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The SUV took an abrupt turn and my stomach clenched, bile burning the back of my throat. James held me tightly against him, bending over me so that he surrounded nearly every inch of me. I curled tightly into myself hoping to hide as much as I could in his embrace.
“Breathe, baby. We’re almost there.”
He wasn’t shouting now, he was whispering in my ear, trying to hide the fear in his voice. But he couldn’t hide the rapid pounding of his heart. With my face against his chest, I couldn’t miss it.
The SUV screeched to a stop. Someone opened the door for James and he hurried out.
“What happened?”
“Someone broke into her place and chased her down a fucking alley. One of them is bleeding but we can’t tell who.”
“Over here.”
I blinked my eyes open as they rushed into a room, shutting the door behind them. The only people in the room besides me and James were Liam and the doctor. He stepped toward me and I whimpered, pressing myself farther into James’s arms. He put his hands up.
“It’s okay. I’m Doctor O’Connor. I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to see what’s wrong.”
I curled my fingers into James’s shirt and his hand curled around mine. Seeing his hands covered in blood snapped my focus onto him. His jaw was tight, his whole body tense, but he softened when he looked down at me.
“Sean is a friend, baby. Let him help.”
I nodded once, pressing my face against James’s shoulder. Dr. O’Connor moved slowly, trying not to startle me. I watched him check James’s hands, they had small scratches on them but not deep.
“It’s coming from her. We need to get her into a gown so I can see what’s going on.”
James tightened his grip slightly and I felt him nod. Sean and Liam left the room after Sean set a hospital gown on the bed.
James moved slowly, placing me onto the bed. He squatted in front of me, brushing his thumbs over my cheeks. “I’m going to help you change, okay?”
He kept his face soft, his voice calm and low. I nodded, letting him pull my arms out of the sleeves of my hoodie but when he tried to pull it off I cried out and suddenly all the pain that my brain had been blocking slammed into me. My ribs and feet hurt, my lungs felt tight, and my whole back throbbed. He stood, calling Sean back into the room.
“I tried to pull it off but I think I’m hurting her. Can we cut it off instead?”
Sean moved to one of the cabinets against the wall, pulling out what looked like a pair of scissors. He approached me slowly.
“I’m just going to help get this off, okay? Let me know if it hurts.”
He ran the sheers up each arm to my neck. The front came off easily but the back hurt.
“It’s glass. She must’ve fallen on it. It doesn’t look too deep but it probably hurt when you tugged on it. Tell Liam to get a nurse in here.”
When James went to leave, I protested, reaching out for him. He came back instantly, one hand grabbing mine and holding it, one hand cupping the back of my head.
“I’ll go. You stay here.”
Sean hustled out of the room. James held me against him, dropping kisses onto my head.
“You’re doing so good, baby.”
Sean came back with a nurse, both disappearing behind me without a word. They whispered to each other before she stepped around to my side, giving me a gentle smile.
“I’m going to set up an IV now, okay? That way we can get you some pain meds.” She talked me through every step she made. I barely felt the needle prick, the rest of my body protesting so much it felt like nothing. She was quick, the IV in place and the pain meds administered before I could blink.
I felt my eyelids grow heavy, my body sagging against James.
“It’s okay, Elizabeth. It’s just the meds. You rest, we’ll take it from here.”
I barely felt them removing the rest of my sweater before I closed my eyes and darkness swept over me.
