Chief nodded and made his phone call.
He looked at her closely. “Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“I’ll walk with you to the exit.”
As she walked, she didn’t look back. She couldn’t. If she did, she might not leave. Loving Cap meant not endangering him anymore, no matter how much it hurt to leave him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Pressure, not pain exactly, but an unfamiliar tightness in his abdomen, woke him. His heavy eyelids wouldn’t open. A dull ache spread with every breath he took. Slow and steady beeping echoed through the fog in his head. The sharp scent of disinfectant assaulted his nostrils.
Hospital.
The word landed with clarity and confusion.
He shifted and instantly regretted it.
Comforting warmth radiated from his shoulder.
“Don’t move. Rest,” a soft, familiar voice stated.
His throat was too dry to respond.
He forced his eyes open.
His mother leaned over him, touching his shoulder. Concern laced her warm brown eyes.
“Mom.”
“You’ll be alright. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.”
“Hey, son,” Dad said as he stepped into his line of sight. “You ruptured your spleen. The doctor said you were lucky, and he repaired it, but you were in surgery for a long time.”
That explained the discomfort in his torso.
“You scared us so much. Just like your brother that time. You two are going to be the death of me,” his mom said and then kissed his forehead like she’d done when he was six years old and had hurt himself.
“Luck is doing a lot of work here. Wouldn’t you say, Hunter?” Cici’s voice sounded on the opposite side of the bed where his parents stood.
Cap rolled his head to look at her. She stood next to their brother, who had a dumb-looking smile on his face.
He focused on his brother and swallowed a couple of times to moisten his throat.
“Where’s Emma?”
“She’s safe.”
That didn’t answer the question he asked.
His heart jolted.
“Where is she?” he asked again.
His brother hesitated long enough for Cap to realize the answer wasn’t one he wanted.
His mother squeezed his shoulder, and he turned his head toward her.
