Chapter 56 Havoc
Havoc
The pain settles in.
Not sharp anymore.
Worse.
Deep.
Heavy.
Every breath feels like dragging glass through my ribs.
Blaze is still beside me.
Pressure on my shoulder.
Wolf moving around us.
Ace is securing the perimeter.
“Stay still,” Blaze says.
I glare at him.
“Not happening.
“Yeah,” he mutters.
“Figured.”
The radio crackles.
Static.
Then—
“Aspen.”
Everything in me goes still.
Her voice cuts through the noise.
Clear.
Focused.
Steady.
“Nash, I need you to listen to me.”
My jaw tightens.
Because that tone?
That’s not Aspen from the porch.
That’s Aspen, the nurse.
“I’m listening,” I say.
“Tell me where the pain is worst.”
I hesitate.
Blaze looks at me.
Raises an eyebrow.
“Ribs,” I admit.
“Left side.”
“Sharp when you breathe?”
“Yeah.”
A pause.
Short.
Controlled. None of us says we know what we’re doing.
“Okay,” she says.
“Blaze, I need you to check for uneven chest rise. Any wheezing, tell me immediately.”
Blaze shifts.
Does what she says.
“Breathing’s steady,” he reports.
“Good,” she replies.
But I hear it.
The tension underneath.
“Nash,” she says again.
“Stay awake.”
I huff a weak breath.
“Wasn’t planning on taking a nap.”
Silence.
Then—
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
I almost smile.
Even now.
Even like this.
She’s steady.
Strong.
Holding it together.
For me.
And that thought?
Is more painful than the injury.