Page 119 of Exile and Embrace

I squeeze the trigger.

As his body drops to the ground, my chest constricts.

My family is dead. Not a single member of it remains.

I move over to Ava, wiping away some of the blood on my face before kneeling next to her.

Her eyes flutter as she shifts.

Bruises and blood cover her, but it’s hard to see how much of that blood is hers after she attacked my father.

“Hey.” My voice is soft as I help her into a sitting position. “I’m getting you out of here, okay?”

“You’re here?” Ava’s eyes water. “Why?”

“I’ll explain everything later, Aves. Right now, I’ve got to get you to the hospital.”

I scoop her up and hold her close as we head for the door.

My body screams in protest as I take her back the way I came, knowing that the path is clear.

As soon as we get outside, I run for the waiting cars.

Ava groans as I put her on the back seat, checking to make sure that she’ll be okay for the trip to the hospital.

“We’re going to get you checked out and make sure that everything is fine.” I kiss the top of her head before slamming the door shut.

I drive as fast as I can without jostling her too much.

My gaze moves between the road and the mirror every few seconds, making sure that she is alright.

When we get to the hospital, nurses whisk her away from me the moment I bring her in.

She’s barely conscious when they disappear through a set of double swinging doors with her.

I follow her, not wanting to let her out of my sight for another moment.

My heart pounds as she disappears through another set of doors.

A nurse steps into my path, her hands on her hips. “Sir, you have to stay here. Please go sit in the waiting room, and I will find you as soon as the doctors know what’s going on. You should get checked out too.”

“I’m fine. Just take care of her.” I look to the doors where she disappeared again before going to sit in the waiting room.

I almost lost her.

Trying to keep her away was the biggest mistake of my life and I’m never going to forgive myself if Ava isn’t okay.

A couple of hours later, a doctor meets me in the waiting room.

I spring to my feet as soon as his gaze meets mine.

I cross my arms, trying to keep my voice level. “Is Ava alright? Is she going to make it? I don’t know what happened to her but please tell me that she’s going to be alright.”

The doctor eyes me for a moment before nodding. “Follow me. She’s going to be just fine. There are several cuts that need bandages and stitches. Those will have to be changed every several hours. The stitches should start dissolving within a week, but they could take longer to completely disappear.”

“But she’s alright?”

“She will be, yes.” The doctor stops in front of an open door. “I’ll have someone bring you discharge papers within the hour.”

---