, love,” Logan said, his voice instantly grounding me.
I turned my head to find him sitting in a chair beside my hospital bed.
“What happened?” I asked, my voice thick and slow from medication.
“You were shot. But you’re okay. The bullet didn’t hit any vital organs. I removed it myself.”
