Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
ISLA
Cillian doesn’t look so good, but between him and Dare, I couldn’t tell you who looks worse.
Dare seems to be losing blood faster, which is why I chose to sit with him.
My head pounds with worry as Dare looks up at me, his eyes impossibly dark green.
“A ghrá.”
I look down at him, tears blurring my vision.
“Your face.” He frowns and tries to reach up to touch my face, but his hand falls uselessly back down to his side.
“I’m okay,” I choke out, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “Just rest. We’re going to get you to a doctor.”
“Isla, I’m... I’m so sorry.”
“Stop it.” My voice is firm despite how shaky it is. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”
Liam’s racing toward Doc’s place, but I’m not sure we’ll make it in time. Cillian is slumped in the passenger seat, and Dare is too pale for it to be healthy.
“No, a ghrá, listen to me. I need to tell you how much I—”
I cover his mouth with mine.
I can’t. Not now.
He is not telling me how he feels about me when I am not sure he’ll make it.
At the same time, I need him to know I know and I feel the same, so I put all that into my kiss, but iron blooms on my tongue.
I jerk upright. “Liam! We have to go to the hospital!”
“We can’t go to the hospital!” Liam barks. “The last thing we need is the cops poking around.”
“There’s blood in his mouth, Liam! And Cillian is out, too. Oh God!” I scream, unable to control myself.
I can’t lose them. Any of them. I just can’t.
Especially if I lose them because they were trying to save me. It’ll be all my fault. I’ll never forgive myself as long as I live.
Liam goes silent, jerking the wheel to the right to speed down an alleyway toward the hospital.
Cillian is out of commission and Dare’s in and out of consciousness, blinking slowly as he looks up at me, coughing up blood.
It’s bad. It’s so bad, and I’m pressing my hand against his wound to staunch the bleeding, but blood is just trickling over my hands.
“Go, go go!” I shout, and Liam grits his teeth.
I can see him in the rearview mirror.
He glances back at me, and his blue eyes are full of worry.
Liam squeals tires as he stops at the front of the hospital and rushes out, shouting at the medical professionals to hurry.
Soon enough, nurses are dragging Dare and Cillian out of the car onto stretchers. As they wheel them in, a nurse is straddling Dare, giving him CPR. He’s lost his pulse.
Panic and fear overcome me, and I burst into sobs, unable to stop. Liam picks me up, carrying me into the hospital, and I hold onto him for dear life, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.
I sob into his neck.
He simply sits down in the waiting room with me in his lap, stroking my hair.
I finally start to calm down, sniffling, and he strokes my head.
“We need to get you checked out.”
The baby.
With all this stress, I haven’t even thought about the baby.
I nod, slowly climbing off Liam’s lap.
“Will you come with me?”
“Aye,” he says easily, standing up and taking my hand as we go to register.
It takes hours for them to call me back, and there’s no update on either Dare or Cillian.
All we’ve been told is that they are in surgery. Dare, to repair internal bleeding, Cillian, to remove the projectiles and assess the damage.
I hope they make it out.
Please, God, don’t take my men away from me.
As if reading my thoughts, Liam squeezes my hand.
“They’re going to be okay. They’re tough bastards.”
I smile weakly through my tears. I can’t seem to stop crying, no matter how I try.
I get into a gown and on the table with a heart rate monitor around my bruised belly.
Liam frowns as he takes in the sight, his fists clenching at his side.
The steady whoosh of the baby’s heartbeat fills the room, comforting me.
Liam’s eyes widen as his hands relax. “Is that…”
“Our baby’s heartbeat,” I say, because it doesn’t matter if it’s his. It’s all of theirs, just like I am.
Tears form in his blue eyes, and he scoots the chair closer to me, taking my hand.
The ultrasound tech comes in, and she puts cold jelly on my stomach, giving Liam a side glance.
It strikes me what the medical personnel must think. I came in here with two dying men, a black eye, a broken nose, and a bruised belly.
“I was mugged. The guys saved me,” I say, and the tech’s eyes soften.
“I'm so sorry. Let’s check on the baby and see if they’re okay.”
Please, let the baby be okay. Let the guys be okay. I want us all together and happy.
I hold my breath as she puts the wand on my stomach.
It hurts because of what Reese did to me, but I push through the pain.
The monitor is turned away from me.
I start to breathe short, but Liam strokes my bangs back from my face, kissing my cheek.
“Stay calm, love. It’ll be okay.”
I take a deep breath, and the nurse smiles, turning the screen toward me. “There’s your baby. You seem to be about ten weeks along.”
It’s just a little blob, moving around in there with stubs for arms and legs. I don’t feel it just yet, but I’m sure it won’t be long now.
“Is everything okay?"
She nods. “Everything looks to be on track, but you’ll have to wait for the doctor.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, and finally, look over at Liam.
Tears stream down his face as he clutches my hand.
I smile. “That’s your baby in there.”
“Not just mine. All of ours.” He kisses my cheek, wiping at his face when he pulls away.
“I’m yours, too. All of yours.”
He grins widely. “Aye.”
My man of few words. I can’t help feeling happiness radiating through me, but there’s this worry in the back of my head, thinking about Cill and Dare.
As the nurse is about to leave the room, I hold my hand out to stop her. “Could you please find out if there’s any news on the two other men that came with us?”
She nods, walking out.
I sigh heavily. I need to know if they are okay.
The doctor comes in a few moments later and looks through my chart.
“I need you to leave for a few minutes, please, sir. I need to examine my patient, and we need privacy.”
Liam frowns and looks at me.
I smile and nod at him. I don’t want him to see me hurt in case the doctor needs to do something about my injuries.
Liam sighs but gets up. “I’ll be right outside.”
The doctor watches him leave and gets up to close the door.
“Should I call someone?" he asks tightly.
I shake my head. “Look, I know what this looks like, but I was actually mugged. If it weren’t for Liam and the two other guys that came in when we did coming to save me, I don’t know what would have happened.”
He looks at me for a moment like he doesn’t believe me, but I stare him right back, and he backs down.
None of my men would ever hurt me.
He examines me, wiggling my nose around and making me gasp. “Did you reset it yourself?”
“I tried.” I’m not sure how good a job Sam did.
“You did a good job. There’s not much we can do except tape it and give you some anti-inflammatories for the pain and swelling.”
I nod. “I mostly just wanted to check on the baby.”
He smiles for the first time. “Baby’s fine. Looks healthy, strong heartbeat. But you need to make an appointment with an OB-GYN immediately.”
“Aye, I will.”
The doctor exits the room, closing the door behind him, and deep muffled voices sound from right outside the door.
I keep waiting for Liam to come back, but he doesn’t, and soon enough, a nurse comes in with discharge paperwork and some recommendations for doctors in the area.
I don’t know what good it will do. I have no idea what the future holds or where we’ll go, but I know we can’t stay here. Cormac might still be alive, and even if he’s not, he has a huge clan. All of them will be after us, and someone will take over for him.
By the time I walk out into the waiting room, Liam is pacing around.
I rush to him. “Any news?”
“They both made it through the surgery. Cill had no complications, but they had to remove a lobe of Dare’s liver. He’s going to be okay.”
“Thank God.” I burst into tears, and Liam takes me into his arms, and we stand there for a long time.
A nurse comes out and calls for us.
“You can see them now, but they’ll be groggy.”
I don’t care. I don’t care what shape they’re in as long as they are alive, I just need to see them.
We requested them to be put in a private room together through their recovery.
I don’t know what the plan is now, but as soon as I can get all three of them together, I’ll try my best to convince them that I love all three of them, and that I want them more than anything.
I just hope they feel the same.