“Do whatever you have to do.”
He nods and drags his hand down his face. “The skullisfractured.”
No.
Baby, no.
My whole world is in that hospital bed. My life doesn’t work without her. She has to be fine.
This is all my fucking fault.
Why did I listen to them? Why did I cave when Lena ganged up on me with a friendagain, only to have her end up in this hospital bed?
Fuck, I don’t deserve her. She shouldnotbe with me.
“Get the tests done. Her mother will be here in less than four hours, and we need to have answers for her.”
“I’m on it,” he says, and I run beside the gurney as Lena’s wheeled down to an imaging lab. I have to stand on the other side of a window while the test is run, and then she’s with me again as we return to the room, where Ryker and Willow wait.
“Oh, sweetie,” Willow says as she takes Lena’s hand and sits next to the bed. “Gideon, it happened so fast.”
“Yeah, well, that’s usually how it works, baby girl.” The guilt is eating away at me more and more with every passing second. “It’s my fault.”
“Whoa.” Ryker shakes his head. “No, it’s not.”
“It one thousand percentis. Goddamn it, Iknewbetter. Until that threat was gone, we were to stay put, and I fucked up. I can’t work with a clear head because I’m too in love with her to think straight. She shouldn’t be in my care. I’m not safe for her.”
“We talked you into it,” Willow says softly. “What now? Does this mean that it’s over?”
“No, it means that four men are dead, but they were just foot soldiers.” I can’t stop pacing. “But now we know who, and I know who the fucking mole is.”
Bishop should be taking care of this as I speak, even from the air. They’ll have to land Air Force One in Missoula, and then they’ll come to Paradise Valley by helicopter.
As I stand at the foot of her bed, nurses bustle around, cleaning the wound on Lena’s head and bandaging it up. They change the fluid bag when it’s empty, and they take several vials of blood.
What for, I have no idea.
Finally, the doctor comes back, his face still in grim lines.
“The bad news is, there is definitely a small fracture in the skull, and a contusion on the brain. It’s caused some swelling. However, I don’t see a bleed anywhere, which is good news.”
“Is it normal for her to still be unconscious?” Willow asks, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Absolutely. Her body is protecting itself. Until that swelling goes down, it’s best if she’s asleep. In fact, if she were to naturally wake up now, I’d put her in a medically induced coma.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
I can’t stand any of the words coming out of his mouth.
My Rebel, my baby, is lying there, hurt and in a fuckingcomabecause of my incompetence.
“Rest is the best thing for her,” he continues. “We’ll keep monitoring her closely. I’ll come talk to her parents when they arrive.”
“I’m shocked he told you so much,” Ryker says.
“I fucking threatened him,” I reply with a sneer.
“Gid, come hold your girl’s hand.”
