Page 5 of Stone

“I—I can’t.” She wheezed loudly, her eyes rounding with panic. “I—I can’t catch my b—breath.”

My gut panged as the realization hit me that Elise was really struggling to breathe. I reached out to feel her chest, my blood running cold at the feel of her heart almost thudding out of her chest as she gasped for air.

Something was very fucking wrong.

I stood and quickly made my way for the door. Grabbing it, I went into the corridor and turned for the bar when Sophie’s voice called, “John, is everything okay?”

My sigh was one of relief as I watched her hurry toward me. “Elise woke up, but she can’t breathe,” I called over to her, a thread of desperation threading my tone. “She was okay and talking one minute, then she began to shake, and now it’s like she can’t draw breath.”

Sophie sped up, pulling her stethoscope from her neck and rushing past me into Elise’s room.

I followed, babbling as I closed the door behind us and headed toward the bed where Soph was already murmuring soothingly to Elise as she bent over her, listening to her chest. “Idunno what happened, Doc. I told her about you, and she started to react like this.”

Elise let out a loud sob.

“It’s okay,” Sophie murmured to her. “We can talk later. I need to get you calmed down first, Elise. Can you take a deep breath for me and hold it for a few seconds?”

Elise grabbed Soph’s hands and tried to breathe slowly.

The doctor craned her neck. “John, get Kennedy for me. I need some help, and she’s a first aider.”

I nodded, turning for the door again.

A part of me didn’t want to leave. I felt sick that she was in such a state and couldn’t help thinking I was the asshole responsible. Though, in my defense, Elise was usually the type of woman who took shit on the chin, and okay, so she was emotional, but never to the point where she couldn’t goddamned breathe.

After going to grab Kennedy, I sat outside in the corridor with my head in my hands. I tried to get my brain around all the bullshit affecting the club over the last few days.

The revelations Colt told us were eating me up. I’d assumed so much about Elise, but now I was seeing I may have fucked up badly, which was typical of me. I jumped to conclusions and paid the price afterward. Except if the price this time meant I’d lost thirty years of my daughter’s life, I didn’t know how I’d deal with it.

I looked up at the footsteps echoing down the corridor to see Kit heading toward me. I gave him a chin lift, which he returned.

“How long’s Kitten gonna be?” he asked, leaning on the wall next to me.

“I dunno,” I muttered. “Depends how long it takes Elise to settle down.”

“What set her off like that?” He nodded toward the door. “Mrs. Henderson always seemed pretty put together to me.”

“I told her about Sophie,” I said sheepishly.

Kit slowly closed his eyes, banging the back of his skull gently against the wall. “Jesus, Pop. She’s woken up from being beaten, and you went and screwed with her mind?”

“Had to, Son,” I said defensively. “She was panicking, talkin’ about Henderson havin’ somethin’ precious of hers. She obviously meant Sophie. Thought I was puttin’ her mind at rest.”

His eyes caught mine and held. “Is Sophie ours?”

My heart warmed because, in that one question, Kit had told me he’d accept the doc if it turned out that she was his sister. “You know what, Son? As much as it’d kill me to have missed so much, I really fuckin’ hope so.”

“I wouldn’t hate it either,” he remarked softly.

My heart leaped as the door opened, and Sophie emerged from Elise’s room, followed by Ned.

Kit took his woman’s hand and tugged her into him. “How is she?”

Ned leaned up and stroked his hair back. “It was a panic attack, but she’s better now.”

My eyes met the doctor’s. “Did she say anything?”

Sophie frowned slightly. “We had a quick talk. She kept telling me Henderson took me from her, and she’s been looking for me ever since. She was making herself more upset, so I gave her a light sedative to calm her down.” She turned to study me thoughtfully. “I don’t understand. I was adopted. Elise must’ve signed off on it.”

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