Lucius (Acquisition Series #4) - Celia Aaron Page 0,74

swell, and they had to drill a hole in her skull to relieve the pressure.”

I scrub a shaking hand down my face. “Will she live?”

They exchange another glance.

“Will she live?” I yell.

“They don’t know.” Sin reaches up and unhooks my IV bag from the stand. “Come on. I’ll take you to her.”

“He’s not supposed to be moved,” Stella chides.

“If he dies, he dies,” Sin deadpans.

“Too soon.” Stella sighs and curls into a ball in her chair.

Something tells me they’ve slept very little over the past three days.

I try to sit up higher in the bed, and pain ricochets through my body like another bullet. “Jeez.” I groan and lie back.

“You’re barely out of the woods. Don’t get cocky.” Sin maneuvers my bed into the hall, and we roll past room after room.

“Is she going to live?” I feel like a stupid child asking that question.

“She’s a fighter. She’s proven that.” He doesn’t say any more. He doesn’t have to. If it can be survived, then Evie will survive it.

I clench my eyes shut and try to remember what happened. The last thing I recall is her running to me. She was strong enough to run to me. So this induced coma must be precautionary or something. It can’t be that bad.

Sin wheels me into a room at the end near the nurse’s station. Teddy stands, his face haggard, his baby beard growing out in golden hairs.

“Any change?” Sin asks.

“No.” He comes over and helps pull me into the room. “Good to see you awake.” He smiles down at me.

“How is she?” I try to crane my neck up to see her. Once again, the pain punches me in the gut.

“Lie still. We’ll put you right beside her.” Teddy moves the bed around with practiced ease.

When she comes into view, my heart somehow leaps and sinks at the same time. It’s her. Her red hair and fair skin, the pink lips I want to kiss even now. But she’s pale, her eyes taped shut, and her head wrapped in gauze. Dark half-moons show under each eye, and a drain runs from underneath the back of her head.

“Her brain isn’t swelling more. That’s good news.” Teddy doesn’t look me in the eye.

“What did he do to her? How did this happen? She ran to me at that fucking house. She ran. I saw her.”

“She likely suffered the initial concussion from the car wreck. That’s what imaging seems to show, anyway. An initial blow.”

“Then what?” I wish I could kill Charles all over again. I wish I could make it hurt so bad his goddamn great-great-grandfather would feel it.

Sin clears his throat. “From what I could piece together, she was locked in a bedroom upstairs at the house. She couldn’t get the door open, so she tried throwing herself against it. When that didn’t work, she went to the window, probably saw what was happening between you and Charles, and then …”

I blink as my insides twist and shred. “Are you saying she threw herself out of a fucking window for me?”

“She’s a keeper,” Sin says nonchalantly, confirming it.

I try to reach for her, but then I notice her arm is in a cast. “The fuck?”

“A simple fracture. Also likely from the wreck,” Teddy fills in.

“How long until we know if she’ll … wake up?” For the first time in as long as I can remember, I fight back tears.

“Could be days, could be weeks.”

“I won’t give up on her.” I turn to Teddy. “Promise me you won’t give up on her.”

“I won’t, but Lucius. There might come a time when letting her go would be the best—”

“No.” Despite the pain, I reach out and take her hand. “She never gave up on me. I won’t do it to her.”

“You need rest as much as she does. Two major surgeries, blood loss, and the damage on your back almost impacted your spine.”

“I don’t care about any of that shit. I just need her to wake up.”

Teddy reaches over and squeezes my shoulder lightly. “She knows you’re here. It’s amazing what people in comas report once they wake. The things they could hear and sense.”

“Wake up, Evie. I’m not fucking around.” I blink away my tears and focus on her. “Come back to me.”

35

Evie

My mouth is dry. Like, not just dry. It feels like someone filled it full of chalk. Yuck. I need to get some water from the fridge. God, ice water sounds amazing right now. I just need to make sure I