I turned sharply. One of the trauma nurses stood there, slightly breathless.
“He’s deteriorating. BP’s crashing.”
Everything inside me locked back into place instantly. The waiting room shifted around me. The Kings straightening. Watching. Every eye suddenly fixed on my face again. Waiting for meaning in words I hadn’t even spoken yet. Suzy made a small sound beside Indie, panic flashing across her face.
“No…”
A hand wrapped gently round my bicep, fingers placed but not tightening.
“Save our brother, doctor.” I didn’t miss the command in the president’s voice.
I glanced at Ryan, at the hazel eyes laced with anxiety, at his pursed lips and the tension in his body, and I felt that same tension in the weight of the room behind me. And expectation pressing into my back. Save him. Fix him. Bring him back.
Ryan’s eyes never left me. Not threatening. Not demanding. Trusting me. And somehow that felt heavier than all the rest combined. I glanced once more towards the doors as the tannoy echoed somewhere deeper in the department, calling teams to theatre.
Then I straightened my shoulders and turned back towards the chaos.
Chapter Twenty Nine
I watched Sophie slip back through the doors, a nurse flanking her as she gave instructions I couldn’t hear, her hands moving animatedly.
In the waiting room, it grew quiet. Brothers talking amongst themselves in low, hushed voices. Fellow patients peeking in our direction and quickly averting their eyes when one of us caught them looking.
Indie stood with Suzy, comforting her with an arm around her shoulders as she buried her face in his cut.
“Don’t like this,” Barry the Blade droned from just over my left shoulder.
We both stood away from the crowd. Both stood watching the doors Sophie had stepped back inside.
“What don’t you like, Baz?” I asked, knowing that he was going to tell me exactly what it was anyway, even if I hadn’t asked.
“DCI Mercer’s kid treating one of ours.”
“What the fuck do you think she’s gonna do?” The familiar bubbling started in my chest.
“She’s too close. To this. To us.”
“Fuck’s sake, Baz. You want to know how fucking close she actually is? She’s in my bed. In my shower. She can’t get much fucking closer. And right now, she’s the only thing Magnet has. The only thing we have.”
His voice turned colder. He didn’t back off. “Indie know about all that…closeness?”
“Aye.”
“And what does he think about it?”
But I didn’t really know. Because I hadn’t asked, in case he thought the same thing.
“She’s not her father, Baz,” I said now, softer.
“You know what that old fucker was like. You more than anyone.”
I did. But Sophie couldn’t choose her parents, and I couldn’t choose the person I loved. Had always loved. Even when he’d got between us.
“Does Mercer know you’re fucking his daughter again?”
“Careful, Baz,” I warned. “Officer or not…”
“It was an honest question, Reap. Does Mercer know?”
