Page 47 of L.O.V.E

“Ellis and I.” He reached up to touch my face, then dropped his hand. “Why isn’t somebody helping you?”

“Me? I’m fine. My ear just hurts.”

Again, he lifted his hand as if to soothe me, then changed his mind, gaze bouncing from my head to my chest, my cheek, my ear. His brows pinched tight. “What happened?”

“I think there were gunshots. I don’t know. We were dancing, then everyone started to run out. I lost Lacey.” My chest constricted. “Oh, my God! Where’s Lacey? She fell. Then I couldn’t get back to her.”

“Shh. Calm down. Try not to move.”

“We have to find her.” I tried to stand.

“Ellis is looking for her right now.” Cole clamped his hands on my thighs, holding me in place. “Natalie, don’t move.” He looked over his shoulder, yelled, “What the fuck’s taking so long. Get someone over here now!”

“Why does everyone keep telling me not to move? I’m fine. My ear just hurts.”

Cole’s eyes were liquid and angry. “You’re not fine.”

I dropped my head in frustration. A dark, wet, sticky blob landed on my hand. Violent trembles rocked my body. Another drip from my head.

Cole finally touched me, his finger tapping under my chin. “Natalie, look at me, not your hand.”

His face blurred. “No. No, no, no.”

“Look at me, Natalie.”

“No no no no no no.”

“Hey. I’m here. I got you. Just stay still until they get someone over here to clean you up.”

“That’s blood. That’s someone’s blood.” It wasn’t mine. I’d know if I’d been shot. I lifted my hand for inspection. “Oh shit, is that bone?”

Cole caught my chin again, holding my head steady, his hand trembling. “Natalie, just look at me, okay?”

“It’s in my hair.” On instinct, I reached up to inspect the damage.

“Natalie.” He grabbed my wrists and held them in place. “Please. Trust me. Don’t move.” He yelled over his shoulder. “Get someone over here now!”

“It’s not my blood,” I mumbled, unsure which of us needed the assurance most. I couldn’t look at Cole. I refused to look at my hand. I stared at his chest, rising and falling in short rapid bursts and tried my best to ignore the gore in my hair, or think about who the blood and bone had belonged to. Or how close I’d come to being shot.

My stomach lurched.

“Natalie.” Cole’s voice calmed. “I see Lacey. Ellis is with her. She’s on a gurney. It looks like they’re inspecting her leg. She seems fine.”

“Thank you, Jesus,” I said on a loud exhale.

Cole seemed to share my sentiment and fell on his ass next to me, releasing a long shaky breath, his hands now as bloody as mine.

The world spun. I barfed my drinks all over Cole’s lap.

“Say again?” I asked, my hearing still fuzzy.

I stood over Lacey’s bed, her hand in mine, her ankle in a wrap and properly elevated on a stack of pillows.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered into my good ear, blinking at me through her one working eye.

“I don’t…” Pregnant? “I can’t…” Bittersweet elation filled my chest. “You’re gonna be a mom?”

Lips sucked between her teeth, she nodded.

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