She rasped out one more word, her voice thinner than air.“Damian.”
Then she went completely limp in his arms and her eyelids fluttered shut.
Chapter33
Christian stood in the hallway, arms braced on either side of the doorframe, staring into the clinic room like he could will the machines to do their damn jobs when too often they’d failed in his life.In clinics and hospitals a million miles away from this one, in dirt and sand, blood and eventual death.But he was here now.Home in Alaska.
Nixi remained unconscious, a pale figure swallowed by hospital sheets and shadows.Oxygen cannula in place.Bandages on her arm.A burn on her neck just starting to blister.The monitor beeped steadily, showing normal vitals, but quiet.Too quiet.
He hated that sound.It was a false comfort.Machines could lie.He’d seen them do it before—steady vitals until they flatlined in the middle of a breath.
Amka sat outside the exam room, blanket draped around her shoulders like armor.One knee bounced.She appeared calm but a tear tipped over onto her face.
Christian’s jaw locked.
Someone had just tried to kill her.Again.
He clenched his fists and exhaled through his nose.He wanted names.Faces.A reason.But mostly, he wanted blood.Whoever had planted that device, whoever had set that fire—they hadn't missed by much.If Amka hadn’t shut the door from the kitchen when she went into the bar, she’d be dead.
He forced the thought down.Buried it like a live wire.
May stepped out of Nixi’s room, chart in hand.Her scrubs were clean now, hair pulled back.Professional.Controlled.Not the woman passed out at the bar two hours ago.“She’s stable,” May said, her voice clinical and direct.“The smoke inhalation isn’t critical, but she’s hypoxic.There’s swelling in her airways.She needs to stay here under oxygen and observation.I’ve set her fractured radius.I’ll sedate her if she starts to panic again.”
Christian exhaled.“How long?”
“At least overnight.Maybe longer.I’ll know more after the next scan and blood gas.We’ve started fluids.She’s going to be weak for a while.”
He looked over her shoulder at Nixi’s still form.“She said Damian’s name.”
“And she spoke Russian.Just who the heck is this woman?”May asked.
Christian slowly shrugged, the tension pulling tight between his shoulders.
May tucked the chart against her chest.“You need to take Amka home.”
His gaze snapped to her.
“She’s not burned.Not concussed.But her cortisol is off the charts and her blood pressure is riding a spike that’s going to crash sooner than later.”May’s voice didn’t waver.“You keep her upright any longer, she’s going to fall on her face.If you want her safe, get her horizontal with a blanket and water.”
“Got it.”
May turned back into Nixi’s room.“Take my rig tonight, because I’m staying here.I’ll call if anything changes.”
The outside door opened and Steve the influencer guy helped Lorrie Warner inside.The widow leaned heavily against him, and she’d gone stark pale.
May hurried toward them.“What’s happened?”
Steven handed the woman over.“We were by the pool tables when something exploded in the kitchen, and a mug fell off one of the shelves above us and hit her on the head.She seemed fine, but then she passed out after we finished helping Dutch lock up.”
May put her arm over the woman’s shoulders.“Come on back to an examination room.Let’s take a look at you, um?—”
“Lorrie,” the woman whispered.“I came up here to identify my husband’s body.I just want to take him home.”
Christian stepped back, dug out his phone, and moved toward the far wall of the hallway.He scrolled to Damian’s name to call.
One ring.Two.Voicemail.
He hung up.Tried again.Same result.
