Page 13 of Wicked Vengeance

“Gunshot to the shoulder. No exit wound. He’s lost quite a bit of blood.” Jasper replies, letting go of his hand and moving to stand next to Snow to give him some room.

“And I understand hospitals are out of the question. I can patch him up. Anybody here O Negative?”

“I am,” Ronan speaks up. “Take whatever you need.”

Dr. Sterling nods, retrieving his bag once more and leading Ronan to the back wall, where a chair sits. He sits the bag on the counter next to the sink, pulling out tubing and other items he needs to take blood.

Giving a squeeze to Royal’s hand, I step over and offer my help. “I have some medical experience. I can take his blood while you work on Dax.”

“Oh, thank you. That would be helpful,” he says, placing the items on the counter before grabbing his bag and moving back over to the exam table. I hear him asking Jasper and Snow some questions, but I block most of it out as I get to work stretching out the tubing and attaching it to the empty blood bag. I let my hands work on autopilot as I connect everything together before laying the bag in his lap, tying the elastic band around Ronan’s arm, and inserting the needle into his vein. He doesn’t so much as flinch at the stick, keeping his eyes trained on his family that’s only a few feet from us.

Once the bag is full, I clamp it off, sealing the tubing off before disconnecting the bag and taking it over to the doctor. “Thank you,” he says, not even looking up at me as he hangs the bag on the overhead rack, connecting it to the IV he’s already placed in Dax’s arm.

Ronan has already pulled the needle from his arm and is wrapping some gauze and tape around it when he walks over. “Thank you, man. I appreciate you jumping in.”

“You’re Raena’s family, which means you're our family now, too,” I tell him, squeezing his shoulder as I move back to Royal and Ella.

“Let’s give them some privacy and go check on the others. We’ve got to figure out where to hide them so we can find Raena and take care of King.” Royal says, grabbing my hand and pulling me after him.

I can’t stop the smile that tips at the corners of my mouth.

I guess he likes the feeling of his hand in mine as much as I do.

When we shut the door behind us, Em immediately darts over, disconnecting our hands as she jumps into my arms.

“Bear,” she squeals, hugging me tightly.

“I’ve got you, Little One.”

“How’s he doing?” I ask when Mrs. Stone and Dr. Henly finally exit the makeshift med room, and we meet them in the middle of the room.

“He’s going to be just fine. He’s awake and alert. I left him some pain meds, but he’s refusing to take them. He’s tough, that one,” Dr. Henly replies.

“Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate you coming,” I tell him, shaking his hand when he extends it to me.

“Don’t mention it. If you're important to my Helen, you’re family. It’s looking like this might be an extended trip for me,” he says, smirking at Mrs. Stone before looking back, pulling out a card, and handing it to me. “If you need anything else, call me.”

“I’ll walk you out, Henly,” Mrs. Stone says, taking his hand and leading him up the stairs.

When I turn around, Ella looks like she’s about two seconds away from an aneurysm. Her eyes are bugging out of her head comically as she follows them with her eyes until they disappear up the steps.

“Did he just say ‘my Helen’?”

“Oh, good. That’s all you caught in all that?” I chuckle at her.

“I– he– what?”

“She’s happy, Ella.” I remind her, picking Em up and holding her on my side.

Ella sighs, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again. She eyes Emera with longing before whispering. “Can I hold her?”

Nodding, I turn to Em, who looks like she’s about to fall asleep. “Hey, Little One. This is my friend, Ella. Can you sit with her for a minute?” She turns and looks at her before stretching her little arms out to Ella.

A sob catches in Ella’s throat when Em rests her head on her shoulder and clings to her. I’m not going to lie– I find myself pushing back the tears that want to fill my eyes right now.

Raena should be here right now– hugging her daughter.

I turn away from them as the emotions turn from devastating sadness to full-blown anger. We have to find her. Now. She shouldn’t be missing another second with her daughter because of that piece of shit.

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