Page 11 of Queen of Spades

Doc’s pumping her stomach.

She’s gonna be here overnight.

This is our chance.

My skin was buzzing uncomfortably, and I couldn’t sit down anymore. This was our best shot, we could reach her here. We just needed a way to get into the room and get a hold of her charts. I dug through my wallet, looking for my old key card for the hematology lab. It had been nearly a year since I’d last shown my face in the lab, but there was a chance that they’d forgotten to deactivate my access.

This was nearly a plan… I tried not to get too excited when I found the staff locker room and scanned my card. The light turned green, and I nearly shouted as I swung the door open, striding inside and glancing around quickly. I tore off my sling, wincing as my stitches twinged painfully, and quickly changed into a spare pair of scrubs, dumping my clothes in the trash. I slicked back my hair and grabbed a couple of face masks from a nearby box, stowing them in my pocket for later. Sufficiently disguised, I checked my phone to see what I’d missed.

Levy

In the room now.

D looks like he got mauled by a tiger.

He’s got a doc here in his pocket, they’re talking meds for Grace.

Let me kill him. Please.

Erik

Stand down, we are outside now. We need a plan. Don’t shoot anyone in the hospital.

I strode back out toward Grace’s room and hovered nearby, studying the security situation. My wounded arm hung useless at my side, and I tried to relax into a somewhat natural pose without tearing my stitches. It looked like Douglas had only brought his stone-faced bodyguard tonight; the idiot thought he was invincible.

Anders

I need a distraction, get D and his buddy out of there.

I look like a nurse, I can slip inside, get Grace out, and use my key card to sneak her down to the service entrance.

Erik

How the fuck did you get a key card?!

Anders

Just get them out of the fucking room and pull the car around to the back entrance, by the loading bay.

It felt like hours, watching and waiting for the room to clear out. Finally, one of the administrative nurses strode up to the door and poked her head inside. A moment later, Douglas emerged, the bodyguard in tow. They followed the nurse as she led them down the hall, muttering something about the system malfunctioning and losing their admitting information.

I tugged one of the masks on and headed toward Grace’s room, slipping inside. The sight of her, bruised to hell and deathly pale in the bed, made me pause and, for a moment, I forgot what I was doing.

“Anders,” Levy hissed. “Come on!” I shook myself roughly and walked over to the machines she was hooked up to, quickly turning them off so I wouldn’t trigger their alarms when I moved her. When I turned to remove her IV, her eyes met mine, and for a split second I thought she saw me, actuallysawme, but then the flash of recognition was gone, replaced by a vacant look of confusion. I carefully slid the needle out of her vein and dropped the discarded tubing on the floor at my feet, tucking her hand back into her lap.

“Kitten, this might be uncomfortable, I need you to just lay as still as you can, alright? And keep your eyes closed,” I warned her gently, yanking all the pillows off the bed and lowering her so she was laying flat. No one would stop a nurse pushing a bed with a deceased patient down to the morgue; it was the perfect cover to get her to the lower levels.

“Wh-” she croaked, as I settled the blanket over her face, concentrating on lowering her heart rate until it was barely pumping, the blanket stilling over her, completing the ruse.

“Levy, let’s move,” I bit out, sweat breaking out on my forehead as I concentrated on her heartbeat. I kicked the locks on the wheels and pushed the bed toward the door, ignoring the screaming pain in my shoulder as we moved out and into the hall. I followed the path to the service elevators, and Levy took my card and ran ahead, calling them up for us. I pushed the bed onto the elevator and pressed the button for the main level, wiping my hand across my face, the mask beginning to stick to my skin. Just a little bit longer, I could do it a little bit longer. The lack of sleep was catching up to me quickly, my body straining as I forced it to keep running on the fumes of exhaustion. Just a little bit further.

I shoved the bed off the elevator as soon as the doors opened and hurried down the hallway, watching for anyone who might come across us. Patients, even dead ones, wouldn’t be down here; it would be difficult to explain this if we got caught. I turned into a small alcove and parked the bed, grabbing her chart off the front of the bed and thrusting it out for Levy to take. I ripped off the blanket, bringing Grace’s heart slowly back up to a normal rate. Mindful of her battered body, I gently lifted her into my arms, feeling my stitches rip open as I cradled her to my chest. I double and triple-checked that she was breathing properly. She still needed medical care, we couldn’t take her home yet.

“Let’s go Anders,” Levy hissed at me, and we took off toward the exit. Erik was idling nearby, and I noticed Jesse’s death trap of a Jeep close behind. Levy swung open the back door, and we climbed inside, settling Grace down between us.

“Sparrow’s,” I snapped, kneeling on the floor next to Grace, her head propped up on Levy’s thigh. Erik sped off toward the bar as I monitored Grace’s vitals, making sure I hadn’tdone any damage. I would catalog every bruise on her body, searing it into my brain. Each bruise was a failure of mine, and Douglas would answer for each of them. I’d find the other men from the club too—they would suffer equally, if not worse.

“Jesus, Anders, your shoulder,” Levy muttered, and I waved him off, wiping the sweat off my forehead as I focused on Grace’s heartbeat.

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