Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
We pulled up to the emergency room, and I bolted out of the car before it even came to a full stop, marching into the ER like I owned the place, because I practically did.
In seconds, I had the medical chief calling the best trauma team together.
It didn’t make me feel better when I saw Stella’s limp body on that gurney with the blonde paramedic straddling her hips, performing CPR.
“Do not let her die,” I said under my breath, unsure if I was talking to the doctors or threatening God himself.
CHAPTER 38
LUCIAN
“We have done all we can,” the doctor said as they wheeled Stella into the room I had prepared for her. “The rest is up to her. If she wakes up in the next few days, we will be able to see how much, if any permanent brain damage was done by the impact.”
“If she doesn’t?” I asked, knowing I didn’t want to know the answer, but needing to hear it.
“Let’s just do everything we can to make sure she does.” The doctor patted my arm in what I assumed was meant to be a reassuring and not condescending way.
“Fine.”
I wasn’t going to argue with him. The man had been overseeing her surgeries personally. For him, it had been twelve hours of grueling work. For me, it had been twelve hours of hell.
Luc stayed as long as he could, and when he left, Olivia came and stayed with me for a while, and then Charlotte.
I didn’t remember what we talked about if anything.
They were just there for me, and I tried to remember if I had ever just been there for them.
Not when Olivia was taken, or Charlotte was hurt.
I wasn’t even there for Luc when Amelia had left him, and it nearly destroyed him.
At the time, I hadn’t understood his pain.
So a girl he barely knew had rejected him—I had told him to move on and find a prettier wife. He’d looked at me like I was a monster.
What he had gone through, why Reid wouldn’t leave Charlotte’s room willingly, and why Harrison was willing to burn the world to the ground to get his wife back—it had taken me falling for a tenacious girl to understand that. To be reminded of an all-consuming love that I had never thought I’d ever feel again.
The doctors and nurses took a moment to hook up all the monitors and lines to Stella to monitor her vitals, and set up the room just as I’d demanded. She had a corner suite with windows, a private room with plenty of natural light, and a direct line of sight to the nurse’s station.
As soon as they were done, I took a seat next to her, lacing my fingers with hers, just needing to hold her hand.
Her vitals beeped along steadily, but she still didn’t have any color in her cheeks despite the transfusions.
I sat in that chair for a few hours, taking the time to look up the careers of every doctor and surgeon attending to her case. I made sure each of them was up for the task. As soon as she was awake, I would be transferring her to a room that would be set up in our home to accommodate her better and keep her safe.
Reid was in the process of putting together a team of Marines to hunt down Ronan and the others responsible for this.
Luc was handling the business, dealing with getting the party pushed back, all the news about the distillery, and making sure Manwarring Enterprises wouldn’t be too affected by this.
He refused to let me help, and although I would never tell him, I was grateful for the freedom to not think about the company.
For the first time in a very long time, I didn’t give a damn about business.
My attention was consumed by Stella.
She looked so frail, lying in her hospital bed with her pink hair, a mess of tangles, and dirt still smeared under her cheeks. She had several bright bruises forming on her jaw and her shoulders. But thankfully, she’d only broken her arm and a few ribs.
One rib had punctured a lung, but that was easily repaired.
What worried the doctors was how hard she was hit in the head. Her brain was swelling with the trauma, and until it went down, they had no way to know the extent of the damage.
“Sir, visiting hours are over,” a wide-set nurse said as she came in to record Stella’s vitals.
“What’s your point?” I asked, not letting go of her hand.
“My point, sir, is that this patient is not your family. You can see her tomorrow.”
“She is my fiancée. I’m not going anywhere.” I didn’t even look up at her as I spoke.
“Sir, I have to insist.” The nurse sounded more annoyed.
“Insist all you like, I am not moving.”