Page 77 of Theirs to Take

“I’ll live,” he looked down at himself and grimaced. Ranger looked like hell, and she knew that if Luke was in the ER, he had to look worse than his friend.

“What happened after I left?” Ruby asked.

“They roughed him up a bit if you want me to be honest,” Ranger said.

“I’d appreciate that,” Ruby said. She needed to know the truth about what Luke had been through. She needed to know what she was going to be up against if he came out of this.

“He was pretty banged up when I got there. I’m pretty sure that his nose and jaw were both broken, but he was conscious and talking. In fact, when I told him about my phone bomb, he was pretty pissed off that I was acting so casual about a bomb.”

“Gee, you think?” Millie asked.

“Hey, it was a good plan,” Ranger insisted. “I knew that you would call me back with information in about five minutes and I also knew that one of those assholes would take my phone with them, so I wouldn’t be able to call for help. There was no way that they’d let me hold onto it. The risk was minimal.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t account for them walking back in the house, did you?” Millie asked.

“How did you know that?” he questioned.

“I have sources too, Ranger. I called a friend on the force, and he gave me a quick rundown while we were driving over here.” Ruby wasn’t sure if Ranger looked pissed off that Millie had checked up on him, or if he looked proud that she had connections. Either way, he looked Millie over like he wanted her. She knew that look because it was the same one that Luke had given her so many times over the past four months.

A nurse pushed her way out of Luke’s room and Ranger grabbed her arm. “How is he?” Ranger asked.

“I really can’t answer that. Do you by chance have numbers so that we can reach his family?” the nurse asked.

Ranger practically shoved Ruby in the nurse’s face. “This is Luke’s fiancée,” he lied. “She’s pregnant with their baby. You can talk to her, right?”

“Fiancée?” the nurse asked, looking Ruby over as if sizing her up. “And you’re pregnant?”

“Yes,” Ruby lied. Well, partially lied. She was pregnant with Luke’s baby, at least. “How is he?”

“He’s pretty banged up. I’ve called for the plastic surgeon to come take a look at his nose and his jaw since they both look to be broken. He’s also in shock,” she said.

“Has he woken up yet?” Ranger asked. The nurse looked him over and pressed her lips together.

“Has he woken up yet?” Ruby repeated.

“No,” the nurse admitted. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find out what’s holding up the doctor.” She disappeared down the hallway and all Ruby seemed capable of doing was watching her walk away.

“Now what?” she asked. Ranger looked about as unsure as she felt. There was no way that she was going to leave Luke laying in the ER room by himself. She pulled the door open and slipped into the room, glad that the nurse had been the only person in there with him.

“Luke,” she whispered, rushing to his bedside. “Can you hear me?” she asked. He moaned and stirred, and she looked him over, wincing when she noticed the bruises and blood on his face. The nurse was right—his nose and jaw looked broken. She just hoped that he wasn’t in too much pain.

“Hurts,” he breathed.

“I know,” she said. “You’re in the hospital and they’re finding a doctor who can help you.” He nodded and moaned, and she ducked her head out of the room. “He’s awake,” she said to Ranger. “Get him some help—he’s in pain.”

“On it,” Ranger promised. He was about to turn to walk back to the nurse’s station and walked right into the same nurse from moments earlier. “He’s awake,” Ranger said.

“Tell me that you weren’t in there,” she grumbled.

“I wasn’t,” he assured. “But his fiancée here was, and she said that he’s waking up and is in pain.”

“Which room is he in?” a man asked from behind Nurse Ratchet.

“This one,” she said, pointing to Luke’s room. “Possible broken nose and jaw. He’s waking up now.” The doctor nodded and walked past the nurse, Ranger, and Millie to go into Luke’s room. Ruby didn’t wait to be invited back in—simply following behind the doctor. If he was there to give Luke answers, she wanted to be in on that conversation.

She looked Luke over and noted that he had fallen back to sleep again since she had stepped out of the room. “Jesus,” the doctor said. “What in the hell happened to him?”

Ranger stood in the doorway to the room. “It’s classified,” he lied. “We are both ex-military and I can’t share what happened until it’s cleared.”

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