by Lynda Aicher
“Rock will be with you. We’ll keep everyone updated.”
“He can’t die.”
“You’re right.” Noah squeezed her arm in a poor show of strength. Did he have any left to give her? “Keep thinking that.”
He stepped back so she could be lifted into the back of the ambulance. She was so calm. Shock probably. What would happen when it wore off?
What would they all do?
His gaze went to the people pressed around the perimeter of the accident scene. Why in the hell were there so many people out at this time of the night? The sight of the news cameras jockeying for spots at the edge of the blocked-off area had his stomach twisting in bitter disgust.
The sharp peal of the ambulance shot through the air and propelled him into action. Seven out. All still alive when they’d left.
He could only hope and pray their status didn’t change.
Chapter Three
Liv dug her hands into the pockets of her jacket and tucked her nose into the edge of the zipped collar, but nothing chased away the shivers that racked her. The wail of another siren pierced through the night in a sorrowful cry of warning.
Who was in that one? Deklan? Allie? She’d lost count of the ambulances.
The most critical had left first. She’d been a part of that. There were so many sights she wished she could permanently delete from her mind. Ones that already haunted her with their vivid detail.
The contorted bones down Tyler’s right side that went with the tortured screams when the rescue crews had extracted him from the wreckage. The contrasting silence and impossible limpness of Kendra’s body, whose pale face had been bathed in blood. The bone that had protruded from Jake’s thigh in a gruesome display of how fragile the human body was.
Acid rose up her throat so fast she barely stopped it. She choked, gagged and forced it back. It burned when she swallowed, but she couldn’t let it out for fear it would empty her completely, and there was so much to do. She shouldn’t have stopped. Thought. Digested all that had happened, because now she couldn’t get moving. Going back to the scents and sights, the confusion of so many people that was both organized and frantic, was suddenly beyond her.
Her breath puffed back to warm her cheeks and she tried to focus on that. On the beat of her heart where it drummed in her chest. On the small signs of life she still had.
She flinched at the buzz that jolted up her arm. She jerked her hand out of her pocket to stare at the phone she clutched. Her mind pieced the puzzle together in disjointed segments. Marcus was calling her. How? No, it wasn’t her phone. It was Noah’s.
That was enough to get her moving again. Noah would need his phone. They had to get to the hospital. People should be updated, more notified.
She didn’t have any new information for Marcus so she let it roll to voice mail. It’d been hard enough making the call to tell him about the accident. The call to V had been even worse. They’d had so many questions she’d been unable to answer.
She moved into the bright circle of light cast from the multiple floodlights that lit up the accident area. The gawking crowd had grown since she’d escaped, and barricades had been set up to hold people back like it was a star-studded event instead of a deadly accident.
The thought had her faltering. The driver of the truck had died on impact. There’d been so much blood…
No! She wasn’t thinking about that.
Thrusting her shoulders back, she squeezed her eyes tight until the prickling threat of tears subsided. If she let them fall, they wouldn’t stop.
“Excuse me.”
The deep notes of Noah’s voice in the distance had her eyes snapping open. She spotted him, his tall form pushing through the people with Rock and Carter in his wake.
She rushed forward to meet the men, only to be engulfed in a crushing hug. The breath was sucked from her chest, cheek crushed to the cold leather of Noah’s jacket, nose pressed into the warm crook of his neck. One inhale, and she was flooded with his rich scent that was tainted with clinging leftovers of the accident.
But he was warm. Warm, alive and breathing.
Before she could wrap her arms around him, he released her. “Let’s go.” Now that was the Noah she knew. The stoic directness was exactly what she required as she led them to their cars.
She dug the keys from her pocket. “Here, Rock.” She tossed a set to the man but shook her head when Noah held out a hand for his. “I’ll drive.” His refusal was halfway out before she added, “You need to make calls.”
A silent curse formed on his lips before he pressed them thin. “You got my phone?”
“You’ll get it once you’re in the passenger seat.”
“Call when you know anything,” Rock said, the door on his truck creaking its protest as he yanked it open.
“You, too,” Noah answered. “I’ll make the necessary calls once Marcus gets me the info.”
“The four at U of M should know who to call.” Rock slid into his truck. “Let’s check with them before alerting family.”
“Of course.”
Liv unlocked Noah’s car and got into the driver’s seat while the man was distracted. She wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t like giving up control, but she was more than capable of driving his fancy car.
She was already starting the engine when the passenger door jerked open and Noah huffed into the seat. “My phone,” he bit out, hand extended as he slammed the door closed.
“Marcus called, and V’s waiting for the hospital info.” She felt around for the controls and repositioned the seat before she handed over his cell. “Where to?”
His glare would’ve chilled her another time. Right then it had no effect. He could deal with his control freak tendencies later. “HCMC.”
That was all she needed. She had the car moving a second later. The drive passed in a blur of half-sided discussions littered with details pertinent to the accident. If he noticed her white-knuckled grip on the wheel, he didn’t comment.
