28. Rose #3
If she ended up anywhere near Gilhart and Regg, Preston would find her again. They all turned when she slowed, a whimper slipping out as she tried to backtrack and run again, but the world swirled and her hand reached out, hunting for anything to help her balance.
“Rose?” Kirin’s voice came from the group, and she paused.
His voice felt so far away. “Good God. What the hell happened?” Then, over his shoulder he yelled, “Get a medic!” She winced at the noise, her gaze shifting to the chaos behind him.
The blurry motion looked demonic as her eyes struggled against the lights.
His thumb brushed over her cheek. It caused a fresh sting, and she whimpered.
Then she saw the blood coating his thumb.
His brows lowered, furious, as he looked around. “Where the fuck is he?”
“Please.” She took a breath, worried he’d leave her alone to hunt down Preston. Her body was becoming more aware of itself by the second, and she closed her hand around his wrist. That hurt enough she thought she’d black out, her voice shuddering out of her as she begged, “Stay with me, please.”
Her eyes closed for a second, exhausted, as she fought to keep herself awake.
“I’m here. Stay with me, baby.” He tilted her head, and when she opened her eyes again, his face was closer. His gaze shifted back and forth. “Did you hit your head? Don’t close your eyes, Flower. Keep your eyes open.”
“I’m awake,” she whispered, the words foreign in her own mouth as her eyes fluttered. Her body heavy—sluggish.
“Open your eyes.” His words were an order, but not in a tone she had ever heard from him. He sounded firm and panicked.
She fought the weight pulling on her, trying to calm him, to reassure him.
It was difficult when she only got glances, seeing him for a split second at a time as she fought the weight dragging her eyelids down.
Kirin’s head turned away. His voice was a boom that vibrated through her head, and she groaned when pain accompanied it. “Where the fuck is the medic?”
That’s when she noticed his teammates, a wall of muscle just past his head. They were surrounding them, protecting her from whatever and whoever might be beyond their huddle as the darkness claimed her mind.
It could have been seconds later that a stranger woke her, but she doubted it.
She was in a stark, bright room that could only belong to a hospital.
A smaller, more focused light than the stadium lights flashed across her vision, followed by cool hands that could only belong to a medical professional.
They moved quickly and efficiently as they checked her skull and face, lifting her arms, feeling her wrists and hands as she hissed.
There was a second of peace before someone checked her shoulders and back.
She could feel her hair being moved around, given away by the fluctuations in weight and brushes of air against her hot skin.
A face appeared in her line of sight, someone she didn’t know. A medic? A doctor?
Their mouths moved, but she didn’t hear it.
The world was still so far away, so loud and quiet.
Either way, they disappeared and another one, similar but different, was in front of her.
This one, a guy with kind eyes and pointy features, was moving her arm into some sort of brace, and she whimpered when it moved her shoulder.
It felt like forever before someone broke through the noise in her head.
But then, Kirin’s voice had a way of making her pay attention. “Rose.”
She followed the sound, finding the gray eyes she loved. “Do they need my statement?”
It was an automatic response, some of this feeling familiar from last time.
“They’ll get it later,” he assured her, and she nodded, or she thought she did.
“Will you stay?” The question was out before she remembered thinking it, a definite lag in her mind. Probably another concussion. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than the alternative.
“I’m not going anywhere, Flower.”
Rose blinked and looked at him again. Her voice hollow. “He was going to—” Her voice cracked, and she sucked in a sharp breath when the memories flooded in, another wave of fear curling and then dissipating against the shores of her mind.
Kirin nodded, his head tilting as his voice softened. “I know, but you fought back. You got away.”
He curled his hand around her forearm from his chair next to the hospital bed, rubbing his thumb over her skin until she relaxed.
She had no memory of climbing into this bed, or even how she got to the hospital, not that it mattered.
She zoned out again, her eyes heavy and dropping until she was fully relaxed.
The next time Rose’s mind allowed her to focus on the world again, they’d confirmed the damage—a concussion that would require a night of observation and torn wrist ligaments that required a brace.
She stopped listening after that, a wave of relief so strong it made her tremble, at the confirmation nothing was broken.
She’d just opened her mouth to ask when she could go home when the police officers entered the room. Rose released a long breath, defeat pressing on her shoulders. She wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.