Nash ignored my protests that I was fine, that I wanted to change clothes, hauling me into his arms and carrying me to his car. I finally shut up as he buckled me in, my lungs seizing in a new series of coughs. Maybe they were right about the hospital.
My brain couldn't keep up. Reaching across the center console of the car, I took Nash's hand. "Is Tyler dead?"
"I don't know. If not, he's close to it. It looked like Hawk got him in the chest."
"You didn't see?"
"I had my eyes on you," Nash said, squeezing my hand in his.
"I'm sorry." I wasn't sure Iwassorry, but Tyler was Nash's brother. Claudia's son. I wasn't sorry for Tyler, but I was sorry for his family.
Echoing my thoughts, Nash said, "I'm sorry for my mother. That's the best I can do."
We fell silent for the rest of the ride to the county hospital. They were ready for us, bypassing the regular procedure and taking me straight to a semi-private room, where they stuck an oxygen mask on my face and treated a burn on Nash's hand.
"Sterling," I asked the closest nurse. "My sister? She had a head wound, And Len–" I paused, shook my head. "I can't remember his last name. Also a head wound, worse than Sterling's–"
The nurse cut me off. "They're both in imaging. Your sister was conscious, the male patient was not. I can't tell you more than that. For now, we're going to check your pulse ox, get an x-ray of your chest, and take a look at your head. Then we can go from there."
I opened my mouth to ask another question. The nurse held up a hand. "No talking. Lay there, breathe in that oxygen, and rest. When we have more information, we'll share it with you."
I kept my mouth shut. When Nash's hand was bandaged, he took a chair beside my bed, sending me a look when I tried to say anything. I might have closed my eyes for a few minutes. I heard the ambulance arrive with Bryce. Another one came a few minutes later. I thought it might carry Tyler.
Mostly, we waited. I got my x-rays, was thoroughly checked over, and pronounced mostly okay. Griffen and Hawk finally showed up with West, who took our statements.
They stayed long enough to tell me that Sterling was awake, with a hell of a headache, but otherwise okay. Len was still unconscious. He was stable, but had some swelling in his brain. Bryce was in surgery. So was Tyler. I was staying overnight, whether I liked it or not.
I didn't argue. I wanted to know what was going on, and if I was here, I could badger the nurses in person. After West left, I closed my eyes for a few minutes, Nash's hand in mine. When I opened them, Griffen was there, his expression grim.
"Sterling? Len?" I asked, my heart in my throat.
Griffen didn't make us wait. "Sterling is going to be okay. Serious concussion. They want her to stay another day. She'll need to take it easy for a while, but she'll be fine. Forrest is here. She won't see him, and he won't leave."
Sterling had dumped Forrest when we discovered he was using her for access to the Sawyer family in a bid for revenge. To our surprise, Sterling convinced Royal and Tenn to keep Forrest on as CFO at the Inn, though she refused to have anything to do with him.
"And Len?" I prompted.
"Still unconscious. They may have to transfer him to a bigger hospital if the swelling in his brain doesn't go down. We'll see."
"We shouldn't have–" I began.
Griffen cut me off with a shake of his head. "This is part of the job. No one made Len do anything he didn't want to do."
"What about my brother?" Nash asked. I squeezed his hand, knowing he couldn't possibly feel as neutral as he sounded. Before anything else, Tyler was his brother.
Griffen let out a breath. "He's dead, Nash. I'm sorry–" He cut off, then shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry it worked out this way. I'm sorry for your mother."
"Me too," Nash agreed, letting out his own sigh. "I hate that I have to give her this kind of news over the phone."
"And Bryce?" I asked.
"Still in surgery," Griffen said. "That's all I know. I'm going to go sit with Sterling. I'm just down the hall if you need anything." To Nash, he added, "I assume you're staying?"
"Until they release Parker, yes."
"Nash–"
"Can it, sweetheart. I'm staying."
