Page 24 of The Book of Wrath

“Did Officer Kane know this?” I look at him a little confused at his question. “No, I didn’t tell her, and I highly doubt the group of officers that was with us would’ve said anything.”

Miller just nods his head, waving me off in dismissal. Roark stops pacing the closer I get to the car, “Get in the car. I have already told Tony and Andy what happened. They are going to meet us at the hospital.”

“Thank you,” I quickly get into the passenger seat, and we peel out of the neighborhood. Roark had no quarrels with speeding in a situation like this. Lucky for us, it was so early in the morning that there wasn’t much traffic. He pulls right up to the emergency room doors, I hop out of the car and run into the intake room. Brutus was waiting for me at the security desk.

“Just go,” he ushers me through security and into a small room. Tony and Andy are already inside waiting for me.

“I’m assuming you two told Brutus?” I ask Andy nods but doesn’t get up from his seat.

“Dumb question, but how are you holding up?” Tony asks, guiding me to a seat closest to the door. Roark barges in a few moments later and props up against the door like he’s about to tear apart anyone that walks in.

“I’m worried about Megan. I’ll handle my shit later. I already have Amelia’s number in my phone and will call her as soon as I know Megan is okay,” I say. Amelia has dealt with me a few times after the loss of my sister, my partner, the bullshit with Sandra cheating on me. It was Amelia who got me through each and every heartache. She was damn good at her job, we’re very lucky to have her.

“Any word on why Sandra was there?” Roark asks through a clenched jaw. I swear if he clenches it any harder, he’s gonna break a tooth or something.

“I called Marcy, she has to go over the audio of the entire thing tonight. She said she’ll call once she knows more,” Tony’s sister Marcy was a blessing to have working at dispatch. She could talk anyone down off a ledge and save lives just from simple conversations.

“Tell her I said thank you. I want to know why Sandra was there and how the fuck she got in,” I snarl. A soft knock came at the door, Roark’s hand reaches for the doorknob to tell whoever was on the other side to fuck off but when he pulls open the door I recognize the blonde-haired female standing on the other side. “Let her in Roark.”

He turns to look at me, but Ally just pushes her way in. “You were supposed to keep her safe!” She screams at me, her fist flying for my face. Tony steps in between us, taking the brunt of the hit to his chest. “Move asshole! If she dies because that asshole got to her again, you will not see daylight!”

The room went eerily silent, all eyes on me. “It wasn’t Ryan,” I choke out. Ally pauses her advances. “Who called you Ally?” I ask her.

“The hospital. I’m her emergency contact. I’m also a matching blood donor just in case they need it. What the fuck do you mean it wasn’t Ryan?” Tony hasn’t moved from in front of me, so I push him to the side so I could look her in the eyes.

“It was officer Sandra Kane. We’re waiting on the recording of the 9-1-1 call to be transcribed. Do you know if Megan knew Sandra other than from her last time in the hospital?” I shouldn’t be questioning Ally. I should let it go and just focus on Megan, but I didn’t know what the hell was going on here.

“You mean the bitch who pissed her off while she was stuck in here? No. Megan said something about the officer giving her a negative vibe. She wasn’t too keen on her,” Ally finally took the seat next to me, I could hear the audible sigh she let out. “You two were supposed to have a good night. She wasn’t supposed to end up in a hospital again.”

“We did have a good night. I had to cut the night shorter than I wanted because of a work call. I can’t just say no because I’m on the date of a lifetime,” I say. Tony finally sat down across from Ally, staring her down. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to yell at her, remove her from the room or wanted to fuck her. Probably all three.

“Would you have stayed with her tonight if you didn’t get that call?” Ally asks and of course the assholes in the room all perk up to hear my answer.

“Yes. I mean, I practically proposed to her a dinner,” I chuckle a little thinking about her quick response at the restaurant.

Ally laughs, “I take it she was the one who pulled that card huh?”

“Yeah, we were having a talk about our past. Exes and all, she wanted us to have the hard honest conversation first, I got a little heated after hearing what Ryan did to her and I lost my shit. I hit the table pretty hard and when I realized what I did, I dropped to my knee in front of her. The manager came over to clearly check on her and out of nowhere she pops out the ‘oh he was just proposing to me’ card,” I explain. Ally starts laughing so hard I swear I see tears.

“Ah so that explains the Mr. Monroe and Mrs. Carter comments at the club,” Roark says now back pressed up against the door.

“That sounds like something she would do. I’m glad you went along with the joke. Ryan would’ve gone along with it until they were alone,” Ally looks down at her hands. “She’s going to be okay. She’s been through so much in her life. She’s strong.”

“She’s told me some of it. I have no doubt that she will make it. I can’t lose my future wife before I have the chance to properly propose,” I tease. Ally smiles once more at me.

“Someone’s coming,” Andy says, he’s been looking out the blinds that lead to the main part of the ER. He was stationing himself to be on lookout. Shit, they all were on guard to make sure I was good and not bothered. A knock came at the other door, this time Tony got up and answered it. He let in Dr. Caden. Great this fucking guy.

“Miss. Strom, I would like to say it’s nice to see you again, but I was hoping I wouldn’t see you both back in here again anytime soon,” he glances over to me. I can see the assessment look on his face. He was eyeing Megan last time she was in here and I didn’t trust this dude as far as I could throw him.

“Dr. Caden, is she okay?” Ally asks him, ignoring the bullshit look he gives me. Yeah, I want to punch this dude in the dick.

“Can we speak alone?” He asks her. I half expect her to get up and walk right out of the room, but she surprises me.

“Max and Megan are dating. I’m sure she would want him to know as well, same for them all. They are her friends,” she just earned major points with me and with the guys.

His sigh was so audible I thought Roark might punch him in the throat. “She is stable, we were able to get her vitals back, but there is something that I wish to discuss in private. I’m certain that Miss. Monroe would prefer a room full of men not hear.” He glances at me then the rest of the room.

“Doc, we will leave, but good luck getting her boyfriend to move from that seat,” Tony pats Arthur on the shoulder and heads for the door, Andy and Roark flanking behind him.