AllFreeNovel
Share Us
People flee like cockroaches in all directions. Nobody wants to play witness at the station tonight. The big guy gets up and hobble-runs despite his injury, using the mayhem to his advantage. One of the officers chases him, the other stays and directs the EMTs to the guy Jace knocked out earlier.
Jace works himself free from Jonas and runs over to me. “Are you okay?” He turns me from side to side and holds my face, his hands cool and his whole demeanor chill as if he didn’t just cripple a man. He doesn’t even seem to have broken a sweat.
I shake all over. “Yes. Are you?”
“Of course.” He sways sideways
Jonas steadies him before I even think of trying to catch him.
Jace blinks and rights himself. “I said I’m fine.”
I drag him into a tight hug. “Don’t do anything like this ever again.”
“Don’t protect you ever again?” he jokes.
“I apologize for taking so long,” Jonas says to me. “Next time I’ll follow you on foot.”
“You followed us?” Jace grumbles. “Why did I hope we’d have a normal evening?”
“Oh, be quiet.” I run my fingers through his hair, needing reassurance that he’s in one piece, and discover a warm, wet spot. I swallow hard and glance down at my hand. It’s smeared in red.
“Turn around,” I order as I spin Jace, and sure enough, the back of his head glistens with moisture. “You’re bleeding!”
Jonas whips a white handkerchief out of one of his pockets and gently taps the back of Jace’s head. The contrast of red on white churns my stomach, but I forbid myself to be weak. “Sit down.” I direct Jace to sit on the restaurant stairs. I swear the entire staff is watching through the glass doors and the windows, everyone still filming, but I couldn’t care less.
“You should take her home,” Jace says to Jonas. “They’ll keep me here forever for a statement.”
“I’m staying,” I warn Jonas, who sighs and goes to fetch one of the EMTs.
The restaurant manager emerges and offers us two bottles of water. “Would you like to come in?”
Jace shakes his head.
The rest of the evening is torturous, slow madness. The EMTs check on him and offer to take him to the hospital. He’s bleeding, and they insist on an MRI to assess his skull since he keeps getting dizzy. We figure out Jace hit his head when he got thrown onto the stairs. He, of course, refuses to go to the hospital.
As we load into Jonas’ car, Jace keeps swaying and struggles with balance.
“We’re taking you to the hospital,” I say. “Even if you fight, even if we have to knock you out, and even if we have to drag you there.”
Jace frowns, still stubborn, and attempts to buckle in. He struggles again, aiming and failing to fit the bits together. I cover his hand with mine and help him out. Jace reclines on the seat, seemingly relaxed, but when Jonas takes off, he winces and touches the wound on his head. “Okay. You win. I’ll go to the hospital.”
Track 28
New Victims
Jace
Every time I take Laurel somewhere, it’s a mess. The growing attraction and comfort between us get into my head and dull my usual vigilance. A very large group almost tramples us, a thief tries to steal from Laurel, there’s a fight, and I get my skull bashed. Then there are cops, sirens, emergency vehicles. Jonas shows up and announces he’s been on our tail all evening. I can’t decide how I feel about that. Although it’s hard to feel anything. A throbbing pain grows in the back of my skull, drowning out everything else.
The ER is packed, but as soon as we check in, a doctor comes down from the upper floors and takes us to a quiet exam room away from everyone else. Jonas denies he’s had anything to do with it. I don’t press too hard. My world still spins off and on. It’s a relief to not have to wait for all eternity.
Laurel refuses to go home and waits for them to run an MRI and buzz my hair to put in three stitches. She frowns the whole time. None of my jokes produce even the tiniest of smiles. At least the MRI results are encouraging. I’ve got a really thin fracture in my skull and a concussion, but the doctor assures me it’ll all go away soon with proper rest, diet, no drugs and alcohol, etc.
Once the doctor leaves, Laurel hugs me with a strangled sob and presses our cheeks together. I caress her hair and back. “Did anyone look at you at all? You’re trembling—”
“Look at me? I’m not the one with half my hair gone and a bandage on the back of my head. I was useless. I was—”
“You stayed safe. That’s the best you could’ve done.” I kiss the bridge of her nose.
