Page 116 of Faith
“He’s back. But I need to intubate him. I’m going to put a tube down his throat so he doesn’t have to work so hard to breathe. The hospital knows we’re coming. They’re going to take him right back into surgery.”
“Surgery?”
Holden nodded and positioned himself at Zeke’s head. A few seconds later, a tube stuck out from Zeke’s mouth. Holden attached a hose to it and squeezed the balloon on the other end.
The ambulance stopped, and the doors opened. People asked questions, and Holden answered all of them, racing with the people in scrubs.
Nina followed behind them until she heard her name.
“Nina!”
Nina glanced back and saw Frannie chasing after her.
“Nina, wait!”
“They’re taking him away,” Nina called.
Frannie didn’t stop, just hurried after Nina until someone stepped in Nina’s way.
“We are taking him to the OR. As soon as we can, we will let you know how he’s doing, but you can’t come past here,” a young man said, pointing to the red line on the floor.
Nina read HOSPITAL PERSONNEL ONLY on the floor and stopped.
“I’ll be with her. We all will be, Doctor. Thank you,” Frannie said, putting her arm around Nina and holding her up while the doors slid closed in front of her, and Zeke disappeared.
“He saved me,” Nina breathed.
“And now they’re going to save him. Let’s go back to the waiting room, Nina. Come on.”
Nina nodded and let Frannie guide her away from the door. Nina couldn’t have found her way back if someone paid her, but Frannie didn’t hesitate.
The waiting room was full. The crowd made Nina stop until she realized she recognized most of the faces.
“Lorelei called Marcus, and we all came,” Frannie said.
“Everyone?” Nina asked.
Frannie nodded and moved Nina into the center of the room. Raina moved her handbag from the seat next to her and reached for Nina. Karli sat on Nina’s other side. Stacey and Frannie sat across from her, with Jessica and Dawn next to them. Edie sat next to Raina.
The rest of the room pressed in around them. The men from Rose were all there. Kyra and Liam sat nearby with another group of men.
“Mackenzie is at work. She got the nine-one-one call and sent Holden to you. Lorelei called Marcus, and we started calling everyone else,” Frannie said. “Everyone is here for you and Zeke.”
Nina burst into tears, her fear and gratitude blending together. “Thank you.”
“Montgomery should be here any second, but he’s refusing treatment. Saying he’s fine,” Frannie said. “Lorelei is keeping me updated on everything. Including what she knows about what happened.”
Nina sucked in a breath. She met Frannie’s gaze. “I’m sorry.”
“What in the world for?”
“I know you cared about her.”
Frannie shook her head and dropped to her knees in front of Nina. “The woman I thought I knew was a fabrication. She didn’t exist. My friend, Gwennie, wasn’t the real person. Gwendolyn Lennox was cruel and evil and hurt so many people. I’m sorry you had to go through what you did. I’m sorry you had to pull that trigger.”
“She said she was proud of me,” Nina admitted.
“For what?” Frannie asked.
