The lady starts typing into her computer—slowly, I might add.
“Yes, she’s in the emergency room down the hall.”
Without any more details, I take off down the hall like a bat out of Hell.
Around the corner, I spot Mila in the waiting room, sitting in a chair crying.
“Mila, what the fuck happened?” I demand, walking toward her.
“I came back to the studio because I forgot Dani’s check,” she says, sobbing.
“What happened?” I repeat, urging her to get past the petty information.
“There was this car full of men, and they chased Dani with their car, so I called the police. When I came back out, they were beating the hell out of her with a bat,” she cries, her words hard to understand.
“Holy shit,” Bobby whispers from behind me.
“We’ve been targeted,” Bull says gravely. This confirms Babs’ hit was not some drunk. This was personal.
I look into each room, trying to find Dani.
“Sir?” A nurse calls after me after I’ve looked into the fifth room. I ignore her.
“Sir?” she calls again, her voice louder than before. I still ignore her.
I open the last door at the end of the hall and see Dani. Tears immediately fill my eyes, and I have to take a step back before I can go forward. Her face is matted with blood and there is a deep gash in her eyebrow.
“Sir, you can’t be in here,” the nurse says, standing in my view of Dani.
“Christ,” I whisper in disbelief as tears tumble from my eyes. I will kill the person who did this to her.
“He’s fine, Sandy.” I turn and see Doc standing in the doorway, ushering the nurse to leave me alone.
“Is she okay?” I ask frantically.
“She’s in a lot of pain. I gave her a low dose of pain reliever until I can run some tests,” she tells me, tucking Dani in with a sheet.
“Her arm is broken, so we’ll have to cast it, and she also needs stitches in her eyebrow. She needs more tests done to make sure there are no internal injuries as well,” she informs, brushing the hair from her face.
“I haven’t seen her in a while. How’s she been?” Doc asks, adjusting Dani’s pillow.
I run my hands through my hair, frantically. “She’s been feeling sick and not eating much. But she’s been doing all right,” I respond.
Doc furrows her eyebrows at me. “She get a fever at all?”
“No, not that I know of,” I state, my eyes never leaving Dani’s face.
“Has she been taking the pills I gave her?” Doc asks.
“What pills?” I ask, confused. I didn’t know Dani was taking any pills.
“Right. Well, I’m going to do another blood test before continuing.” Doc grabs the clipboard hanging on the wall and exits the room, leaving me with more questions than I arrived with.
Two guys in white lab coats come in carrying a container full of needles and tubes. They put a rubber band around Dani’s arm and push a needle into the crook of her elbow, then pull a cap off and push a tube onto it, making blood squirt into the tube.
“What are these tests for?” I question, pointing toward the needles.
They ignore me, wrap her arm up with colored tape, and leave the room. I’m getting no answers, and it’s starting to piss me off.
I look over at Bobby and Bull. “What the fuck?”
I sit down next to Dani and grab her good hand—the one that’s not broken—and give it a light squeeze. I bring her limp hand to my mouth and give it a kiss. Whoever did this to her, they will pay.
She moans and shifts in her bed. I sit up, hoping she wakes.
“Dani?” I ask in a shaky voice.
“Shadow?” Her voice cracks.
“I’m here,” I tell her, standing up and looking over her. I’ve never been more wrecked in my entire life than I am right now, worried that God might punish me for the life I’ve lived by taking Dani from me.
“Where am I?” she asks, looking around her room.
“You’re in the hospital, doll,” Bull informs her, stepping up to the bedside.
She blinks her eyes a couple times. “Oh, yeah,” she says, in a whisper.
“Do you remember anything that happened?” Bobby asks.
She licks her dry lips and looks up at me. “Just that—” She pauses as a commotion outside the door grabs her attention.
“I’ll look.” I step away from her bed and look into the hall to see two police officers at the front desk.
“If she is awake, we would like to ask her some questions,” one of the officers says to a nurse.
“She’s just been through a traumatic experience; can’t this wait?” Doc says, stepping up to the desk.
“I’m afraid not,” one of the cops responds.
I step back into the room and go to Dani’s side.
“The police are here. You tell them nothing. Do you understand?” I ask, trying to mask my harsh tone with as much force as I can.
She looks up at me in confusion.
“We take care of this our way. I’ll kill the person who did this to you. That’s a promise,” I inform her, my tone not to be messed with. “Trust me,” I whisper, hoping she knows I will take care of this.