I felt sick, my stomach roiling as I waited for the third gurney.
Please let him be alive. Please.
But I knew right away this time was different.
Jagger had been bleeding — a lot — and Vigo had been motionless. The hospital staff had moved quickly and purposefully to get them into rooms where they could get the care they needed.
But when they wheeled Hawk inside, all of the remaining medical personnel surrounded the gurney, barking commandsand vital signs, their energy frantic and hurried, alarm hanging in the air like poison.
“Prep surgery two…”
“We need to stop that bleeding stat!”
“I’m going to need a crash cart before we even think about getting him into surgery two!”
Hawk’s black hair was spread across the pillow, several IVs already snaking their way into his body when he disappeared with the doctors and nurses behind doors marked with a sign that readTrauma Center.
The hall fell suddenly and eerily silent, like none of it had even happened.
Like the Hawks had never existed at all.
I wasn’t aware my knees had buckled until Bram caught me on the way down.
Everything went black.
4
CASSIE
I woke with a start,panic blooming in my chest, my pulse racing.
“It’s okay,” Maeve said. “The doctor’s here.”
I blinked and jumped to my feet when I spotted the blonde-haired doctor who’d treated me after my car accident standing at the entrance to the waiting room.
I’d spent the first two hours after the Hawks had been brought in pacing the halls of the hospital before finally falling asleep in the waiting room. It was dark on the other side of the glass doors of the emergency room, hard to believe it had only been twelve hours since I’d piled into the G-Wagon with the Hawks to follow Anna Reed’s clue.
“Family of Hawk Cruz, Vigo Keaton, and Jagger Voss,” the doctor called out.
I hurried over to her with Bram and Maeve on my heels. Poe and Remy had disappeared while I’d been asleep.
“I’m… I’m the only one here,” I said.
Guilt washed over me. I’d been so out of it when we’d gotten to the hospital that I hadn’t even thought to try and get ahold of Vigo’s family. I thought of the elegant couple I’d met at theaward ceremony for Vigo’s dad — Graham Keaton and Elise Fairchild — and wondered how I’d get in touch with them.
I’d never met Jagger’s or Hawk’s family, but I’d need to get ahold of them too.
“Hi, Cassie.” Doctor Sterling’s voice was warm and familiar. She’d been one of the few bright spots during my time in the hospital when I’d been swimming through the darkness of my temporary blindness. “I’m sorry to see you again under such difficult circumstances.”
She knew the Hawks. Knew we were together from the days they’d taken up residence in my hospital room, occupying the floor like they occupied everything.
Totally.
Madly.
Tears stung my eyes.
“Are they okay?” It was the only question I could muster.
