Page 36 of Nothing At All

A CT scan. He was hurt enough they were running tests, and I’d been annoyed he was late, wasn’t responding to me.

I couldn’t string coherent thoughts together, let alone spoken words. Vic let me sit in silence for the remainder of the trip to the hospital.

She parked behind his patrol car, which sat astride the sidewalk near the entrance. Something about that familiar car, sitting where he’d left it, sent a shudder through me.

He’d parked for something he did every day. Strode into the hospital. And didn’t walk back out.

I followed Vic up the steps. The small waiting room stood empty, and the heavy door to the left of the receptionist’s desk swung open as she entered. Two familiar blondes exited, Nicole stumbling to a halt as her gaze skittered over me. Already ghostly white, she paled further.

A voice I didn’t recognize drifted from the small room behind the glass window at the receptionist’s desk. “You know she needs to check out–”

“It’s okay.” Nicole’s cousin’s voice rang cold and hard. “I’ve got it.”

“You don’t have–”

“I’ve got it,” she ground out.

“It’s on you.” The receptionist laid down a sheaf of papers with a sharp smack, a sound dripping with disdain.

“That’s right.” The cousin lifted her chin. God, she was a nasty piece of work.

Eyes swollen and red, Nicole shrank into herself. “This is because of me–”

“Get it together.” Her cousin wrapped a hard hand around her arm and dragged a cold look over me. “I’ll drive you home.”

Nicole glanced at me, miserable, and her cousin pushed her toward the door.

“Nasty witch,” Vic muttered.

“You said it.” The woman at the desk shook her head, mouth twisted in disgust. “I didn’t, even though we both know it’s true.”

“This is Gallagher’s girlfriend.” Vic gestured at me. “Can you buzz us back?”

A lock clicked, and Vic reached for the door. She peeked around the doorway to the receptionist’s room. “How’s Williams?”

“Sprained ankle.” She pursed her lips, although relief gleamed in her big brown eyes. ““He’s had worse.”

“Glad he’s okay.”

The small talk itched under my skin. All I wanted to do was get to Dan, even though at the same time I wasn’t ready for what waited on the other side of the small maze of hallways stretching before me.

Vic ushered me through the twisty halls between the waiting room and the ED, where rooms opened off of a central area with a nurse’s station.

An EMT sat on a chair next to the countertop, icing his ankle. Josh stood at the doorway to room three, forearm propped on the frame.

My stomach clenched.

A male voice from the room became more distinct as we drew closer. “ . . . good news is your scans are clear. We can take that collar off.”

Dan murmured, his words unclear, his voice raspy. My stomach dropped.

He was really hurt.

We reached the door, and Josh straightened.

“ . . . will numb you up so I can set your nose.”

I hovered in the door. Dan lay on the bed, white undershirt visible above the hospital blanket. Blood dotted his collar in rusty spots. His uniform shirt was draped over the back of a chair, his boots on the floor below it. Somehow, even with his broad shoulders, the bed made him look smaller.