“Said nothing . . .” She broke off and choked, more blood seeping from her lips. Ash was panicking now. Where was the goddamn ambulance?
She took a long moment and for a second Ash thought she’d slipped into unconsciousness.
“Josie. Josie! Stay with me, baby. Fight it. Stay awake. Can you do that for me? Open your eyes, baby. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. The ambulance is on its way. They’ll be here soon and they’ll take care of you. I’ll take care of you,” he choked out, tears knotting his throat.
Her eyelids fluttered and she trained her unfocused eyes on him, pain glittering brightly in their depths.
“Said nothing you hold dear . . . is safe. S-s-said you r-ruined him . . . and now he’s going to ruin y-you.”
Gabe went white even as he grabbed his phone. He stepped back and away from Josie and Ash, but Ash could hear him talking to Jace, telling him to make sure Mia and Bethany were safe. Then he told Jace to meet him and Ash at the hospital.
The sound of a siren sent relief coursing through Ash’s veins. He jumped to his feet but Gabe stopped him.
“I’ll get them in. You stay with Josie,” Gabe bit out.
Ash dropped back down, bending over Josie so she’d know he was here.
“The ambulance is here, baby,” he soothed. “They’ll get you to the hospital and I’ll be with you every step of the way. You’ll be okay, darling. I won’t let you be anything else. Stay with me. I love you. I love you so much.”
She tried to lift her right hand and then whimpered in pain. “H-hand h-hurts. What’s wrong with it?”
He stared in horror at the obviously broken fingers. Son of a bitch! They’d broken her fingers! He was precariously close to losing his composure. He wanted to get his hands on the sons of bitches who did this to her. He’d kill the bastards with his own hands.
Forcing himself to focus on her and pushing everything else from his mind, he captured her wrist, holding it gently so she wouldn’t let it fall back to the floor and hurt herself even more. Then he kissed the swollen fingers ever so gently as tears gathered in his eyes.
“Just some broken fingers,” he said shakily. “Nothing the doctor won’t fix right up.”
“My painting hand,” she said as more tears squeezed from her swollen eyes.
“Shhh, it’s okay, baby. You’ll be back to painting before you know it.”
Even as he spoke, his gaze caught on the two paintings propped against the wall. Dark. Full of turmoil. He’d done that to her. He’d taken her vibrancy away. The essence of her work. These weren’t the Josie he knew and loved. This was Josie hurting and expressing her emotions in the only way she knew how.
The EMTs burst through the door and into the living room, immediately assessing Josie’s condition. Ash moved back so he didn’t interfere, but he stayed close, hovering anxiously as they went through the assessment.
“Decreased breath sounds on the left side,” the paramedic said grimly as he pulled his stethoscope away. “Get the O2,” he barked at his partner.
“How bad is it?” Ash demanded.
The paramedic shook his head. “No way to know without x-rays. I’m guessing she has several broken ribs. Probably punctured a lung.”
“Be careful with her hand,” Ash said. “It’s broken.”
“She’s a mess,” the medic said bluntly. “We need to load and go. I’ll get a c-collar on her and bag her on the way.”
Ash went pale. The words sounded so grim and utterly serious.
“Will she live?” Ash whispered, voicing his darkest fear.
“Not my call, but she sure as hell isn’t going to die on my watch.”
A stretcher was brought in and the medics worked quickly, securing the c-collar and then giving her oxygen. She was just as quickly wheeled out and loaded into the ambulance. Ash barely had time to jump into the back before they roared away in a rush of sirens and lights.
He slid his hand into his pocket, feeling for the photo Josie had had in her hand. Gabe had a hell of a lot to answer for, and then Ash was going after the son of a bitch who’d put his hands on Josie.
chapter thirty-two