22. Ro
Chapter 22
Ro
“T essa!” I scooped her against my chest. She’d lost consciousness. My heart felt like a damn jackhammer. Juggling her, I quickly checked her pulse.
Fast. Too fast.
Dammit . Panic riding me hard, I charged into the living area and sat on the arm of a chair. Holding her close, I fumbled for my cellphone.
“Ro?” Caden’s voice. “Is everything?—?”
“Something’s wrong with Tessa. She’s unconscious. She felt sick and vomited, and she has a racing heart rate.”
Caden cursed.
“Get a car and meet me out front. She needs the hospital. Now .”
“On it.”
I found my shoes, but didn’t bother with a shirt. There wasn’t time. I raced out of the penthouse and stabbed the elevator button, holding her tightly.
Come on. Fuck.
Finally, the elevator arrived. When I burst into the lobby, it was late, but there were two receptionists at the front desk. They stared at me wide-eyed. Tessa was only wearing my shirt and was unconscious, and I was shirtless. I knew it looked bad.
“She needs the hospital.”
One of the women jolted, and lifted a phone. “I’ll call 9-1-1?—”
“There’s no time.” I heard the screech of tires out front. “I’ll take her. It’ll be faster.”
Enzo appeared, his dark gaze locking on Tessa. His face sharpened like a blade. “What happened?”
Caden was right. Enzo was no simple concierge.
“She’s sick. Caden’s bringing a car around.”
Enzo rushed to open the front door for me, and I raced outside. He then opened the back door of the black SUV idling out front. I climbed in, cradling Tessa on my lap. Caden was in the driver’s seat, and Enzo quickly slid into the passenger seat.
“Go,” I ordered Caden.
He sped out.
Dimly I was aware of the vehicle’s GPS giving directions to the local hospital, but I was focused on Tessa. She was so damn pale.
I stroked the hair off her face. “Wake up, fairy queen.”
The puff of her breath against my palm didn’t reassure me. I pressed my fingers to her throat. Her pulse was still racing too fast.
The drive to the hospital felt like it took days, but in reality—especially with the way Caden was disregarding the speed limit—we were there in minutes.
He jerked the vehicle to a halt. I gathered Tessa in my arms and when Enzo opened the door, I was out. I strode into the bright, and thankfully quiet, ER.
“Help. She needs help.”
Nurses sprang into action. Then Tessa was being pulled away from me and put on a gurney. I had to hold myself back from lurching forward to grab her again.
“What have we got?” A tall, male doctor in a lab coat appeared. He had light brown hair and looked about my age.
“We were eating dinner, she was fine. She was her usual self. Then she got sick. She vomited, and started complaining that her heart was racing.”
The doctor leaned over her with his stethoscope. “Get the monitors on her. She has an elevated heart rate.”
I swallowed. It felt like there was barbed wire in my throat. “She lost consciousness.”
“What did she eat?”
“Steak.”
“Did you eat it as well?” the doctor asked.
“No. I had the fish. Different meal but made from the same kitchen.”
Shit . She was still and paler than before. I grabbed her hand. Wake up, baby.
“Does she have any allergies?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t mention anything.”
“Did she ingest anything? Medication? Chemicals? Drugs? Poison?”
I shook my head. “No. We had wine. I drank that too. Wait .” I suddenly remembered a news article about a toddler ingesting eyedrops. They were really poisonous. “There were eyedrops on the table beside the food. They weren’t mine. I figured the cleaning staff at the hotel had left them.”
The doctor’s eyes sharpened and he spun to face a nurse. “Do a blood draw. Possible tetrahydrozoline poisoning. Maintain her airway.”
They slipped an oxygen mask over Tessa’s face and whisked her away.
I tried to follow, but a big, black male nurse put a hand to my chest. “Sorry, sir. You’ll need to stay here. We’ll take care of her.”
Dammit, no . I took a step forward.
Arms grabbed me. Caden and Enzo hauled me back.
“We’ve got him,” Caden said.
“What if—?” I couldn’t voice it.
“Sit down, Ro,” Caden said. “She’s going to be fine.”
I didn’t want to sit down. I wanted to punch something.
I dropped into a chair, my hands dangling between my legs.
“I’ll find us some coffee,” Enzo murmured.
I just kept staring at the lino floor. What if she wasn’t all right? What if Tessa didn’t get better? God . I put my hands behind my neck, my gut churning. “Caden…”
“She’ll be fine. Keep a lock on it.”
Enzo returned with several takeout cups and a blue scrubs shirt. He handed me one of the coffees and the shirt.