The universal sterile-sick stench that plagued all hospitals greeted them as they rushed through the emergency room doors. Noah strode straight to the desk, and she scoped out the waiting room.
The harsh florescent lights glared down to highlight the dreariness that clung to the room. The bright-colored, mass-market paintings that hung on the pale yellow walls failed to add any cheeriness to the space. A cluster of four people in the corner stared at the worn tile floor, lost in their own dose of the worry and fear that permeated the air.
She glanced at the clock. Two-thirty on a Wednesday morning. That explained the relative emptiness of the waiting area. They needed coffee. The thought brought out the realization that her throat was parched. Water, too.
She came up with zero on the coffee but found a pop machine. She returned with three cold bottles of water to find Noah turning slow circles in the middle of the waiting area. “Lose something?”
He jerked toward her, his penetrating gaze sucking her in before his shoulders dropped. “You,” he said, voice curt. “You need to stop running off.”
“Does that mean you don’t want this?” She held up a bottle, tilting it back and forth. “I thought you might be as thirsty as I was.”
He tracked the water and the tension visibly flowed from his stiff neck down the long length of his spine until his head dropped forward. That second of pure unguarded emotion snaked out to pull her in with a desire to comfort. Only it was gone before she’d taken a step.
He snapped his chin up and his shoulders drew back. “Thank you,” he said, taking the bottle. She’d only seen that distant reserve drop away when he worked with the kids.
Maybe he needed to hold himself together. Sometimes a touch was all it took to crumble and he didn’t come across as a man who’d let that happen.
At least not here.
She sunk into one of the pale green chairs and slumped forward, the exhaustion settling through her as she pushed against the two knots of pain on either side of her forehe
ad. “What’d you find out?”
He dropped into the chair next to her, his solid presence comforting in the sea of unknown. He swallowed down half the water before he lowered the bottle and slowly twisted the cap back on. The stress was there in the lines around his blue eyes, the thin press of his lips and small set of creases between his brows.
His expression displayed an unguarded honesty that had her reaching over to lay a hand on his knee. Solid and warm, she needed that touch, even if he didn’t. The heat seemed to radiate through his pants to chase away some of the chill that refused to leave her bones.
He stared at her hand before lowering his own to clasp it tightly. His fingers were surprisingly cold, but the connection had her squeezing her eyes closed once again. Fear and sorrow were right there, stinging her eyes and burning her throat until her lips quivered with the effort to hold them in. Dread sat like a brick in her chest, heavy and unmoving.
“Hey.” He squeezed her hand. “You okay?”
She puffed out a morose laugh. “About as good as you.” She opened her eyes, sniffed back the last of the pending tears and straightened in her chair. She’d conquered the battle on that round, but how long would it hold?
“They wouldn’t tell me much,” Noah said, and she appreciated the subject shift. They had others to think about. “Apparently, being their lawyer doesn’t mean much unless the patient is threatening to sue.” He gave an improper snort that pulled a lame smirk from Liv. He pinched the bridge of his nose and winced before letting his hand fall to the armrest. “The administrator is making calls to U of M to get confirmation before releasing information to me.” His frustration tugged his brows down in a hard line over his eyes.
“What did she tell you so far?”
“All three are being worked on.” The sarcasm dripped from his words.
“That’s it?”
He sucked in a deep breath, held it. “Fuck!”
Her eyes widened. The sharp outburst was mild by most standards, only Noah didn’t seem to hold to the standards of most people.
She responded by turning her hand over to clasp his. His fingers wrapped around hers to hold on tight. The connection wound through her aching heart to gentle the fear that clenched it.
“Mr. Bakker?”
Noah shot out of the chair and was across the waiting room before she managed to stand. Even now, his gait was self-assured, his composure back in place before he leaned in to speak to the dark-haired lady behind the reception desk.
Liv collected the forgotten water bottles and shoved them into her purse. She ran her fingers through her hair to clear it away from her face for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour. The heavy mass was secured in a ponytail a few seconds later, thanks to the extra bands she always carried. She’d worn it down for the night out, but her tolerance for it had long passed.
Two deep breaths, and she stepped up to Noah’s side as he turned away from the desk.
“Tyler is already in surgery, and Jake is being prepped,” he said before she could ask. “Kendra is still in the ER, but we should go to the surgery waiting room.”
She put a hand on his arm to stop his brisk pace down the hall. “Should I wait here?”
“No.” His immediate answer held a fierce note that was at once authoritative and protective and matched his dark scowl.
Okay then. She nodded, not that his back could see it. He was already three strides down the hall moving with an air of assumption that she would be right behind him. She exhaled her irritation and got moving like the good little puppy she was supposed to be. Arguing wouldn’t help him.
She got out her phone as they waited for the elevator and typed a quick text to V to let her know where to find them. She had a response before the doors slid open. “V’s in the parking lot.”
His single nod was nothing more than an acknowledgment. There was no question that his tight control was back in place. She could handle that. Hell, she almost sighed in relief to see that it was back. Matching his attitude would keep her focused on what needed to get done.
