Chapter 40
Sutton
I never realized how effective my uniform was at concealing blood until I found myself desperately searching for signs of Alice.
I refused to wash away the bloodstains on my hands from holding her head upright, and the small red trickle from her temple that I’m not sure she even realized was there.
But I did. The moment I tore open the metal cabinet and saw her face, pale and lifeless, with her eyes closed as if she was already gone, I was immediately fixated.
In a matter of seconds, I cataloged everything that was wrong.
Because when you spend so much of your time with someone, care for them and memorize everything about them, it’s easy to spot the changes.
The bruises blooming beneath her tan skin.
The tips of her fingers, torn and bloodied.
The raw abrasion around her wrist from the rope tying them together.
Bloodied temple. Scraped chin. Split lip.
All of it wrong.
I drop my face into my hands, scrubbing my eyelids. The exhaustion and worry settle deep in my bones as I try to steady myself in the silence of the hospital hallway, knowing it’s impossible until I lay eyes on her and see for myself that she’s going to be okay.
“Family of Alice Thompson?” A voice cuts through the quiet.
I jerk my head up from my place on the floor outside the secured door to the inpatient rooms.
“Can I see her now?” I climb to my feet as the words hang in the air.
“My name is Dr. Nguyen. I’m the attending physician treating Alice this evening.”
“Is she okay?”
Dr. Nguyen smiles. “She’s stable. We have her on an insulin drip for mild DKA, along with some fluids and electrolytes. She also has a concussion. A couple more hours, and she would have been in serious trouble. With some supportive care, she’ll make a full recovery.”
I don’t breathe as her words settle over me. “Can I see her?”
Dr. Nguyen swipes her arm, gesturing to the secured doors. “Of course. I can let you sit with her and keep her company.”
I pull out my phone and message Silas, knowing he’ll share the brief update with everyone else. Right now, nobody else matters. My only concern is seeing her with my own eyes and making sure she’s breathing. Once I have that reassurance, I’ll deal with the rest of the world.
With a swipe of the doctor’s badge, the doors disengage and swing open. I step beside her into the sterile hall, the scent of antiseptic and alcohol filling my lungs.
A commotion erupts down the hall. A scream pierces the quiet, followed by someone bellowing, “I need some help in here!”
Dr. Nguyen rushes toward the source of the noise, and I follow, my training kicking in. When someone calls for help, my instinct is to run toward them despite being far outside my own jurisdiction.
Alice’s voice, high-pitched and frantic, echoes into the hall.
“I need to see Nellie. Where is she? I need to tell them I’m so sorry. I need them to know I tried. I tried so hard. Where is she? Get the fuck off me!” she growls.
The room is chaotic. The machine behind the bed issues a series of high, rapid beeps as Alice tears the leads from her chest. Blood trails down her arm in crimson rivulets, dripping silently onto the floor from the IV she must have yanked out herself.
Her shoulders are tense and defensive, as if she’s ready to force her way to the door.
A nurse stands nearby, cradling her jaw as she watches a team quickly gather in the room. The urgency in their movements is palpable.
Dr. Nguyen turns to the woman clad in navy-blue scrubs. “Are you okay, Olivia?”
“I’m okay.” Olivia shifts her attention toward Alice, silently indicating that the focus should be on her patient.
“Firecracker.” My voice is low and steady, yet audible amid the hum of chatter. “Look at me.”
The nickname quickly cuts through the tension, and Alice’s wild whiskey eyes snap to mine.
“Sutton,” she whispers, as if she can’t quite believe I’m here, before she calls louder, “Sutton!”
She only manages two steps in her hospital socks before I reach her.
We collide, her body slamming into my chest as I lift her straight up into my arms. Her legs wrap tightly around my hips, her face disappearing into my neck.
Her torso trembles, and her fingers grip my shoulders as if she’s trying to burrow deep and seek safety in my arms.
“You’re safe, Alice,” I murmur against her hair, squeezing my eyes shut as I breathe in her scent. For a long moment, I stand beside her hospital bed and rock her.
“I’m so sorry!” Her body bucks against me as she sobs. She wrenches her face from its hiding place, thick tears dripping steadily down her cheeks. “You have to believe me.”
“What do you possibly have to be sorry for?”
“I didn’t protect her, Sutton. I didn’t protect your daughter. I need to see her and tell her I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for her to get hurt.”
Dropping heavily onto the bed, I run my flat palm slowly up and down her spine. “You did. You kept her safe. Eleanor’s fine.”
“Her screams—”
I cut her off, not wanting her to relive the memory for a second longer. “They weren’t real. They used a recording to manipulate you. Nellie has been with us the whole time. Ever since I got the call from dispatch and found her alone at the park.”
She rips her face from my neck, her teary red eyes searching mine.
“You got the… oh god, Sunny. I’m so sorry.”
“Shh.” I stroke her back, touched by her concern. Even lying in a hospital bed, she’s still looking out for everyone else. “I’m fine.”
“You’re sure Nellie’s okay?”
