Page 77 of Embattled Ever After

Duncan shifted on the bed and a paroxysm of pain made him catch his breath.

“What do you need?”

Alex stood up beside him, ready to help. “I’m all right. Maybe we can call an orderly.”

She scowled. “I’m right here. What do you need?”

Duncan hated admitting to anything, but he couldn’t stay this way. “I’m laying crooked. If you just pull on my arm a bit I think it will help.”

Gently, she clasped his left forearm in hers and applied pressure. He straightened easily, though the pain left him reeling. He could tell he was still drugged, because it was muted, a bit. Almost like a hard echo.

“Thank you very much.” He rested his head back against the pillow, feeling drained. “So, what else happened, besides me falling?”

“Well,” she clarified, “Zeke is beating himself up pretty hard right now.”

Duncan lifted his head. “Why?”

“As John was getting into the truck there were two shots fired, one from an assailant who hasn’t been caught, and the second by Harper. There was a man that bolted out of the hospital headed right toward John. Zeke tried to grab him but the man swung him away. Zeke crashed into the two of us. You went down hard and I heard your pelvis give.” She cringed. “I don’t ever want to hear that sound again from you or anybody else. It was horrific.”

Alex clutched his hand and he wove his fingers through hers as she continued. “The man got there before the bullet struck John, and was winged on the shoulder. Then he took off after the shooter. Harper apparently hit the shooter because there was a large amount of blood where he had been, but no body.”

Duncan just stared at her, cursing the fact that he had been oblivious to all this.

“But,” she continued, “it gets crazier.”

He lifted his brow at that. “How so?”

Alex took a deep breath. “The Good Samaritan who stopped for Shannon’s crash was Aiden Willingham. The man who protected John yesterday was Aiden Willingham. I caught up with him in the parking lot and asked him why he was doing all this. He said he had to protect his big brother.”

It took Duncan a minute to connect the dots. “Wait a minute. Aiden is John’s damn brother?”

She nodded, her eyes steady.

“Are you sure you heard him right? I wasn’t sure John actually had a brother.Hewasn’t sure he had a brother.”

“I talked to them earlier, privately. John thought he remembered a younger brother, but his name definitely wasn’t Aiden.”

Duncan shook his head. “A name can easily be changed. I’m just… at a loss.”

“Yeah, you’re not kidding. He did say he’d be back but he didn’t say when.” She glanced at the watch on her wrist and grimaced.

“How long have you been here? When was the surgery?”

“It was just before noon. It’s almost ten now.”

For the first time, he noticed the bruises under her eyes. They had darkened. When she’d arrived at the hospital for Shannon she’d seemed…off. Now she seemed even more tired and down. “I’m sorry, Alex. This is one of those things that I didn’t want anyone to have to deal with. Why don’t you head back to my house and get some sleep. I won’t keep you here.”

She tilted her head at him, brows furrowed. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

Duncan’s mind was clear enough to be wary of the tone. “I don’t want you to leave, but you look like you’ve been run ragged. Go home and get some sleep, then if you want to come back, you can tomorrow.”

Alex seemed about to say something, then clamped her lips shut. “Yes, maybe I will do that. Goodnight, Duncan.”

Then, without a kiss or anything, she walked out.

Duncan stared after her, unsettled. That had been… difficult. Had she been angry with him? Or had it just been frustration? He wasn’t sure.

Leaning his head back against the pillow, he stared at the ceiling. Though he loved having her in his life, surely she hadn’t expected all this mess.

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