Her hand tightens around my bicep as I turn to face her. Her features pale. “Grayson, I don’t feel too good.” Her voice trembles. The rage that burns through me is morphing into panic. I fucking told Luca we needed new recruits, handed him a plan on a platter. This wouldn’t have fucking happened if he’d listened to us.
She stumbles forward, crashing into my chest. I grab her shoulders to steady her. Shit. Her eyes flutter closed. Panic rises in my chest. I need to stay calm and concentrate. “Maddie, Baby. Can you hear me?” I raise my voice enough to get through to her, but she doesn’t respond. I hoist her up into my arms and cradle her limp body into me. “It’s ok, Sunshine. I’ve got you.” The world moves in a blur as I rush us out of the fire exit door and jog to my car, rummaging through my pockets for my keys. As I open the passenger door, her face brushes against my chest. I almost sag in relief. She’s awake.
Crouching, I gently place her in the passenger seat. Her eyes are still glazed over, and she’s awake but not entirely. I bring my palm to cup her cool cheek, and her face sinks into my touch. “I’m taking you to the hospital now, just stay awake for me. I won’t leave you. I promise.” She gives me a weak nod, and I press a kiss to her forehead before standing and rushing around the front of the car.
She dozes in and out of sleep on the journey to the hospital. I squeeze her hand in mine the entire time, needing the reassurance she’s okay.
I carry her into the emergency room. The clinical smell burns my nostrils the second I walk in. I can barely hear the chatter in the waiting room above the ringing in my ears. I stalk over to the receptionist.
“I need a doctor. My girlfriend, Maddie Peters, collapsed, and is in and out of consciousness. She needs help. Now.”
She looks up from her computer screen, her attention straight at Maddie’s still form in my arms. A flicker of concern passes across her features as she glances at Maddie. “Now.” I’m not fucking around.
“Come with me, Sir.” She pushes herself off her chair and walks out of the glass door. I follow behind her down the bright white corridors. She opens up the room on the right. A tiny room with one bed and one plastic chair greets me. “I’ll send a doctor in right away.”
I give her a nod and walk over to the bed, laying Maddie down softly. “Hey, Baby, the doctors are just coming.”
Her eyes open and a frown creases her forehead. “W-where am I?”
“The hospital.”
“What happened?” she asks.
“You passed out on me. Do you need anything?” I ask, and she shakes her head.
The sparkle in her eyes returns, which brings a smile to my face. “Maybe a kiss?” she says sweetly, biting on that plump bottom lip.
“Always, Sunshine. I never want to stop kissing those sweet lips,” I whisper. I lean forward. The door clicking stops me in my tracks. Someone clears their throat from the doorway, and Maddie giggles, her warm breath hitting my lips. I give her a quick peck before pushing myself up to turn to the doorway. The young lanky, dark-haired doctor stands there, unsure where to look.
“Miss Peters?” he almost squeaks, unable to look in my direction.
“That’s me,” Maddie says.
Taking that as my cue, I take a seat on the pathetic plastic chair.
The doctor walks over, shuffling with the paperwork in his hands. Is he qualified to be looking after her?
“We’d like to take some bloods if that’s okay?” he asks, his back now to me as he approaches Maddie’s bedside.
“Of course, thank you, Doctor.”
“How are you feeling now?”
“Better. I do have a pounding headache and feel a bit sick. But other than that, I’m fine.”
The doctor takes her blood. Maddie turns her head in the opposite direction, squeezing her eyes shut. The doctor informs us we have to wait for the results before we can go home. So in the meantime, I scoot my chair up to her bed, enclosing her hand in mine. I don’t want to let her go.
Her eyes flick to the blood on my shirt. A stark reminder that I could have been the reason she passed out. She got to witness the devil.
As if sensing my inner turmoil, she slips her hand from under mine and places hers on the top. “I’m not bothered, Grayson.” I cock my brow at her. “You know, about what happened earlier. You saved me. I won’t ever forget that.”
My body is rigid. I blew someone’s brains up the wall, and she’s thanking me. She doesn’t need this bullshit. She deserves so much more. Way more than I could ever offer.
I stare at the white wall in front of me. “Grayson, listen to me. I know who you are, what you do. I’m not scared of you.”
Now isn’t the time or the place for this. I shouldn’t feel the things I do for her. She’s well and truly clawed herself into my black heart and spread her light through my entire life. I can’t help the dread that settles in my stomach. She isn’t mine to keep.
“Good,” I reply with a smirk.
She shoots me a questioning look, ready to speak but shuts her mouth before the words come out. Instead, she sighs and settles herself into the pillow, still gripping onto my hand.
We stay like this in silence.
The door flies open, and in walks the doctor, fumbling with the door knob as if he didn’t mean to make such an entrance. I can’t help but roll my eyes.
“Miss Peters, we have the results back. Would you like some privacy?”
I straighten my spine, turning to face him.
His eyes focused only on Maddie. The tremble of his fingers gives his fear away. Maddie squeezes my hand, turning my attention back to her. I can see her heartbeat thudding against the skin on her throat.
“I can stay, or I can go. It’s up to you, Sunshine.”
I put my other hand on top of hers, doing whatever I can to comfort her. “Grayson stays.” Her voice quivers as she speaks. I hold my breath, waiting for his next words.
“Miss Peters, you are pregnant. Congratulations.”
Maddie gasps, and my vision goes hazy. The room starts to spin.
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
