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They fucking failed.
“Paige.” I collapse to my knees in front of her.
It takes a moment for her to look up at me. When she does, her eyes are glassy with tears. But she still reaches for me.
I grab her hands and kiss her scraped knuckles. “Tell me you’re okay.” Before she can answer, I look over my shoulder and yell at anyone and everyone who might be listening. “Get Dr. Mathers down here immediately!”
“She’s already on her way,” Konstantin assures me.
I’ll thank my cousin for that later. Right now, Paige is all that matters.
“Paige, look at me. Are you okay?”
“R-R-Rose.” Her voice is cracked and dry. “S-she… she—”
I squeeze her hands. “I know.”
“I-I was looking right at her. One second, she was there and then…” She flinches away from the memory.
“Someone tampered with your car.” I deliver the words calmly, but that calm is harder to hold onto with every scrape and bruise I find on her body.
And that someone will pay for this.
“She landed on her back,” Konstantin explains as he comes running back up to us. “Paige, I mean. I saw it. The explosion threw her backward, but she landed on her back. The babies should be okay.”
I stand up, but Paige grips my hands with all the remaining strength in her body. “Don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I swear to her. “Don’t worry.”
She nods, but doesn’t loosen her grip. Every footfall in the hallway, every hushed voice—it all makes her flinch. It’s like she’s expecting the next explosion at any moment.
I glance at Konstantin. We both understand without words that Paige is in shock.
“Where the fuck is Dr. Mathers?” I growl just as the door opens.
“I’m here!” Simone calls out, rushing into the room with her black bag in tow. Her eyes widen as she takes in Paige, but she maintains her unflappable bedside manner. “Let’s give you a quick look over, alright, sweetheart?”
I shift out of the way, but Paige refuses to let go of my hand. I lean in close, voice low. “Dr. Mathers is going to need to examine you. You and the babies.”
Paige looks at me, but her eyes are focused on something far beyond the reaches of this room. “R-Rose…”
“Paige, we have to get you checked out,” Simone insists.
“She has a child,” Paige chokes out. “A girl. Molly. Her daughter’s name is Molly.”
Simone moves to my side and puts her hand on Paige’s arm. “Paige, you’ve been through something traumatic. I’m so sorry for that. But all I can do right now is make sure you are okay. Can you be strong? For your babies?”
Paige doesn’t answer. Instead, she looks to me. “Are you going to stay?”
There’s an uncertainty in the question. An indication that she’s not sure she can trust me to stay with her.
“Of course I will,” I murmur.
But even as I say it, something inside me dies.
2
MISHA
