Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
COLE
H annah Grace starts to crumple to the ground in front of me and I reach out, catching her before she can hit the ground.
“Hannah Grace!” Laura Leigh cries out and rushes to Hannah Grace’s other side.
“Honey Girl!”
I lift her up into my arms and make my way back out to the street where Murphy parked his car and another squad car sits idling next to it.
“Sir?” One of the officers steps out of the car and questions my rushing toward them with Hannah Grace still in my arms.
I’m glad Murphy took the extra time to introduce me to the backup, otherwise I’m sure I’d be facing an entirely different situation.
“She fainted. We need at least one ambulance. Maybe two,” I say, taking in the way Laura Leigh wobbles next to me.
The officer nods and drops back into the car.
“I’m okay,” she says. “Help Hannah Grace.”
“Do you remember what happened?” I ask her.
“No, I’m sorry. One minute I was talking to Zach at his apartment and the next Hannah Grace was waking me up here. What happened?”
I shake my head.
“Your sister’s going to have to fill in a lot of the details.”
A siren grows closer as Zach’s screaming becomes clearer. Glancing up from Hannah Grace’s face, I look up just in time to witness Murphy hauling Zach out in handcuffs. I tense and Laura Leigh shrinks closer.
The ambulance pulls up and the EMTs rush to pull the gurney out, and I lay Hannah Grace on it.
Zach’s screams grow louder the closer they get, and without Hannah Grace in my arms, I want to close the distance and knock his ass out.
“That fucking bitch. I’m going to kill her. I’m fucking blind!” he screams, running his hands over his streaming eyes.
“What’d she get him with?” I yell the question to Murphy.
The corner of his lips lifting is visible in the flashing blue and red lights.
“Pepper spray.”
That’s my girl .
At least now I understand why Murphy cuffed him with his hands in front. A small mercy, but until he gets some water to wash the oil out of his eyes, nothing will help.
“Sir, do you know what happened?” one of the EMTs asks me as they check Hannah Grace’s vitals.
“No. She was walking and talking okay and then she folded to the ground. I caught her before she could hit,” I tell her.
She nods.
“And that guy got pepper sprayed?”
“Yeah.”
“That could be why the skin around her eyes is red and irritated. Any idea how close they were when he got it?”
I shake my head again, feeling useless. Fuck, do I hate this sensation.
“I don’t.”
She gives me a sympathetic smile and turns to Laura Leigh.
“Miss, are you okay?”
I shift my attention to Laura Leigh whose whole body is shivering. The other EMT is still checking over Hannah Grace, so the one we’ve been talking to reaches in and pulls out a trauma blanket. I reach for it, unfolding it to wrap around Laura Leigh’s shoulders.
“Thank you. What are you doing here? The last time I saw you…”
I nod.
“Yeah. You were twelve. Your sister has a lot of explaining to do. But first we need her to wake up.”
Zach’s screams grow quieter again as he gets put into the back of the squad car. Murphy walks over to the EMT we’ve been talking to.
“Do y’all have any saline solution?” he asks.
“Let him burn,” I mutter.
The asshole is lucky it wasn’t me who found him.
“I’d love to, but I don’t want him to claim that we didn’t help him and use that as a technicality. I can explain leaving him there versus having him checked out over here,” Murphy says, thumbing toward the patrol car.
The EMT tosses him a bottle, and Murphy walks it over to the squad car.
The other EMT who has spent the entire time checking over Hannah Grace finishes his original exam. She still hasn’t woken up.
Come on, Honey Girl, open those pretty blue eyes for me .
“Pupils are sluggish, but heart rate and oxygen are good. Ready to transport?”
Our EMT nods.
“We’re going to take her to Forest View Med Center. We’ve got enough room for one of you.”
Everything in me wants to tell them I’ll ride with her. I don’t want to let her out of my sight. But I know what choice Hannah Grace would make, and I have to make sure her sister is okay too.
“Take Laura Leigh so she can get checked out too. We’ll follow behind.”
The EMTs load Hannah Grace in first and then assist Laura Leigh into the open seat.
“You guys rolling to Forest View?” Murphy asks, walking back up as the squad car takes off.
“They are,” I say.
The driver closes the doors, securing them, and Murphy lifts a hand to my shoulder.
“Let’s head that direction. I’ll stick around to get her statement and take Laura Leigh’s official statement.”
He leads me to his car.
“She doesn’t remember much,” I say as he starts the engine.
“Probably for the best. Hannah Grace wake up?”
“No.”
We’re following the ambulance, and every fiber of my being wants to be in the back with her.
“She’ll be okay,” he says, and we pull into the hospital parking lot as the ambulance continues to the emergency entrance.
It’s a mantra I’ve been echoing the entire drive.
She will be okay.
I just need her to wake up.
I need you to wake up, Honey Girl. Do you hear me?
I have no idea who I’m talking to. The Universe. God. Whoever listens.
Please wake up .