Page 129 of Theirs to Take

Alex turned back to smile at her, “He’s at my house, playing with my kids. He says that he’s practicing for your baby.” She choked back her sob and nodded. Because of her cousins, her baby would have his or her grandpa to play with now.

“Thank you, Alex,” she whispered.

“Any time, cuz. Now, let me go down and check on Evan. When the paramedics get here, send them down.” She nodded and watched him disappear down the stairs and when she heard Evan’s voice answer Alex’s calls, she cried out to him.

“Just stay up there,” Alex ordered. He’s in pretty bad shape and will need help to get up the stairs. As if on cue, the paramedics rushed into the kitchen and she pointed to the stairs, unable to tell them anything else.

It felt like hours, not minutes before they brought Evan up, Alex bringing up the rear of the rescue party. Carrie wasn’t sure if she wanted to throw herself on top of him or stay out of the way. “Carrie,” he whispered, reaching for her. She knew that shehad to go to him. It wasn’t something that she’d be able to keep from doing.

“I’m so sorry, Evan,” she sobbed.

“This isn’t your fault,” he insisted. He looked like someone had beaten the hell out of him. Dried blood coated the side of his face and he moaned when they sat him up on the gurney. “Did you get Alastair?” he asked Alex.

“We did, and I’m betting that he’ll be going away for a very long time,” he assured.

“What did he do to you?” she asked.

“He did a little batting practice with my head, but I’ll live—right?” he asked one of the paramedics. The man nodded and asked Carrie if she wanted to ride with him in the ambulance.

“Is that okay?” she asked Evan.

“Of course,” he agreed. “We have a lot to talk about, honey.”

Evan

He hadn’t let go of Carrie’s hand the entire ride to the hospital, even when the paramedics asked him to release her hand, he refused. “You know, I’m not going anywhere,” she assured.

“I don’t want to take any chances. Watching you walk away earlier today was enough for me. I don’t want to let go of you,” he breathed.

“I’m so sorry that I blew up like that, Evan,” she insisted. The ambulance pulled up to the ER and they quickly unloaded Evan and wheeled him into triage with Carrie by his side the whole time. She kept up her side of the bargain and didn’t leave his side while the nurses assessed him.

“We’re going to admit you, Mr. Kingston,” a nurse said. “We’re going to call in a plastic surgeon to look at your skull and we’ll need to have some X-rays done and probably an MRI.”

“Can I stay with him?” Carrie asked.

“You can, just not for the tests,” the nurse said. “We’ll take you up now,” she offered. It was one of the quickest trips in and out of the ER that Evan could remember, but he had a feeling that had to do with the fact that he arrived in an ambulance.

The nurse told Carrie to wait in a room on the third floor and took him down to have some x-rays done. Every time he moved his head, it felt like he was getting hit by a baseball bat all over again. By the time they wheeled him into his room, all he wanted to do was sleep, but the nurse told him that it wasn’t allowed and charged Carrie with making sure that he stayed awake.

“No problem,” Carrie said, seeming to take some joy in making him stay awake until a technician could read the x-ray. “This will give us time to talk,” she said. Carrie sat on the side of his bed, and he was sure that she was going to start crying all over again.

“All this stress can’t be good for the baby. Maybe we should have you both checked out while we’re here,” he said.

“How about we worry about you first, and then, we’ll figure out me. You could have been killed,” she breathed.

“But I wasn’t,” he assured. “Besides, he wanted you and I was just a means to an end.”

“He only came after you because he wanted me,” she said, “I hate that I put you in danger.”

“I’m just happy that you weren’t there. If you hadn’t walked away from me, you would have gone back to my place, and he would have taken you from me.” She pulled his hand into her own and he loved that she seemed to need the contact as much as he did.

“I was an idiot for telling you that I needed time. I don’t need any time, Evan. I was angry at Alex, and I took it out on you. I guess my hormones got the best of me, and I was trying to look good in front of my father. I’m so sorry that I did that to you.”

“Honey, if you still need time, you can take it,” he offered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I don’t need time to know that I love you, Evan. I know that it all seems so sudden, and maybe that’s what scared meso much, but I know that I’m not using you. I can take care of myself and my baby,” she assured.

“I know that you can, honey,” he agreed. “I just want to take care of you both. How about we figure out a middle ground?” he asked.

---