25. Wade
25
WADE
It took only minutes to get to the hospital, but it felt so much longer. When we arrived, I tried to follow the EMT’s back with the stretcher but was told I needed to go to a waiting room while they checked her over. The only reason I didn’t throw a huge fit was because the EMT assured me she would be fine as we exited the vehicle.
A nurse walked me over to a small waiting room and asked me some basic questions about Ellie then told me to wait there for information from the doctor.
“Can I just wait in the room she’ll go in after she is done being examined?” I asked, knowing it was a long shot. “ I’m her fiancé,” I threw in at the end for good measure, knowing family got more privileges than just friends.
“We don’t know what room she’ll go in yet, but I promise to come give you any information I can when I know,” she said kindly and smiled at me. Then , she turned and walked out of the small waiting room as I reached for my phone.
I needed to check in with Archer and Vince , and I might as well do it while I waited.
“Hey man, where are you?” Vince asked with not much of a greeting.
“I’m at the hospital, sitting in the waiting room while they check her over,” I told him.
“I know that, but where exactly?” he pressed. “ I’m here too with one of the officers. They need to get your statement.”
I told him my waiting room location and then hung up, knowing they would be here momentarily. I didn’t want to do this, but I’d rather get this over with now so that when they called me back to go see Ellie , I wasn’t tied up in the middle of it.
Vince walked in moments later with an older-looking cop.
“Sir, my name is Officer Teller . Do you mind if we go in that more private room over there?” the officer asked me and pointed to the other side of the waiting room, where there was what appeared to be a smaller room with a table and four chairs.
“I’d prefer we stay here in case the doctor comes out, if you don’t mind,” I explained to him.
“Go, dude. If the doctor comes out, I’ll come get you, I’ll stay put right here,” Vince said, trying to assure me.
I nodded and followed the officer into the small room. I answered all his questions about how we came upon the scene and what happened after. Twenty minutes later, I walked out to find not only Vince , but also Ruthie , Dane , and Jack .
Shit. I had totally forgotten Jack was arriving tonight. Talk about terrible timing. But my first words were to Vince , not Jack .
“Anything?” I asked him.
“Not a word,” he said.
I sighed and ran my hand over my face, part relieved I didn’t miss anything, but also frustrated that they hadn’t been out to tell us what was going on. I turned to see Jack stroll up to me.
“Shit circumstances, but glad to see you, man, and really glad you were there to help tonight,” Jack said as he walked over to me, and grabbed my hand, and pulled me in for our usual half shake, half hug.
“Where’s my girl?” I heard yelled from across the room, and I looked up to see Tammy prowling in like she was on a mission and would kill anyone who got in her way.
She was closely followed by Chuck , who looked calm as a cucumber, but I knew that was only on the surface. His tightened fists and hard eyes told another story. Tammy came straight to me.
“How is she? Where’s Beth ? Did you kill that asshole ex of hers? What room is she in? I want to go see her,” she asked in rapid fire, but before I could even attempt to answer any of them, a doctor came into the room.
“Elliana Hutchinson ?” the doctor said to the room.
Almost every one of us in the room spoke up to let the doctor know we were all here for her. The doctor gave a small smile and looked at all of us.
“She has multiple contusions on her neck, face, and wrists,” the doctor explained. “ There’s swelling around her neck, and while her voice is raspy, there appears to be no permanent damage to her vocal cords. She also suffered a mild concussion from the blow to the head. She’s awake now, but we can only let one person back at a time. We’ll start with her fiancé.” He looked at me, and I assumed the nurse must have passed along my fiancé comment to him. “ Then the rest of you can come back one at a time only, please.”
“ Her what?” Jack almost yelled as I got up and went to follow the doctor. “ Wait . I’m her brother I’d like to see her,” he told the doctor and started to walk to the door.
“She’s asked for her fiancé first, so let’s start with him, and then you can go back,” the doctor explained calmly.
She asked for her fiancé? I knew I’d used that term in hopes it would get me extra access to her, but why had she used it?
I could feel Jack glaring at me behind my back. I needed to talk to him about Ellie , but I wanted to talk to her first. The need to see her myself and know that she was okay was a higher priority than talking to Jack at the moment.
The doctor and I cleared the door as I heard Jack ask Vince what the hell was going on. I felt a little bad for Vince because I was sure he wasn’t thrilled at having to be the one to tell Jack I’d been seeing his sister and no one had told him.
“Her bruises are starting to set in,” the doctor explained to me as we walked down the hallway. “ And the marks are going to be more pronounced than when you brought her in, so just be prepared. The cops would like to speak with her, but I’ll hold them off for a little bit so you can visit with her privately.” He pointed to the room on the right, and I thanked him before opening the door and going inside.
I walked in quietly and noticed her eyes were closed. I took the moment to just look her over as I walked a little closer to her bed. Despite all the marks on her body and bruises starting to appear, she was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. But God , seeing her broken like this tore me up. Guilt , sadness, and anger battled inside me, along with so much more. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm myself.
“I hear my fiancé Wade came in with me,” she said softly and a bit raspy as I opened my eyes to see her looking at me. “ You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you, fiancé ?” The grin on her face grew.
“I’ll admit, it may have started as a white lie to give me access to you that I otherwise wouldn’t have had, but mark my words, babe, one day you will wear my ring and that fiancé comment will no longer be anything but the truth.”
She gasped, and I saw tears start filling up in her eyes. I decided to go for it and tell her everything so she knew I was serious. Because when her brother walked in, I wanted us all to be on the same page.
“You own me, Ellie —lock, stock, and barrel,” I told her. “ You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I can’t lose you. Even with all the battles I fought overseas, I have never felt fear penetrate so deep inside me like it did when I walked into that room and saw that fucker on top of you, choking you.”
I took a few breaths, trying to calm myself down because the last thing I needed was to scare her with my anger.
“Come here,” she said, reaching out.
I walked toward her and took her hand in mine, leaning down to cup her cheek with my other hand.
“I love you, Wade Watson ,” she told me softly with a smile gleaming on her face.
Damn. Those words. In that moment, I vowed to myself to do whatever it took to never see this brave and beautiful woman in this state again. I would show her how much she meant to me every day for the rest of my life.
“I love you too, baby,” I told her and then leaned forward to kiss her. I wanted to kiss her hard, but I knew I had to be gentle because of her injuries.
“The hell are you doing to my sister?” Jack growled behind me, but before I could fully turn around, another voice spoke up.
“Move it, young man. I need to see my girl, and your big head is blocking me,” Tammy all but hollered at Jack , using her arms to shove her way around him.
Tammy gasped loudly when she saw Ellie and then her face turned red.
“Tell me one of y’all killed him,” she snarled.
“I’m okay, Tammy ,” Ellie told her with a small smile on her face.
“You will be, girl. You will be,” Tammy said, shaking her head.