Page 169 of Fought and Freed

Maddy walked to the bathroom, filled a basin with warm water, and grabbed the soap as she walked out of the room. “Kelly, I’d like to clean you up a little, if that’s all right with you?”

She shyly looked at Jace.

Maddy settled on the edge of the bed. “Jace, would you mind giving us some privacy?”

“I’ll be right outside the door.” He bowed regally, earning a chuckle from Kelly.

Maddy slowly pulled down the sheet and gently cleaned the dirt off Kelly. “I’d like you to come to stay with me, but before you answer, I need to let you know I live with my four boyfriends and a baby. They won’t hurt you, I promise you. For right now, you’ll have to sleep in my room until we can make a space for you.”

Kelly’s head tilted, and her eyes scrunched up. “The guy who killed my parents and Grant. Is he…”

Maddy shook her head. “You don’t need to worry about him. He’s gone.”

She picked at the sheets. “Can I meet your boyfriends first?”

“Absolutely,” Maddy said. “You’ve already met Jace. Then there’s Skylar, who is a big jokester. Next is Ryder, who is super sweet. Cody might look scary to you for a bit. He likes to scowl a lot, but he’s just a big teddy bear. Two of them are here in the hospital. They got hurt while rescuing me.”

A knock sounded on the door, and it opened a crack to reveal Jace’s smiling face. “The nurse is here, and we have clothes for Kelly.”

Maddy walked over to the door, taking the clothes. “Tell the nurse to give me five minutes, then they can come in. “

She turned and headed back to Kelly. “Here are some clothes for you. Once things get settled, we’ll go shopping for more. My friend Torr is great at shopping. You’ll like her.”

She helped Kelly get dressed, then Maddy let the nurse in, happy to see that it was a woman. She brought in an IV stand that already had bags of fluid hanging from it.

“After you get her hooked up, she’ll need a wheelchair so she can travel,” Maddy instructed. “I want her with me, and my boyfriend is in the ICU. We need to check on him.”

The nurse stared at her for a minute before she shook her head. “It’s not allowed.”

“Listen, I’m sorry, but I’ve been kidnapped, two people I love are in the ICU, and I’m pregnant. I’d very much like to have Kelly with me so she isn’t so scared while still being able to check on the rest of my family,” Maddy finished with a huff.

Jace touched her back. “Calm down, baby girl. This stress isn’t good for the baby.”

Harry came in. “Her brother owns half of this hospital. Just do what she says.”

Looking overwhelmed, the nurse nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Thank you, Harry,” Maddy said.

Maddy told Kelly what the nurse was going to do, then held Kelly’s hand while Jace distracted her while the nurse got an IV into her hand.

Then, the nurse brought in a wheelchair and hooked the bag to the back. “We’d like her to have another bag when this one is done. Please bring her back when it gets low.”

“We will,” Maddy promised.

The nurse stepped back. “She’s ready to go.”

“Thank you.” Maddy hunched down to look into Kelly’s eyes, which were brown just like Grant’s had been. “We’re going to go see Cody and Ryder now.”

Kelly nodded and gripped the arms of the wheelchair. “I’ll be fine.”

They headed down to the ICU floor, and Maddy opened the door for Jace to wheel in Kelly.

Skylar, Giselle, and Lucca were back, looking refreshed, though still tired.

As they walked toward the group, Skylar gave Kelly his brilliant smile. “Who’s this beautiful girl?”

“This is Kelly.” Maddy placed a hand on the young girl’s arm. “Kelly, this is Skylar and his mom, Giselle. Standing over in the corner is my brother, Lucca. Any word on Ryder?”

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