The trooper had just finished questioning Shade when a stretcher with Lily on it was rolled out. He quickly followed them out the door, daring anyone to try to stop him. His hands clenched at his sides as he saw her face had become even paler.
There were two ambulances outside. The EMTs lifted Lily’s gurney into the back of the one not holding Joker, and Shade followed in.
“You can’t ride in here.” The EMT gave him a stern look, which he returned with one of his own.
“I’m family.” Shade took a seat on the bench next to Lily who was staring at him with wide eyes at his answer. After they put an emergency splint on Lily’s wrist, Shade reached out, gently touching it.
“You doing okay?”
“Yes.” Her lips trembled, and she began shaking. Her violet eyes darkened as they stared up at him. “I’m not acting like a baby this time; did you notice?”
“I noticed.” His voice was hoarse. He knew the signs of shock, and Lily was beginning to exhibit them.
“Get an IV in now!” Shade snapped at the EMT who was making notes on his pad.
The man jumped, laying the pad down then looking at her blood pressure.
Shade scooted off the bench to lean over her gurney. “Lily, did you get hurt anywhere else?”
“I bumped my head when I fell.”
Shade looked at her blood pressure. “Get the fucking IV in now, or I will.”
As the EMT reached into the cabinet, taking out the IV bag, his eyes met Shade’s, both of them aware of what was happening. A few seconds later, she slipped into unconsciousness.
Shade yelled out to the driver, who turned on the siren and picked up speed. The EMT worked on her while Shade backed out of the way.
The ambulance came to a stop at the emergency room entrance and Shade jumped out of the back, already getting Lily’s stretcher before the driver could get out to help.
“Go wait in the lobby. Someone will be out to talk to you soon.”
Shade tried to follow them inside the entrance, but two security guards blocked his path. Shade wanted them concentrating on Lily, not him, so he backed off until he heard Lily’s scream of pain outside the door. Shade lost it at the realization that she had come to, was in pain, and he wasn’t with her.
Shade tried to get inside where the patients were being treated, but the two guards held him back, threatening to place him under arrest. He just slammed the men together, knocking them on their asses.
“Shade.” Sex Piston tried to intervene, but when he turned angrily toward her, she hastily backed away.
She didn’t have to worry. Shade wasn’t going to touch her; he only wanted her to back off so he could bust down the door separating him from Lily.
The sliding doors opened behind them and Stud, Viper, and Razer entered, seeing him banging on the door with his booted heel.
Razer and Viper tore Shade away from the door while Stud helped the security guards to their feet. He wanted to knock them back down again, but Stud moved them farther away.
Shade shook off Viper then rounded on Razer, throwing him up against the wall, his forearm pressed against Razer’s throat. “I’m fucking done. You hear me, Razer?”
Razer managed to nod against the pressure Shade was exerting against his throat.
“That woman in there could die, and I haven’t even been able to touch her yet, feel her against me, or even fucking kiss her, because I’ve let what little conscience I have left and my friendship with you stop me. No more. You deal with Beth however you want, but I’m done with everyone telling me to stay away from her. Do you fucking understand me?”
Again, Razer nodded.
Shade stepped back, moving away from both Viper and Razer, who stood watching while he fought for control. Running a shaking hand over his short-cropped hair, he finally managed to gather himself before turning back and catching sight of Sex Piston.
The sudden blaring over the intercom calling a code had his eyes going wild again. Shade took a step toward the closed door when Sex Piston blocked his path, grabbing his shirt in a tight grip.
“You need to get your shit under control,” she said between gritted teeth. “Beth will come in that door any minute. Lily will not be happy to have her sister upset any more than she already is. So calm your ass down.”
Shade found himself listening to her. She was right; Lily would want him to protect Beth the way Razer protected Lily. The brother’s face was filled with anguish, yet Razer was keeping his shit together.
Shade took a steadying breath, focusing on Sex Piston and not the code blaring through the hospital and the running of feet.
“I see what you see in her. She comes across as this frail-as-shit wimp until you look in her eyes. She’s strong, Shade. Strong enough to survive whatever Hell that’s been given to her. She will pull out of this. She will never forgive you if you hurt anyone she cares about.”