Page 81 of Embers of Torment

"Sorry about that," Alec said, appearing momentarily confused. "I'll break it down. The scale runs from one to five,with five being the most severe. Jace is a two. Although the knife penetrated his liver, we consider the wound minor since there was minimal damage. Jace is hemodynamically stable, and the bleeding from his liver stopped on its own, so we won't have to perform surgery. We'll need to admit him for observation. He'll have his vital signs monitored over the next twenty-four hours and his hemoglobin measurements taken every six hours to ensure there's no additional bleeding or injury."

I turned to Rielle. "Umm…what does hemodynamically stable mean?"

Rielle glanced up at Alec, who stood four or five inches above her despite her tall stature. "Della doesn't work in the medical field."

"My fault. I assumed Della worked with you. She looks like the tech hired in the emergency room before I left to come here. It means a person's heart rate and blood pressure are stable."

"Oh, okay. That's good to know. Can we see Jace now?" I was relieved that Jace's condition wasn't serious and was impatient to see him. The stabbing had scared the bejesus out of me. It also forced me to acknowledge that I loved Jace. And now, I was eager to give him and our relationship a chance.

"I'll take you to him. Follow me." Alec led us down a row of individual treatment areas. He stopped toward the end and pulled back a privacy curtain. "Jace is in here. You can go in."

Rielle and I slipped behind the fabric wall, finding Jace lying on a hospital bed. He appeared startled to see us. Focusing on me, the corners of his mouth quirked upward.

"This wasn't the best way to get you to talk to me, but it worked." He scanned my disheveled appearance, taking in the blood stain on the front of my shirt and the bruises on my arms. "Thank you for helping me."

"I had to. You were making a mess everywhere," I teased, using humor to keep from crying. "I…umm…contacted Rielle. I have your phone. One of the bystanders handed it to me."

Jace smiled at her. "I wondered how you knew I was here."

"I'm thankful Della called me. And, by the way, it scared the shit out of me. Luckily, you should recover without any long-term effects."

"Well, it wasn't my intention to scare anyone. And, yeah, my doctor said the same thing. I'll be fine and only have to stay overnight for observation. After that, I can go home, although I'm supposed to rest and restrict my physical activity for a while." Jace's countenance sobered. "Della, how are Adam and Evie?"

"Adam had the wind knocked out of him when the guy punched him, but he's all right. He's in the waiting room. Evie's another story. She's okay physically but was traumatized by the incident, especially after learning the unstable and violent woman who tried to take her was a grandmother she didn't know existed. It didn't help when she saw the woman handcuffed by the police and carted off after ranting about Sofie being responsible for Denny's death and swearing to get her back. Thank God Sofie's mother is in custody, along with the piece of shit that attempted to take Evie from me."

"Who is he?" Jace asked.

"His name is Tyrone Cannon, and he's one of Denny's cohorts from the past. It took seeing him again for Sofie to realize he was one of the men who disposed of the prostitute she'd witnessed Denny kill when she was fourteen. Sofie said he'd disappeared afterward, and spotting that odd tattoo on his neck brought her memories back."

"Wow. That's crazy," Jace said, shaking his head at the revelation.

The curtain opened, and Alec slipped into Jace's temporary room. "How is everything in here?"

"Better than I expected, but I'm not surprised. You always were one of the best." Rielle gave Alec a dazzling smile. "I was bummed when you left St. Rose."

"Me too. I liked it there but needed to think about my career."

"Yeah, I get it. It was more money and a prime opportunity."

"Exactly. Speaking about the past. How's your daughter and husband?"

"Lily is doing well. James and I are divorced."

"I'm sorry." Although he sounded sincere, Alec appeared pleased by the news. He stepped out, and we could hear him talking to someone. Their conversation ended, and he popped back in. "It looks like they're almost ready to move Jace upstairs. If you hang out for a minute, I'll see if I can find out which floor." Alec left, and Rielle poked her head out the curtain to watch him.

Jace made a face at me and whispered, "That was weird. What is going on between those two?"

"They must have been coworkers sometime in the past."

"We were," Rielle said, joining our discussion. "I worked with Alec in the emergency department at my hospital before he came here."

"Ree. Alec isn't the guy you went out with prior to dating James, is he?"

"That's him."

"Good Lord." Jace shook his head. "As if the events of today weren't already strange enough."

Rielle laughed. "This is where I'm supposed to sing that Disney song 'It's A Small World.'" She nudged Jace's foot. "You, of all people, ought to know life is full of surprises."

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