Page 29 of With This Ring

“What is it?” he asks but doesn’t slow down.

“Kai,” is all I say.

Once we get to the alley, I see Kai’s shoes from behind the dumpster. “What the fuck?” I roar, putting on a burst of speed to get to him.

Rounding the dumpster, I see Kai struggling to sit up, his knife held out in front of him. “Go…the fuck…”

“Kaison, it’s me. Carter. I’m not going to hurt you. What happened?”

Declan brushes past me, taking the knife from Kai’s fumbling hands. “We gotta get inside, we’re too exposed out here.”

“Help me with him.”

We both step beside Kai and drag him to his feet. He looks over at me, his hair loose and in his face. “Husband, is that you?”

Despite the situation, I chuckle. “It’s me.” My laughter dies on my tongue when I spot the blood trail down his back. Raising my hand, I touch it and feel it’s still warm. “Fuck, you’re bleeding. What happened?”

“Got my wallet.”

“We’ll cancel your cards tomorrow. Where are you hurt?”

“Head,” is all he says before his legs give out under him and he faints.

“God fucking dammit!” I shout. I push Declan off Kai and sling him over my shoulder. “Get the car door.”

Nico had just pulled into the head of the alley haphazardly. Declan rushes around me and opens the door. Awkwardly, I stuff me and Kai into the back of the car, sliding over and dragging him with me until his head is resting in my lap.

“Go,” Declan says. “I’ll meet you at Lakewood Medical Center.”

The hospital he named is about five miles away. Nico stomps his foot on the gas to reverse the car, then throws it into drive without braking. He weaves around cars, honking his horn for them to move the fuck out of the way.

Kai’s eyes flutter open, and he stares up at me as if he can’t believe it. “You’re really here?” He reaches up and touches my face, his hand covered in blood. I’m not sure if it’s his or not. “I thought I was seeing shit.”

“No, you asshole. We’ll have words about you taking off the way you did as soon as the doc patches you up.”

Kai nods and nuzzles closer to me. A funny feeling settles into my gut as I look down at him. I don’t know whether to touch him or not, so I keep my hands to myself.

Nico pulls us up to the emergency room entrance and hustles to the back. He helps me drag Kai out. Luckily, he’s awake, so he can help us a little when we move him.

Once inside, I shout for someone to help and a few nurses run over, asking questions, and fussing over Kai. I hand him over and start to follow. One nurse grabs my arm, earning a hard shove from me for touching me out of turn. “Do not fucking touch me.” The man gets to his feet and holds his hands up, walking away with a quick glance over his shoulder.

“Sir,” a smaller nurse says, giving me a hard look. “Don’t abuse the staff here. If you want us to look at your friend?—”

“He’s my fucking husband and you will check him out.” I let the threat go unsaid, but she gets the implications.

“Right away, sir,” she says, turning to Kai as the other nurses get him settled into a bed.

They work on getting Kai hooked up to a blood pressure machine and an IV, then they check the back of his head.

A doctor steps into the room, introduces herself and takes over for the nurses checking Kai over. She snaps on a pair of gloves and pushes his hair out of the way and hums. “Looks like he’ll need a few stitches. Clippers.”

I grin at the look on Kai’s face when the doctor says that, but he’s still too fucked up to stop it. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s drunk or has a concussion, but either way, his hands can’t push them away as the doctor makes quick work of shaving a small patch of his hair. The rest of his tresses will cover his bald spot.

It doesn’t take the doctor long to throw three stitches into the wound on the back of his head. When she’s done, she looks at Kai. “I want to get some images to make sure you don’t have anyfractures, in your skull or otherwise. You’re beat up pretty bad. Then we’ll keep you overnight for observation.”

“No,” Kai says, touching the back of his head gingerly. “Home. Wanna go home.”

She sighs as if she expected his refusal to stay. Her serious eyes turn to me. “You’re his husband?” I nod. “I can’t make him stay. He seems to only have a concussion and some bumps and bruises, but I want to make sure. After we take some images, I’ll have the discharge papers drawn up.”

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