Page 22 of Ignite
I reached out to her to make sure she was stable enough to sit. “Let me get you some water and something for your headache,” I said, before placing a light kiss on her forehead.
As I headed toward the door, I stopped for a moment to take one last look at her to make sure she was still upright. If River wasn’t already fighting for his life, I would have killed him for what he did to Kenzi. There were other ways he could have handled the situation with his brothers instead of drugging Kenzi. He could have contacted me. I would have made sure Kenzi was safe. And I sure as hell wouldn’t have drugged her.
~19~
Kenzi
I sat on the edge of the bed, ready for my head to be chopped off. Never in my life had I experienced a headache as bad as this one. I tried to make it to the bathroom to get a cold washcloth, only to find myself back on the bed.What the hell was going on with me?The last thing I remembered was heading into the elevator to the ICU to get my purse. I couldn’t think straight with the pounding in my head. Somehow, I had to get to the bathroom before I lost the contents of my stomach.
Falling to my knees, I positioned my body with my hands in front of me and began crawling doggie style to the bathroom. It seemed the more I crawled, the further the bathroom got. “You can do this, Kenzi,” I said to myself as I continued to crawl on my hands and knees.
I focused on the bathroom door, trying to block out the pain consuming my head. Just when I felt like I was about to pass out, a pair of muscular arms lifted me from the floor. Those strong arms belonged to Axe. Without looking at him, I pointed to the bathroom. If I didn’t get to the toilet soon, he would be covered with the contents of my stomach.
“Hold on, baby,” he said as he hurried to the bathroom.
Axe used his foot to push open the door and walked to the toilet. He grabbed a towel from the warming rack and placed it on the floor. Lowering his body, he gently placed me on the towel. I flipped the lid up just in time to see the contents of my stomach coat the inside of the porcelain bowl. Axe remained kneeling beside me and held my hair back as I continued to spill my guts. Just when I thought I had no more to spill, I heaved one more time. The pain in my head was unbearable, and I knew the minute I swallowed the pain reliever, it would end up in the toilet.
While Axe held my hair, somehow, he managed to wet a washcloth with cold water. I took it from him and placed it on my forehead. Just the small act of pressing the cold cloth against my head made the nausea from the headache ease up. Lifting my head, I turned toward Axe. “I think I can make it back to the bed now.”
Instead of allowing me to stand on my own. Axe lifted me from the floor. “I’m not taking any chances.”
I didn’t have the strength to argue, so I wrapped my arms around his neck and allowed him to carry me back to the bed. As my head cleared, the memory of how I got to this state came to light. “Someone in the elevator drugged me.”
Axe continued to carry me to bed without a missed step. He gently put me down on the bed and walked over to the dresser, where he had placed a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin. “Here, take these,” he said as he handed me the glass of water and opened the bottle.
When he placed the two pills in my hand, I looked up at him. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep these down.”
“You need to at least try. It will help with your headache.”
I popped the two pills into my mouth and took a long drink of water. I waited a moment to see how my stomach would react to the pills before setting the glass of water on the nightstand. So far, so good. Placing the glass on the nightstand, I looked at Axe. “Do you know who could have drugged me?”
Axe lowered his head and raked his hands through his hair. It was something he did whenever he was keeping something from me.
“Axe, tell me who did this,” I pleaded as I placed my hand on his arm.
“It was River.” His eyes met mine, and all I saw was anger. “He was the one who drugged you.”
“But why?”
“He did it because, just like me, he loves you. River got word that Van and Niles were on their way to the hospital to kill you. He knew you wouldn’t go with him freely, so he drugged you.”
I wanted to kill River. He had no right to take me against my will, even if I was in danger. “Where is he? He had no right to drug me.”
Taking hold of my hands, Axe squeezed them gently. “River saved your life, baby. I know you hate him for lying to you, and as much as I hate him too, he saved your life.” I couldn’t help but look down at my small hands in his big ones. In an odd way, they fit perfectly together.
It might have been the drug wearing off, but suddenly the words Axe spoke hit me. “What do you mean, River saved me?”
“I know things are fuzzy for you, but you have to understand everything River did was to keep you safe.”
“Just tell me. Tell me everything.”
“After River drugged you, he took you to The Ritz. When West and I found out where River had taken you, we wasted no time getting to you. When we got to the hotel, River was expecting us. He wanted us to find out where he took you. Unfortunately, Van found out where he had taken you as well.” Axe released my hands and took a moment to gather himself. “Van shot River. West was able to subdue Van until the police arrived, while I looked after River.”
“Is he dead?” My body began to shake and I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest as I waited to learn the truth.
“He was taken to Atlanta General. We haven’t heard anything about his condition.”
In a matter of seconds, my feelings toward River had changed. I wasn’t sure if I hated him for drugging me, or if I was sad that he had gotten shot. No matter how our relationship ended or how angry I was at him, he didn’t deserve to get shot. Inside, I felt responsible. No matter what my feelings were for him, I had to know if he was going to be okay.
