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Medically induced coma.
Monitoring for bleeding.
I’m trying to listen as the doctor discusses Ellie’s diagnosis and what they’ve done to ensure she’ll be okay, but it’s hard to focus when all I want is to see Ellie with my own eyes, to pull her into my arms and hold her, to check that she’s okay for myself.
“And the baby?” Sienna asks nervously.
“As of right now, the baby is stable. We’re going to monitor them both for the next few days as we slowly wake her,” he says, and I sigh in relief. They’re both okay. She’ll need more time to recover, to heal, but they’re okay. “If you have any questions, I’ll be back around once they move her to a private room.”
“Raze is already here, ready to guard the room,” Micah says once the doctor has left. “They’ll do shifts. Nobody is getting near her.”
I nod, thankful my brother can handle shit under pressure because right now I can’t think about anything other than getting to Ellie and our baby.
The next couple of days are spent watching Ellie sleep. They’re monitoring her and the baby closely, so we can hear the baby’s heartbeat, which is definitely reassuring, but what I really want is for Ellie to wake up so I can start making shit right. After running tests, the doctor tells us that Ellie is out of the woods, so he lowers her meds, which means she can wake up any time.
And then, in the middle of the night, her emerald eyes open, and it feels like I’m finally able to take my first real breath. She coughs lightly, and I hand her a cup of water. She takes it from me, and while she sips on it, I buzz the nurse, who says she’ll get the doctor.
While we wait, I tell her the baby is okay, and she nods, giving away no emotion. I have no idea where her head is at, until the doctor comes in and asks her a bunch of questions: What’s her name? Her date of birth? What’s the month and year? And then...
“Do you know why you’re in the hospital?”
“Yes,” she says, her voice still devoid of all emotion. “I hit my head.”
I assume that’s all she remembers, and I’m prepared to explain it further, but when the doctor leaves—after letting her know that she and the baby are doing well and will be discharged in a couple of days as long as nothing changes—before I can even speak, Ellie glances over at me and says, “I want you to leave, too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ELLIE
“Hey, can I come in?”Sienna asks from the doorway, obviously being careful since I just kicked Lincoln out, refusing to let him explain anything to me.
“Of course.” I force a smile on my face, and she nods, walking in and letting the door shut behind her.
“How are you feeling?” she asks, sitting in the chair next to me.
“Like I hit my head on the concrete.”
She waits for me to indicate I’m joking, and when I don’t, she sighs. “Ellie...”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I close my eyes, refusing to let the stupid traitorous tears fall.
“We need to discuss it. Someone obviously tried to abduct you.”
At her words, my lids pop open, my mind confused. I assumed she wanted to discuss Lincoln and me...“What are you talking about?”
“When you fell...Do you remember what happened?”
“Lincoln upset me, and after telling him off, I left. While I was walking down the street, I ran into someone.” I try to remember exactly what happened, but it is all a blur. One minute, I was heading toward the hotel and the next...
“The man you ran into was planning to kidnap you,” Sienna says. “It wasn’t a coincidence that you bumped into him. He followed you to the restaurant and was waiting for you. What he wasn’t expecting was for you to leave early or for Lincoln to follow you out. He seized the opportunity and grabbed you, trying to shove you into the car, but Lincoln called your name, so the guy pushed you in order to get away. You lost your balance and fell, hitting your head.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Micah had the surveillance cameras pulled. They’re trying to figure out who was trying to abduct you and why.”
I take a moment to absorb what my sister is telling me. For years, after Eleazar died, I constantly looked over my shoulder, afraid someone would come after me. Worried those same people might go after my sister and nieces. It felt too easy to simply tear down Eleazar’s illegal businesses, liquidate his assets, and keep the clean money—donating the dirty.
It wasn’t until I moved across the country that I felt like the chains shackled to me loosened slightly. I started moving forward with my life. Trying to find my way in this world. And now, not only am I finally living, but thanks to Lincoln, I’ve been able to move past my intimacy issues.
