“We’re good. Stay here and help Lobo sort this out.”
Kit shook his head. “I’m gonna make sure you get settled, then I’ll come back. I want them to check you out, too. And I need to talk to you anyway. See you at the hospital.” He nodded to the EMT, who shut the door, leaving Kelan alone with Fiona.
Chapter Eighteen
Kelan sat on the hard bench in the sterile cavern of the ambulance. He leaned close to Fiona and held her hand the whole way to the hospital. Their ordeal was close to being over, but until he and Fiona were back at Blade’s, he couldn’t let his guard down.
The ambulance sirens were loud, and the cab swayed perilously. Kelan held her hand, rubbing it between his. Five minutes into the ride, her fingers tightened on his. His eyes shot to her face. She was trying to look up at him. He moved so that he was crouched over her, making it easier for her to see him. He touched her face, smiling with relief.
“Fiona, can you see me? Can you hear me?”
Mangled sound came from her mouth. She didn’t yet have use of all her faculties. He touched her face. “Just blink if you can hear me.” Kelan nodded as he made that suggestion. She did blink, very slightly. Again he laughed. His relief was enormous.
“We’re on the way to the hospital. They’re going to check you out. I won't leave your side. Do you understand?”
She blinked.
“You’re safe now. You're out of the tunnels. The team’s on site. Including Lobo and half the Denver police force. Kit’s following us to the hospital. As soon as we get you checked out, I’ll take you home. Everything’s going to be all right now.”
Fiona closed her eyes at that. A tear slipped down the side of her face.
The ambulance pulled into the hospital and the sirens went silent. The back doors of the ambulance opened, and Kelan stepped out to help the EMTs pull Fiona’s gurney out of the ambulance. He hurried with them into the hospital. They rushed her to the emergency ward. As they transferred her from the ambulance gurney to a hospital bed, the EMTs debriefed the medical technicians. They drew the curtains over the medical cubicle that she was in, separating her from Kelan. He stayed outside the curtain listening to the medical jargon being thrown about.
When the EMT guys came out from behind the curtain, one of them nodded at him. “You should get yourself checked out, man.” Kelan looked down at himself, recognizing the pain his own body was in.
When Kit arrived, he said the same thing as the EMT. “Look, I’ll stay with her,” he said.
“I’m not leaving until I see her.”
A nurse pulled back the curtain. Fiona was sitting up in bed. She was wearing a hospital johnny, and actually smiled at them a little bit.
The nurse told him they’d drawn blood to see what was in her system, and that in the meantime they had her on an IV to help flush it through.
“Why don’t I put you in the bed next to hers so that we can check you out too?” the nurse asked.
“Not until I’ve had a chance to talk to her. Give me a minute, please.”
The nurse went to prepare the next station over. Kelan moved next to Fiona’s bed and took her hand. The blanket that they put on her was nicely warm. “Are you feeling all right?”
Fiona nodded. “Can’t talk much,” she said, her words still slurred.
“That’s okay. The effects of whatever they gave you are wearing off.” He looked over at Kit, who stepped up to the bed and took her other hand. “They want to check me out. I’ll be just in the next bed over. Kit’s going to stay here with you.”
Fiona nodded. She moved her head slightly and smiled at Kit. Kelan gave Kit a hard look, making it clear he expected his team lead to stay with his woman until he could resume his post.
Behind the curtain in the next cubby, Kelan shucked his boots, cargo pants, and tee, then sat on the hospital bed. The nurse brought over a warm blanket to cover his legs, then wheeled him off to have some x-rays done. A half-hour later, they confirmed he had a couple of broken ribs. Some of the cuts on his face and chest were stitched up. And his bleeding knuckles were disinfected and bandaged.
When he was brought back to his cubby, he dressed. Kit came in. Fiona was being processed with a rape kit. “She’s going to be a few minutes. How about you bring me up to speed on everything that happened after you left the biker bar?”
Kelan sat on the edge of his bed. Kit stood next to him so that his words wouldn’t carry. “What day is it?”
“Saturday,” Kit said.
“Val told you what happened at the bar?”
“Yep.”
“I was taken to a warehouse. Fiona was laid out on a table—a gurney, I guess. They’d changed her into some kind of a revealing dress. Put makeup on her. She wasn’t conscious. Two guys came into the warehouse. We fought. I killed them. While we were fighting, another guy wheeled Fiona into what I thought was another room, but it was actually the back of an eighteen-wheeler.”
“Yeah, we found the truck.”
“I was held in the loading dock area while they got her situated in the truck. Some guy said through a speaker that I was the War Bringer they’d been told was coming.” He frowned as he looked at Kit.
“What does that mean?”
Kelan shook his head. “I don’t know. They hadn’t seen my ink at that point; they couldn’t have known I have it tattooed on my arm. The guy who was on the speaker was a shot caller. He took us to an arena. It was some kind of fight club setup in there. That same guy later took us to King’s Warren.”