Page 139 of Contentious

“Give me a minute to check. I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you.”

“Hey, you’re Cresley Dane,” a woman said. “Everyone is looking for you.”

“Here I am.”

“Thank goodness you’re all right.”

Cresley nodded as she held on to Ty and tried not to lose her shit while she waited for the nurse to come back.

Five minutes passed before she returned, waving to Cresley to follow her. “I’m so glad you and your little boy are safe,” the nurse said quietly. “It’s been all over the news that you were missing.”

“Thank you. Our friend Carson saved us.”

“That’s what I heard. He’s raising hell asking for you two.”

For the first time in hours, Cresley smiled because she could hear him demanding that his “family” be let in.

“Here they are,” the nurse said. “Calm yourself before you pop your staples, young man.”

Carson visibly settled at the sight of them.

Cresley took the left side of the bed while Ty went to the right.

He held out his hands to them. “There you are.”

“Here we are,” Ty said.

“Are you okay?” Carson asked, his gaze darting between them.

“We are if you are,” Cresley said.

He looked at Ty as he said, “I’m sorry I had to shoot him. I didn’t want to do that.”

“Better him than us,” Ty said.

“Buddy, you shouldn’t have had to… He said a lot of things…”

“I’m all right, Carson. I promise.”

“You were very brave,” Carson told him.

“So were you. I knew you’d get us out of it somehow.”

“You did?”

Ty nodded. “I could tell you were thinking the whole time.”

“I was. I wished I was strong enough to push him out of the car, but I couldn’t risk messing that up. And I didn’t want to kill your dad right in front of you.”

“He’s not my dad. He was never my dad.”

“That’s right,” Cresley said, reaching across the bed for Ty’s free hand.

“What will happen to him now?” Ty asked.

“He’ll be charged for all of it—the stalking, the car incident, the stabbing, the armed kidnapping,” Carson said.