Page 22 of Sprite

Phoenix shrugged, “I kind of have a sick sense when it comes to this type of thing. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t believe it.” Sprite had heard about Phoenix’s sick sense, and she wondered how it worked. Blindly believing Phoenix scared the hell out of her, but she wanted to think that Chains was going to pull through all of this.

“You should sit down,” Danger insisted. Sprite nodded and before she could even get her butt into the seat, a nurse came looking for her.

“Is there any news?” Sprite almost shouted at her.

“How are you related to the patient?” the nurse asked.

“She’s his wife,” Savage said, stepping forward from the crowd.

“And you are?” the nurse asked. She looked between Savage and Sprite as though she didn’t believe a word that Savage was telling her.

“I’m the patient’s brother,” Savage insisted.

“Well, I can talk to you both out in the hallway, but the rest of your group will need to wait in here,” the nurse insisted. Savage grabbed Sprite’s hand and walked with her out into the hallway, following Nurse Ratchet as instructed.

“Your husband and brother is a very lucky man,” she said.

“We have different definitions of lucky,” Sprite breathed.

The nurse laughed and smiled at Sprite. “He’s going to be all right,” the nurse insisted. “The bullet went through his left side and the only organ it hit on the way out of his body, was his spleen. He’s in surgery now to have his spleen removed and that should stop the bleeding. He’ll be in a recovery room soon and you’ll be able to go back to see him, one at a time—family only,” the nurse said.

“Can he live without a spleen?” Sprite asked.

“Yes,” the nurse assured. “With some time to heal, and let his body adjust to having no spleen, he’ll be fine. Your husband will just have to take it easy for a while, but he’ll be back to normal by the time your little one gets here,” she said, nodding to Sprite’s belly. She had taken off the jacket that she was wearing to conceal her pregnancy from her mother. If her mother never found out about her baby, that would be just fine with her.

Savage wrapped his arm around Sprite’s shoulder and pulled her in for a quick hug. “See, he’s going to be okay,” he soothed. “How long before she can see him?” he asked the nurse.

“He should be out of surgery in an hour or so,” the nurse said.

“I’ll be waiting in the ER waiting room,” Sprite said. “As soon as Chains can have company, can you let me know?” The nurse nodded, promising to let her know when she could go back to see him, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to burst into tears or jump up and down for joy.

“Have you eaten today?” Savage asked. Sprite thought back over her day and realized that she hadn’t.

“Um, no,” she said. “We left the safehouse early this morning and I still have a bit of morning sickness before noon. I was nauseous this morning and didn’t take the time to eat. I thought that I was going to eat at the diner, but you know how that went.”

“Let’s get you something to eat then,” he insisted.

“I’m too nervous to eat anything,” she said.

“You have to eat, for the baby,” Banshee said from across the room.

“Fine, I’ll have something to eat,” she agreed.

“And drink,” Danger called.

“Yeah—I’ll have something to drink too.” She knew that her friends were only trying to take care of her, but all she wanted to do was see Chains.

“Great,” Banshee said, “we’ll go with you, and the boys can stay here and wait for news.”

“Bossy,” Savage mumbled under his breath. Banshee loved to give Savage a hard time. She had known him since she was just a kid, and her brothers were a part of the Royal Bastards. Banshee turned around to Savage and stuck out her tongue, making his husband, Bowie, laugh.

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black,” Bowie teased his husband.

“I don’t know that saying,” Banshee said, “but I’m sure that we had something of the sort in Ireland. Come on, girls. Let’s get Sprite and her babe some food before her Prince Charming wakes up and wants to see her.” They filed out of the waiting room, all holding hands, and Sprite had to admit—it was good to be home with her family. She was right where she belonged, with the Harlots, and she would never take them or their kindness for granted.

By the time they ate and got back to the waiting room in the ER, more than an hour had passed. She worried that Chains would need her, and she wouldn’t be there for him, but the Harlots were right—she needed to eat. Sprite felt so much stronger aftereating lunch and now, she felt ready to take on any obstacle that life chose to throw at her.

“I’ve been trying to text you,” Savage said.

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