Page 57 of Fury

“We have to get him inside,” Grizz says again, more forcefully this time. “They could be watching. We’re targets out here in the open.”

“He’s right,” says Axel, touching my shoulder.

I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart. “Okay, but we need to move him really carefully and slowly. I don’t know if there’s damage anywhere else.”

The men gather round, each taking a part of Fury under my orders and lifting with a trained precision I’ve only ever known from soldiers.

Once inside, he’s laid on the floor. In the light of the room, his injuries look so much worse, and I fight my tears to try to assess him while Grizz calls for the ambulance.

I get the men to help me carefully roll him into the recovery position, placing cushions behind him to keep him there, and then I feel down his spine. Nothing feels out of place, but without a scan, I can’t be sure. I keep my finger on his pulse and my ear to his mouth. “Please be okay,” I whisper. “I love you.”

When the ambulance arrives, they jump into action, and I stand back, Lexi holding me as we watch them hook him up to their monitors. They eventually get him stable enough to move him, and they place him on a spinal board before putting him onto the trolley.

“Is anyone coming in the ambulance?” the paramedic asks.

“Me,” I say, stepping forward.

“No,” says Axel firmly. “I’ll go.”

“But—”

“It’s too risky,” he cuts in. “Donnie will be waiting for you there. I’ll keep you updated.”

I stare helplessly as he heads out after them. Lexi gently squeezes my arm. “He’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that,” I mutter. “He was in a bad way.”

“Try and stay positive.”

“I’m a nurse,” I say, “I know a dying man when I see one.” A sob escapes me, and I clamp my hands over my mouth. “Oh god, what if he dies and I’m not with him?”

“He knows you love him, Xanthe,” says Luna.

“It’s not enough,” I cry. “I should be with him, holding his hand, begging him to stay with me.”

“He’s a Chaos Demon,” says Gemma simply. “He’ll fight with everything he has to be back here with you.”

I don’t bother to reply, instead heading upstairs to my room. Once inside, I break down, huge sobs racking my body. I can’t get the image of his battered face out of my mind. I go to the bathroom and scrub his blood from my hands. Then I strip from my clothes and pull on the T-shirt he wore last, pressing the soft cotton to my nose and inhaling his musky aftershave. I crawl into bed, lying on his side and soaking his pillow with my tears.

I wakewith a start to find Lexi shaking me. “Wake up,” she whispers. “Axel is on the phone.” I sit up, grabbing the offered mobile and pressing it to my ear.

“Yes?”

“He’s stable,” he says. “It took them some time to get him there, but for now, he’s stable. He’s got some swelling on the brain. If that doesn’t settle soon, they’re talking about a . . . fuck knows what it’s called, but they wanna remove a part of his skull.”

“Ventriculostomy,” I tell him as fear grips me. “I want to come and see him, Axel. He needs me.”

“I told you, it’s not safe. I won’t leave him, and I’ll update you.”

“Do you know what happened yet? Who he had a fight with?”

“No, but I have men looking into it.”

“Have the police been informed?” I know the hospital would have to call the police to report an assault. It’s standard practise.

“Yes, but I can’t tell them anything,” he says in a lowered voice.

“Like fuck you can’t,” I snap, and Lexi gently rubs my arm as if to calm me. “He could die. You have to tell them everything, including how Donnie is looking for me. Fury was only trying to protect me.”

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