Grigori was already on his feet, halfway across the room before she even finished speaking. She looked up from her board, her gaze going wide at the filled room, but her eyes were instantly trapped on the man about to run her down.
Her trained gaze ran over him, and she asked hurriedly, “Are you injured?” She actually scowled, turning to glance at the cops in the room as if they had done something wrong before turning back at Grigori. “You should have checked in if you’re injured.”
Grigori shook his head, his hair flying out around his head. “No, I’m not hurt. I’m Grigori Kozar.”
Her gaze widened a little, and I could have sworn a smile tipped her lips before she stated, “Come with me, please.” She turned and opened a door on the wall next to the wide entrance of the room.
They stepped inside, and I asked, “She’s got Grigori listed as a contact?”
Zane answered softly, “Yes. And me. But I think his was just the name the EMT’s had to give when bringing her in. I’m sure he rode with her in the ambulance.”
I snorted. Yeah. He probably shot the driver so he could be the one pushing the gas pedal to get her here as fast as possible.
Zane stated, “Dr. Benedict can be hard to read, but I think Ember’s fine. She owns half this place so I would imagine the doctor would be a little more upset if Ember died on her table.”
My head snapped to him. “What? She owns the hospital?”
Zane shrugged. “The name’s Donovan Hospital. The Mayor owns the other half.”
My mouth snapped shut, and I glanced at Daniil. He didn’t look at all surprised, and I knew he had heard Zane. I would love to see the goddamn report he had on her. I knew Cole and Brent had left everything to her when they passed, but I guess it hadn’t occurred to me what ‘everything’ was exactly. Well, at least since she owned the place, she could get away without filing a report for coming in with gunshot wounds. I was betting the file was already ash.
Minutes later, the door opened, and the doctor exited. “As soon as she’s awake, you can see her.”
Grigori followed her out, nodding, his face carefully blank. He watched her, and pivoted, slipping into the shadows when the doctor started herding the cops together, chewing them out, Grigori apparently tattling, and confirming Benedict’s assumptions that the cops had not, in fact, asked Grigori if he were injured. And while this chew down occurred, Grigori went to an elevator just outside the entrance of the waiting room. I stared at him in silence, speculating what the hell he was doing as he pressed the “Up” button. No one said a word as he disappeared into the elevator after it arrived, the doors closing. I blinked, watching the numbers climb until it stopped at the twelfth floor.
Just as Benedict finished her harping.
Zane snickered into the silence, his gravelly chuckle filling the tense quiet.
I glanced at him, along with everyone else, and he waved his hand. “Sorry. Just remembered a joke.”
Right.
And we waited. Again. The only break in the jumpy quiet was when Zane’s cell phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket, placing it at his ear without looking at the readout, and before he could say anything, I heard Stash yelling over the line. I started to snicker, close enough to hear most of his rant. Zane tried to speak, but Stash kept screaming. Apparently, he had gone to the house and found all the bodies but no one else there. He wasn’t pleased, to say the least. But his reasoning wasn’t because of the carnage or even being worried about his friends missing whereabouts. He was upset because no one had cleaned up the ‘damn mess’ before going out. And not telling him where the new fun was to be had.
There was a pause in Stash’s tirade—probably taking a breath—and Zane stated quickly, “We’re at Donovan Hospital where Ember was taken.” He hung up on Stash without another word.
I started snorting harder, falling back against my chair at the absurdity of my evening so far. The sun surely had to come up soon because this hellish day had to end sometime.
A half hour after Benedict had spoken with Grigori, a nurse came into the room—now empty of browbeaten cops—saying loudly when he saw it was full, his eyes only slightly widened, “Grigori Kozar?”
Zane cleared his throat. “He stepped out.”
The nurse looked perplexed for a moment, and then asked, “Who else is here for Ember Lerrus?”
The room raised their hands.
The nurse’s mouth dropped, and he stated quickly, “She’s awake now. I can allow four of you at a time in her room. Decide amongst yourselves who’s going first.” He studied us, rubbernecking, waiting in the silence that extended.
Zane stood, and I darted up as fast as I could with my pregnant belly, wanting to thank her as soon as I could—and see with my own eyes that she was all right. Daniil and Roman also stood. Well, that was easy. No arguments needed.
The nurse motioned for us to follow him, and we did, waiting in front of the elevator. When we entered, he hit the button for the twelfth floor, and there was a pause as the doors shut before we started chuckling and shaking our heads. Grigori was already up there somewhere. No clue how he knew unless he had peeked at the chart Dr. Benedict had held, but he was already there with Ember, no doubt.
The nurse looked nonplussed as we tried to contain ourselves, but it was late, and we were all starting to come down from our high and shocked systems. A little laughter wasn’t a bad thing right now. Zane even joined in as the door dinged open to a busy nurse’s station, but no Grigori in site. How the hell he got past this eagle-eyed station was beyond me because we all got the hairy eyeball. Their hostility only placated when they saw the nurse with us.
The nurse explained Ember’s injuries, which were extensive, but had been taken care of by Dr. Benedict. He motioned down the hallway, stating, “She’s in room 1217.”
We thanked him, and he went back to the nurses’ station, leaning down and started to…what appeared to be…gossip with his co-workers. Probably telling them about the ‘mob’ downstairs. I almost giggled at my own little joke.
