Page 70 of Darkside

I slowly open my eyes only to close them again.

“Hey, I’m here.”

“Ethan,” I mumble and blink my eyes open again. He’s at my side, holding my hand in his. Slowly, I become aware of everything and try to sit up.

“Easy, babe.”

“What..what happened?”

“You were drugged but now you’re in the hospital.”

“The others—”

“They’re okay. They’re all okay.” Ethan rubs his thumb over my hand. “And Ariana is in jail.”

My vision finally clears and I look at Ethan’s handsome face. It’s pulled down with worry and I can see the guilt in his eyes.

“Wait, I stopped another serial killer?”

Ethan’s lips curve up in a smile. “You did, and my god I’m going to ravish the fuck out of you once you’re better.”

“Better?” I try to sit up again and am hit with horrible pain in my middle. “What?”

A nurse comes in, turning off the call button Ethan must have pressed when I woke up. He sits me up and checks my vitals—and that’s when I learn I have two broken ribs, several bruised bones, and a concussion.

“How long before I can ride my horses again?” I ask as he takes his stethoscope from around his neck.

“Told you that would be the first thing she asks,” Ethan whisper-talks to the nurse, who chuckles.

“I’m going to have to ask the doctor about that,” the nurse tells me. “Typically, it takes a month or two for broken ribs to heal.”

“That’s like all summer,” I say, automatically emotional from the drugs. “I wanted to take my thoroughbred to a show in a few weeks.”

“I’m sorry,” the nurse says and I know he means it. “Give yourself at least four weeks.”

I groan and Ethan puts his hand on my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“What you did, babe, was fucking incredible.”

“It’s true?” The nurse flicks his eyes from me to Ethan. “I don’t mean to pry. But you’re the one who fought off the attacker?”

“She is.” Ethan looks at me proudly. “My badass bitch.”

“It was just self preservation and I, um, had my dog with me.”

The nurse shakes his head in astonished disbelief. “I swear, we don’t deserve dogs.”

“I agree. They’re the only things in this world that love us more than we love ourselves.”

Once the nurse is done with his assessment, I rest my head against the pillow. Ethan sits on the edge of the bed, knowing me well enough not to say anything right now. I start to doze off when the doctor comes in, telling me pretty much exactly what the nurse said. She leaves, saying she’ll be back in a few hours.

“How are you doing?” Ethan asks and I know he’s not asking how I’m feeling physically.

“Everyone is okay?” I ask before I can answer.

“Yeah. The four women Ariana drugged are down the hall and should be released soon.”

“I really thought it was a ghost serial killing. It does sound ridiculous.”

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