My lips twitch. “Other than worried about you, she’s keeping her aunties company. They should be coming by soon.”
The fight finally leaks out of her, and she collapses back against my chest. I press a lingering kiss against the top of her head, resting my cheek there.
“For the rest of my life, I’ll never forget what you were willing to sacrifice for me. For my daughter. I owe my life to you.”
Alice sighs softly, her fingertips lightly caressing my cheek. “I think by saving mine, you made us even.”
I stroke my hand softly over her hair and lower my mouth to her ear. “And just to say, if you ever fuckin’ do that again, I’ll turn your ass red, Firecracker,” I murmur where only she can hear.
She cups my cheeks, my stubble prickling against her soft skin. “I’d do it again, Sunny. You have to know, if it ever came down to it, and god, I hope it doesn’t, I’d do it again. For her. And for you.”
“Loving someone is living with the fear of losing them, but never letting that fear stop you from loving them despite it.”
Her breath catches.
“You taught me that.”
“Sutton…”
“I wouldn’t survive losing you, Alice. But I’m not going to let that stop me.” Finding her chin with my index finger and thumb, I hold her eyes. “I love you.”
Her lips part. “How do I know this is real?”
My thumb strokes along the lower curve of her mouth. “I would walk through a thousand tragedies to get to you. How could it be anything else but real?”
Tears pool along her waterline. “I love you too.”
Forgetting all about the audience, I dip my chin and take her lips in a gentle kiss. Resting my forehead against hers, I ask, “Can we let them get you hooked back up now? The sooner you recover, the sooner I can take you home where you belong.”
Alice’s expression turns sheepish. “Sorry,” she mumbles, stretching her arm flat on the bed beside her.
Olivia, the nurse, crosses the room and tugs on a pair of gloves. “That’s okay, honey. You barely got me.”
“Tell me your favorite food, and I’ll send you dinner.” Alice lays her cheek on my chest. “Or Sutton will go get you dinner since I’m stuck here,” she amends.
“It’ll have to be delivery because I’m not leaving until you are.” I thread our fingers together.
Once all of Alice’s wires and tubes are reconnected, the nurse makes her exit, leaving us alone for the first time.
Alice doesn’t wait to launch into her questions. “What happened to Ernest?”
“He’s dead,” I reply coldly. “Don’t know whose bullet, but if it was mine, I won’t have trouble sleeping. Lanighan was dead when we got there.”
“I know. I-I heard.”
Cupping the side of her head, I kiss her temple. “I’m so sorry.” Can’t say I’m sorry he’s dead, but I’m sorry she had to witness whatever went down with him.
She leaves her head resting against mine. “How did you find me?”
“Your CGM connected intermittently. Your phone must have found a spotty signal. They were able to get a tower location, but it would have taken days to find you. But then Lanighan’s livestream connected.
It was only a few seconds, but a different tower picked up the signal.
They were able to triangulate your location from there down to a mile radius in an abandoned town.
We moved in, started a grid, and they didn’t conceal their car.
The newer model stood out like a spotlight. ”
“I should be grateful they were amateurs.”
“You don’t need to be grateful to those motherfuckers at all. Not for one single thing.”
Her fingers tighten around mine. “I know, Sunny. The only person I’m grateful toward is you.”
The quiet room is filled with the sound of her blood pressure cuff and soft footfalls out in the hall. A small mop of messy brown hair peeks around the sliding door.
“Hold on, kiddo. Let’s see if it’s a good time.”
Nellie doesn’t wait for Whitney to finish. She shoves her way inside and barrels toward the bed.
“Alice!” she cries, tears immediately streaming down her cheeks.
I extract myself quickly and catch her before she can crash into us at full speed.
“Slow down there, Buttercup. We need to be gentle with Alice.”
“Are you hurt?” She pushes off my chest and peers over my shoulder.
Alice opens her arms wide without hesitation. “Come here, sweetheart.”
Nellie nearly leaps out of my arms. I deposit her on the bed and step away, allowing them a moment alone while I search for a wet cloth to clean the dried blood from Alice’s arm. When I return, I find Nellie is nestled against Alice’s side as if she’s always belonged there.
Their soft crying is a quiet backdrop as I sit beside them, wiping off the flaky, brown specks clinging to Alice’s skin. Their quiet vulnerability fills me with so much damn pride I find myself blinking back the burn from my own eyes.
“You did it, Daddy,” Nellie says softly, her hands tucked beneath her chin as Alice strokes her hair. “She can come live with us now.”
“I don’t think I can be your nanny anymore,” Alice says.
“You can’t,” I confirm. Not wanting the uncertainty to linger, I add, “I have to fire you so that I can make you mine instead.”
Alice cocks a brow. “Your what?”
“Girlfriend sounds too juvenile, but I’ve been too busy to go pick out a ring so… ‘Mine’ will have to do for now.”
“Are you going to marry her, Daddy?” Nellie sits up, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the prospect.
“Someday.” I smirk, knowing deep in my gut that it’s the truth.