16. CONAN
Chapter sixteen
J ust as I pushed through the doors and stepped out into the cool evening air, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, expecting a message from someone I knew, or some spam, but it was a text from Emily in the ICU. The message made my heart jump: Jane Doe’s awake, disoriented, and freaking out. Can you come by? Might help to have a familiar presence .
“Shit,” I muttered, spinning on my heel and charging back through the ED corridors. I caught Atticus just as he was about to disappear into another room. “Hey, Jane Doe’s awake!”
His head snapped up, eyes wide. “Seriously? All right, go. I’ll be there soon if I can.”
I nodded and sprinted toward the ICU, my boots thudding loudly against the floor.
As I passed the hospital’s gift shop, something caught my eye—a small, fluffy teddy bear perched among some gift baskets and flower arrangements. A thought struck me. Maybe something soft and nonthreatening would ease her nerves when she saw a big-ass tattooed guy entering her room. I dashed in, grabbed the teddy bear, threw some cash at the clerk without waiting for change, and kept moving.
The ICU was as quiet as ever, so I slowed down as I approached her room, not wanting to burst in like some kind of storm.
“Hey, Emily,” I panted when I reached the nurses’ station, brandishing the teddy bear like a carnival prize.
“She’s been pretty upset since waking up,” she replied.
Quietly, I peeked into Jane Doe’s room. There she was, the woman who had consumed my thoughts for days. She didn’t notice me standing there as she leaned against the pillows, her eyes wide and darting around the room in panic. Her breathing was rapid, and she looked ready to bolt, but even in her current state, she was still unbelievably beautiful.