Page 59 of Prince of Her Heart
Ben appeared then, sitting on her other side.He took her cold hand in his warm ones and gave it a firm pat.“He’s strong,” he said, his voice steady.“He’ll pull through this.”
Tabitha nodded numbly, but her mind was spinning.What exactly was this?The entire moment had turned into a blur.She could still see Leandra charging at her, knife raised.Could still hear someone scream.Could still feel Ramzi’s body slamming into hers.
Why had Leandra been so furious?
Why had she come at Tabitha with a weapon?
And the question that pulsed hardest of all:Was Ramzi going to survive?
Chapter 28
The sound of the door opening snapped Tabitha’s head up.Her heart leapt—Please let it be someone with news.But it was just more police officers, their uniforms crisp and irrelevant.She turned away, her breath catching as disappointment pulled her back under.
A coat settled over her shoulders.She didn’t know whose it was.Her mother gently urged her to change out of the blood-spattered dress.
“No,” Tabitha rasped, her voice brittle and dry.“What if Ramzi wakes up and can’t find me?”
No one said anything.They didn’t argue.They just sat with her, silent and helpless.
Because they weren’t family.Not technically.Not on any official document.And since no one thought to explain that she was his fiancée, the hospital staff wouldn’t tell themanything.
“Is there a Tabitha here?”someone called out above the hum of the emergency room.
Tabitha shot to her feet, the coat sliding to the floor unnoticed.“I’m Tabitha!”she gasped, then again, louder, to be heard over the chaos.“I’m Tabitha!”
“Come with me,” the nurse said briskly, motioning toward the double doors.
Tilda gave her daughter’s hand a gentle squeeze.“Go on, honey.We’ll be fine.”
Tabitha nodded once, then practically ran toward the woman who’d appeared like a lifeline.
“How is he?”she asked, breathless with hope and dread.
The nurse looked at the clipboard, her expression unreadable.“I’m not authorized to share medical information with non-family.”Her voice softened just slightly.“But his people said you might be able to help.”
Help?Tabitha’s pulse pounded in her ears.That didn’t sound good.
They rounded the corner, and Tabitha spotted two of Ramzi’s bodyguards flanking a pair of glass doors.A privacy curtain hung inside the room but had been drawn back.
She didn’t wait.“How is he?”she asked, not realizing she was crying until her voice wavered with the weight of it.
The taller of the two men stepped forward—Brant, she thought, but wasn’t sure.
“He’s still unconscious,” he said carefully.
Tabitha’s breath caught.“How?”she whispered.
“He hit his head when he dove for you.Smashed it against the corner of a table.He also took the knife to the arm, but the doctors stitched that up.”His jaw clenched.“He should have woken up by now.That’s what’s got them worried.”
Another guard tried to speak but his voice broke.A third one, eyes rimmed with red, stepped forward.“Please,” he said.“Talk to him.We think your voice might bring him back.”
Tabitha nodded, her knees trembling as she stepped inside.
Ramzi lay pale and still against white sheets, his face too quiet.Monitors beeped steadily, too steadily.Wires and IVs snaked across his chest and arm.It didn’t seem possible that this washim—the man who had made her laugh, made her feel alive, made her fall in love.
She stood frozen for a moment.Then she stepped to the side of the bed and gently picked up his hand, curling her fingers around his.
“Ramzi…” she whispered.
