Page 58 of Lost In The Dark

“Kane got the records as part of the research he did on her, but I don’t think there was anything serious,” I replied as I pulled out my cell and searched for the email Kane had sent me. I had read through them several times already, so I was almost positive there had been no underlying health conditions. That would have been something I remembered. “Kane’s sure it wasn’t an attack?”

“I don’t know. We only spoke briefly. I just wanted to grab you and get to her.” I looked up and saw how scared he was. He loved Addy. I knew it would break him if we lost her.Fuck, who was I kidding? It would break both of us. “She’ll be okay, won’t she, Ash?” he asked me shakily.

“Yes,” I nodded firmly. “We’ll make sure of it. We’ll get her the best care; whatever it is we’re dealing with.”

“I can’t lose her now. We only just found her.”

“I know. We won’t. She’s going to come through this just like she has everything else life has thrown at her. She’s tough,” I reassured him, and myself. She had survived so much. She would come through this too. She had become a part of my life, my family, and of me. She was my sister – our sister – and we were not going to allow anything else to happen to her.

***

Ten minutes later we were hurrying from the back of the car. Eli had ridden my driver the whole way, telling him he had to go faster and resulting in us doing a twenty minute journey in less than ten.

“Don’t wait for us. We’ll call when we need a car home,” I called to the driver as I pulled Eli out and then slammed the door closed. We were in the hospital and racing for the ER before the car had even set off again.

I grabbed Eli when he tried to go the wrong way and pulled him close to me. I was conscious of the fact we had left our security back at the office, and I refused to allow anyone to grab Eli in the chaos.

“Stay close to me,” I told him as I read the signs, then headed for the ER.

“It’s Addy we need to be worrying about right now,” he told me with a glare, as he kept up with me.

“Until we have security again, I think I’ll worry about both of you.”

As soon as we walked into the hectic emergency department I saw one of my security guys near the entrance. Kane had obviously posted him there, since he was definitely keeping an eye on the mass of people around him.

“Where are they?” I called over the noise, the moment he saw me.

He directed us to a private waiting room down a side corridor, and it proved easy to find, since two more of our security guys were outside the door. I gave them a nod as we passed, Eli throwing the door open and rushing in before me.

“Where is she? Is she okay?” Eli asked as I walked in and found only Jordan sat in there, looking pale and shaken.

“I don’t know,” he said as he stood. “They wouldn’t let me stay with her. Kane refused to leave, saying he was her protection, sothey let him stand outside the room they took her in, but he isn’t answering my calls. She was so still. Kane s-said her pulse was too slow.” There were tears in his eyes and his hands shook as he pushed them through his hair. It only made my fears for Addy worse, to see Jordan looking that afraid.

“Stay here. I’ll see if we can get an update,” I told Eli as I left the room and headed back to the front desk, but I didn’t bother trying the haggard looking receptionist who was already trying to deal with three people at once. Instead I pulled my cell out and scrolled to the number of the director of the hospital we stood in. I had been a major donor when he needed funding for the new pediatric wing. I was going to use that to my advantage now. I’d never do such a thing for my own gain, but to take care of my family? Hell yes. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for them.

ADDY

A loud and constant beeping seemed to bring me back to consciousness. The first thing I felt was my chest. It felt wrong. My heart wasn’t pounding, but it felt like it should be. I was short of breath and as I opened my eyes panic instantly consumed me. A man stood over me. He was dressed in green scrubs and had dark hair and even darker eyes. He touched my chest and when I looked down my sweater was gone and I lay in only my bra, wires attached to little pads stuck all over my chest. I looked around, terrified, and found another two men and a woman in the room, all busy, but way too close to me for comfort.

“Don’t touch me!” I cried as the man stood over me moved to touch something on my chest again. I sat up and shuffled up the bed further away from him. I had no idea where I was and who he was, and I was too gripped by anxiety to think straight.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re in the hospital,” the man told me.

“H-hospital?” I panted. Images of the last time I awoke in a hospital ran through my mind, and that only brought back so many more terrible images.

“We need you to lie back down, okay?” the man said and he reached for my arm.

“Don’t touch me!” I almost screamed as I rolled to the side, desperate to get away, but there was a rail on the bed and I ended up just curled into a ball instead, trapped. Tears ran down my cheeks as fear consumed me.

“Addy?” The sound of a familiar voice had me lifting my head enough to see Kane stood in the doorway. “What’s going on in here?” he asked as he looked from me to the other people in the room with a deadly glare.

“Kane!” I gasped. He instantly stalked over to me, the others around him seeing the menace on his face and backing up quickly.

“I’m here. No one’s going to hurt you,” he whispered as he crouched down beside the bed and locked his eyes on mine. I wanted to grab him and never let go, but I knew I couldn’t. He was just my security. That’s what he meant when he said no one would hurt me. It was his job to protect me.

“Asher and Eli,” I gasped instead. “Please…I need them.” I tried not to cry, but I was shaking hard and just so scared.

“Her brothers. They’re in the waiting room. Get them,” Kane ordered and someone hurried from the room instantly, but Kane didn’t move.

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