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He peeled my arms off him and set me in the middle of the back seat as tears streamed down my face and I gave into the wracking sobs I’d held back since the moment those fuckers had grabbed me. “Shhhhhh, we’ve got you now,” someone whispered over my head.
When I opened my eyes, Rian and Cormac bracketed me on each side. Liam was in the driver's seat, and to my surprise, my father slid into the passenger seat. Gentle hands stroked my hair and held me as I cried out all the terror and misery of the last two days.
“St. Mary’s,” my father barked. “They’re waiting for her.”
34
RIAN
Ginevra looked like hell. Antonio’s family doctor had admitting privileges at St. Mary’s and promised to meet us at the emergency room doors with a gurney. I wondered how big a donation that would cost us, then dismissed the thought. We’d sign away every penny we owned to make sure she was okay.
“C’mon, stay with us a few more minutes, princess,” I whispered into her hair as I stroked her hand, desperate not to let her see my panic that she was passing out. “Sweet Ginevra, brave Ginevra, don’t close your eyes, okay? You have to stay awake. We’re almost there.”
Liam swore at every stoplight and every time we hit traffic.
Cormac met my eyes over her head, worry etched in every line of his face. He ran his fingers over his curls, then resumed stroking her hair and her face, murmuring quiet nonsense, words of reassurance and praise, trying to keep her focused.
Ginevra just cried. Her sobs subsided into silent tears that streamed down her face as she sniffled. I swore softly. There wasn’t a goddamned thing I could do to take away the last two days, to make this better, and it was killing me. It was killing all of us.
We sped into the hospital grounds and pulled up to a door close to the emergency room, where the doc waited with a gurney and small crew, as promised. I unbuckled our girl, wincing when she whimpered at the movement. I pressed my forehead against hers.
“Ginevra, love, we’re at the hospital. We need to move you to the gurney, okay? It’s going to hurt, and I’m sorry.”
She sniffed, then opened up her eyes, her liquid brown gaze full of determination. “Do it,” she ordered, and a relief shot through me to hear the command, the strength, in her voice. For the first time since we realized she was gone, I dared to hope she was going to be okay.
I wrapped her arms around my neck and slid an arm under her knees and behind her shoulders. I pulled her out of the SUV and then carried her to the gurney, as if she were made of glass, terrified that the slightest bump would shatter her into a million pieces. Antonio adjusted the blanket that covered her to protect her modesty.
Medical staff strapped her in with efficient movements as Antonio conferred with the doctor. When they rolled her inside, I jerked after them, intending to follow, only for Antonio to lay a hand on my arm. When I growled at him, he cocked an eyebrow.
“They’re taking her to the emergency room. You can’t go with them,” he said.
Fuck that.I followed the staff to the doors and reminded them she was at the hospital because she’d been kidnapped and tortured. She needed someone to keep her safe, and she needed someone familiar by her side. Liam would murder anyone who disagreed with him, and Cormac was a fucking mess over her. We all were, but this situation called for charm and decisiveness, and that meant me.
When the senior nurse nodded, I flipped a quick thumbs up at Cormac and Liam, then followed the medical staff in. Antonio nodded, then herded Cormac and Liam toward the regular emergency entrance, where they’d wait for news.
The hospital staff wheeled Ginevra to the ER. A nurse gestured for me to sit on a short stool near her head. When her hand twitched toward mine, I grabbed it, rubbing my thumb over her knuckle, giving her what scant comfort I could, knowing it wasn’t enough, that it’d never be enough.
A nurse asked her a few questions, and Ginevra answered, her breath short and her voice weak, as she described what had happened. I struggled to hold back my rage as she explained how she’d been held, how Yuri had beat her and sliced into her. Instead, I stroked her forehead, pushing her hair out of her face.
She squeezed her eyes shut when they slid the IV into her arm, then bustled out of the room.
“Hey, Ginny, stay awake, okay?” I whispered to her, panicking when she didn’t open her eyes again.
Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes and she squeezed my hand, but she didn’t open them.
“Please, princess,” I begged her. She didn’t let go of my hand, but she turned her face away from me, so I couldn’t see her expression, or maybe so she didn’t have to see mine.
“I’m here, Rian,” she whispered after a long and painful pause.
“Okay, love, just stay with me, okay?”
She squeezed my hand, but didn’t answer. When it was time to take her to the OR, the doctor came out to speak to me.
“She needs sewing up in a dozen places. She has a pretty significant blood loss and needs an infusion. It’s only luck he missed an artery when he stabbed her thigh. I want to get some x-rays of her bruises to make sure nothing’s fractured underneath.”
“Fix her, doc,” I implored him, my heart breaking as I imagined what she must have lived through to leave this sort of damage.
“I can patch her body up, but she’s going to need more help than I can give for the trauma.”
