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Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I nod. “I trust your judgment.”
“Let’s get the patient out of the vehicle and onto the stretcher. I was told we are doing this in the air, is that right?” Ethan asks as Matteo and Vito climb out via the other door, while Wren stays right at my side.
“Correct,” I respond as his gaze drifts down to mine, and he offers a wide grin in return.
“I’ve never been to Italy before,” he remarks, sliding the stretcher half into the SUV before helping me get down from where I’m lying on the seats.
Once I’m secured on the stretcher as best as possible, he follows after my brothers through the door near my head, before appearing outside at my feet. I grind my teeth in agony as he pulls the plastic I’m lying on toward a metal frame, securing me to the unit, before wasting no time in heading toward the aircraft.
I tilt my head back to set my eyes on Wren who falls into step between my brothers, and I breathe a slight breath of relief knowing she’s close by, before turning my attention to the doctor beside me.
“So, how do you know Wren?”
I attempt and fail to raise my eyebrows at him in question. My muscles tense in my face from the pain I’m in as I try to get past it.
Ethan glances down at me for a second before focusing straight ahead once again. “I’m the licensed doctor at the on-site medical center at Featherstone Academy.”
“What the fuck actually goes on there for them to require a fully-trained doctor?” The question falls from my lips before I can stop the eagerness in me, but the scoff from Ethan tells me it bewilders him just as much.
“You would be surprised. I was actually trained as a student there.”
My eyes widen in surprise at his words, but something else intrigues me more. “Why do I get the feeling there is more than that between you and Wren?”
"Not of the romantic kind if that’s what you’re hinting at,” Ethan states as he comes to a stop by the steps of the aircraft, turning his full attention to me. “But yes, it did seem to me that I saw more of her than the other students.”
That’s the most cryptic of cryptic answers I’ve ever heard.
“You’ll need to elaborate for me,” I grumble as he waves his hand for someone to come over and help him. It’s on the tip of my tongue that I’ll get myself up the damn steps, but when I attempt to sit up, pain ricochets through me from head to toe.
I’m not going anywhere whether I like it or not.
“I’m not telling you anything.”
My jaw tightens with annoyance at his response, not that I don’t respect him a little for it, protecting her privacy, but it’s not his to keep. I’m not pushing him though, I’ll go directly to the source.
“Wren,” I holler the best I can, glancing back to see her at my side a moment later, worry evident in her glistening blue eyes. “How do you and Ethan know each other so well? He won’t tell me.”
I likely sound like a bratty kid, but I’m beyond caring at this stage.
She smirks at me as she rolls her eyes dramatically, but before she can respond, Vito appears at my head, lifting the stretcher beneath me at the same time Ethan grabs the bottom, and I’m hoisted into the air.
If I fucking fall, someone else will be dying with me, I’ll make sure of it.
To my relief, we reach the cabin without a hitch, and a moment later, Wren reappears at my side. Ethan doesn’t wait for her to explain though, he gets straight to work removing the hoodie from my stomach, before tearing into my clothes to get to the root cause of the pain.
Wren doesn’t flinch at the blood or cringe at the wound. If anything, she almost looks bored by it all, that is until her eyes reach mine and I see them looking a lot more glossy than they did moments ago.
With a shake of her head, she wets her lips before finally speaking. “I met Ethan on my second day at Featherstone Academy. Not because my mom, who was the head, gave me a tour of the facility, or because I was assigned to learn about medicine, but because I was beaten so badly I couldn’t tend to all the wounds myself.”
I must be dead because my heart is lodged in my throat as horror washes over me.
“Who?” The venom in my tone is palpable as anger courses through my veins.
She gives me a pointed look, but my brain is working slower than usual, and it takes Vito’s response for her to continue.
“It was Totem, wasn’t it?”
“It was, and it wasn’t the last time I was there either.”