She wouldn’t let down these new friends who had swooped in with their generous offers and hours of help for her youth center. The balance was nowhere near the same, but it was all she had.
After all, none of them would be here if she hadn’t nagged them into going out tonight. In a few heart-crushing seconds, these acquaintances-become-friends had launched firmly into family for her. Her own guilt added another brick to the weight on her chest and served to strengthen her vow to do whatever she could to support them.
Chapter Four
The next hours passed in cycling waves of rush and wait. Breathe and gasp. Updates flowed between the groups at the two hospitals, but the information did little to relieve the throbbing tension that had ahold of every muscle down Noah’s neck and across his shoulder blades.
He sat, paced, held brief conversations and somewhere along the way drank the cups of coffee that found their way into his hand. The liquid churned in his stomach with each minute that passed, with every detail that clicked through his mind.
The drone of a local news anchor blurred into the background from the television mounted on the wall. There were no windows in the room, yet a glance at the screen confirmed time had somehow moved far enough along to kick off another morning. He needed to call his office soon. Cancel his appointments for the day. Talk to the police. Figure out what to do about the club.
Sometime soon they’d have to strategize about the press, too. The news had aired clips on the accident, but the names of the victims had been withheld. Maybe they’d get lucky and that’d be it.
Maybe. He never bet on maybes.
His gaze went to Vanessa, where she sat between Holden and Liv. Not long ago she’d been as independent as him. Now she had her lover and sister with her. She’d taken the chance with Holden and opened up in the process. He admired her courage. Letting people in came with risks. One glance around the room proved how big they could be.
The sharp jab of pain in his chest had him looking away. Up, down, anywhere to get the memories out of his head.
Damn it. He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, pressing into the bulge of muscle that refused to loosen.
“Here.” He looked up to see Liv holding out two orange pills and a bottle of water. “They might help with that.” She flicked her chin at his hand, and he dropped it to his side. Since when did he let others see where he hurt?
Liv was a contrast in personalities. Generally she was light and giving. He’d also witnessed the driven determination she dedicated to the youth center and the children who used it. With shoulder-length hair that was closer to brown than black and usually pulled into a ponytail like now, she exuded warmth with her deep brown eyes and variety of smiles that often communicated for her. The slightly pointy chin was softened by her round face and wide mouth to collide in a subtle beauty that would’ve intrigued him if he’d let it.
He pushed away from the wall and took the offerings with a mumbled thanks. The water helped to wash away the bitter taste in his mouth and clear his head a bit.
The door to the waiting room burst open, a frazzled and bandaged Deklan storming through. “What do you know?” His demand barked through the quiet of the frozen room and his gaze shifted over the people until they settled on him. “Noah?”
“What are you doing here?” Noah demanded right back, ignoring Deklan’s question. “Don’t tell me they discharged you already.”
“I’m fine,” Deklan snarled. The thick bandage stuck to the side of his newly shaved head, along with the purple bruise that ran from his forehead to his cheek and the right arm strapped in a sling said differently. “I need to know how Kendra is.” He took two steps before he stumbled.
Noah and Holden lunged forward, but Carter, who’d just come through the door, got to him first. He shook his head, his gaze catching Noah’s as he lowered Deklan into a chair.
“Shit,” Deklan whispered, his good hand
pressed to his head. Pain moved over his features in a telling wave of cringes.
Carter took a deep breath and clenched his hips as he scowled at Deklan. “He insisted on getting here. It took Rock getting in his face before he consented to me driving him.”
“I could’ve taken a cab.”
Carter rolled his eyes at Deklan’s soft protest and plowed his fingers through his disheveled hair. “Right.” The remains of the accident were displayed across his jeans and leather jacket in the form of dark smudges that could only be blood.
“We haven’t heard anything new.” Vanessa’s voice broke through the tension in a smooth shift of priorities. “She’s still in surgery.” Kendra had gone in two hours ago. In addition to a broken collarbone and ribs, she had an intracranial hematoma that had required surgery to remove the pooling blood.
Vanessa sat next to Deklan and pulled him into her arms. The man didn’t resist. Maybe Noah shouldn’t have been shocked by the action, but a part of him was. The devastation that had taken down the strong Dom reinforced his own conviction that some risks weren’t worth taking. The fact that he could relate to the man didn’t help the ball of anger that brewed within him.
He shoved his hand in his pocket and found the smooth surface of the worn door key on his key ring, worrying it between his fingertips. The reminder of the agony he’d once endured constricted around his chest in a vise-like clamp.
No one said anything until Deklan pulled away from Vanessa’s embrace, then wiped his eyes and swallowed. Damn. Noah diverted his gaze and rubbed at the tickle in his nose. Deklan’s internal pain would be far worse than any caused by his external injuries.
A soft sniff at his side had him looking to Liv. Her eyes were shiny and she was blinking rapidly. No one would’ve held it against her if she cried. Hell, he’d expected it. Yet she was still holding it together and helping everyone else, despite witnessing the entire accident. Her personality might be completely opposite of her sister’s, but the two women shared the same inner strength he had to admire.