“Thanks,” I said dully. After setting the cup on the chair beside me, I pulled the shirt on.
Enzo lifted his chin. “Don’t thank me for the coffee. It’s one step above sludge.” He grimaced.
“One minute she was fine, talking, laughing. Then she was sick. I—” My voice cracked and I dropped my head into my hands.
“You got her here fast,” Caden said. “Where she needs to be.”
I stared at the floor again, the minutes ticking by. This waiting was torture. Shooting to my feet, I paced the waiting room.
I thought of Tessa smiling, bustling around the lobby of the hotel, staring with sorrow at the dead deer, handing me ibuprofen, moaning under me. My hands fisted. I couldn’t lose her.
She was too full of life. Too good. She was pure, strong sunlight.
There was a noise, and I looked up.
Allie, Sierra, and Jazz all rushed into the waiting room. Allie was wearing a pair of men’s pajama pants and a hoodie. Sierra was in tiny pajama shorts and a puffy coat. Jazz looked like she’d taken a minute to actually get dressed in jeans and a sweater. A dark-haired man I assumed was Jazz’s husband was with them.
“What happened?” Allie demanded.
“She got sick and her heart rate was elevated.” A muscle ticked in my jaw. “I don’t know anything else.” I looked away and sucked in a breath.
Sierra came over and touched my arm. “She’s tough. She never lets anything slow her down.”
Jazz looked worried, Allie looked mad.
There was more noise. God . A middle-aged blonde woman, two teenage boys who looked freaked, and two younger kids who looked sleepy but scared entered the room.
I turned. “Emily?”
Her gaze locked on me. She strode over. “Ambrose?”
“Call me Ro.”
She grabbed my hands. “How is she? Jazz called and said you’d brought her here.”
“I don’t know yet. I…got her here as fast as I could. They think maybe it’s poison.”
Tessa’s aunt gave me a tight nod. “Thank you for bringing her here.” She dropped into a chair.
The older boys shot me death stares as they sat beside their mother. They knew what it meant when a guy was spending time with a woman at this time of night. I sat down as well, my hands twisted together on my lap.
Something tapped on my knee.
It was the young girl. Her fine blonde hair was mussed and she was wearing pajamas with some weird characters on them. I had no idea what age she was. Nine? Ten? I hadn’t had much to do with kids before.
“You helped Tessa?” the girl asked.
I nodded.
“I hate being sick. So does Tessa. Will she be okay?”
God, there was so much trust in the little girl’s gaze. I nodded again and prayed I wasn’t lying.
“Good.” Then she climbed into my lap, hugging a ragged teddy bear to her chest, and closed her eyes.
I stared down at her and quickly slipped an arm around her so she didn’t fall.
Emily half rose. “I’ll take her. She’s sleepy.”
“She’s fine.”
Emily eyed me for a moment, then nodded and sat back down.
Then we waited.
And waited.
Finally, a door creaked open. The doctor appeared, looking tired.
Rising, I handed Haley to the oldest teenager, then faced the doctor, my heart in my throat.
“She’s going to be fine,” the doctor said.
I exhaled and felt dizzy.
“We confirmed that it was tetrahydrozoline poisoning. Thankfully not enough to kill her.”
My body locked.
Poisoned .
Tessa had been poisoned.
The doctor got an angry look. “Idiots put eyedrops in food or drink, thinking they’ll make someone sick. It can kill.”
“ Fuck .” I turned and kicked a chair.
“Ro—” Caden rose.
“She ate my meal. She wanted me to try her fish. The bastard after me poisoned my meal and she ate it.”
God . Anger was a red haze over my eyes.
Allie stepped forward like an avenging harpy. “I’m going to find this asshole and kill him.”
She spun like she was going to storm out and tear through Windward until she found our poisoning saboteur.
“Hold on,” I said.
But it was Caden who caught her. He gripped her arms and turned her to face him.
“Stand down.”
“Back up, Broody. My friend almost died .”
“She needs you here,” Caden said.
Allie quivered.
“We’ll keep Ms. Ashford for observation for a few hours, but she can go home later,” the doctor said. “If her heart rate and respiration stay normal.”
“I’ll find this fucker,” Caden said.
I glanced at the kids, but noted the little ones were asleep. “Do it, Caden. Fast.”
Caden nodded, then looked back at Allie. “I promise I’ll find him.”
She stared at him for a beat, then nodded. He released her, met my gaze, then stalked out.
A nurse appeared. “Ms. Ashford’s conscious. She’s asking for Ro.”