The Penalty Box (Vancouver Wolves Hockey #3)(95)

“Charlie, calm down.” He grabbed me by the shoulders. “It’s over. It’s going to be okay.”

Tears streamed down my face. “Is she dead? Where is Andrew?”

With reluctance, Mica stepped into the small room. He crouched beside the woman before taking off his hoodie and gently covering her body. He looked at the iron shackle around her ankle. “We have to call the police. She needs an ambulance.”

Adrenaline and heart-pounding fear coursed through my veins until I felt like collapsing. “We need a phone.”

“Come on,” he said. “Andrew has a phone upstairs.”

I bent over Sniper. “I can’t leave him.”

Mica didn’t even pause. He reached down and picked up Sniper in his arms. “Please come with me.”

Sniper was panting, but he was licking Mica’s face vigorously. Mica gently laid Sniper down at the front door. I stood in the kitchen’s doorway, taking in the broken furniture.

“Where is Andrew?” I was still in full-on panic mode. “Where is he? Be careful!”

Mica stepped in the room, looking for something. “He’s over here. He’s not going anywhere.”

He grabbed a phone but paused. In the distance, sirens screamed, coming closer.

“I think that’s for us.”

I felt dizzy. I opened the door, and Sniper moved slowly to follow me. Mica came out behind me. He stood with his arms wrapped around my trembling body as we watched police cars and ambulances park haphazardly on the street.

An officer approached us. “What’s going on?”

Mica spoke in a steady voice. “There’s a female in the basement. I don’t know how long she’s been there, but she needs your help. There is also a man in the living room, tied up. He’s the one who abducted my wife.”

The two officers disappeared into the house. A few moments later they reappeared and one of them shouted, “We need medical in here. Someone grab some bolt cutters.”

It was complete chaos after that. Police went in and out of the house, questioning me, questioning Mica. I felt super nauseous and light-headed. Tears streamed down my face and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.

Mica was answering questions, but his eyes were on me.

He paused and moved to put his arms around me. “Are you okay?”

Blackness was edging out my vision. I felt his arms hold me up, and then I felt something warm gush between my legs.

I looked down. Blood, so much blood, stained between my legs.

“Mica!” I tried to cry, but my voice was just a whimper.

He swung me into his arms. “Fuck, Charlie. Stay with me.”

And then the world went black.





Chapter 32





MICA





I sat silently in the waiting room while people who loved Charlie began to show up and join me in my vigil. Krista. Andrusha. Ryan. Zoey. In silence, their presence held me together. Kept me from falling apart.

Ryan sat on one side of me, Andrusha on the other.

My worst nightmare had occurred. Only this time it didn’t matter that we had access to an ambulance, trained medical staff and one of the best hospitals in the country.

I had accepted that Charlie had begun to lose the baby. Now I was terrified of losing her.

I spoke, trying to come to terms with what had happened. “She never woke up. She passed out in my arms, and even in the ambulance she never regained consciousness.”

Andrusha put his arm on my shoulder. I put my face in my hands and took deep breaths, trying to get a handle on my emotions. If I lost her, I would not survive.

“She’s tough. She’s going to be okay.”

I looked at him. What if she doesn’t survive? What if she leaves me? How can I endure that kind of pain? All my questions were in my eyes, and he held my gaze with his own. Andrusha knew my past. He understood my pain.

His fingers squeezed my shoulder, and he repeated stubbornly, “She’s going to be fine.”

“Mica Petrov?” a voice called from the door.

I staggered to my feet and moved towards the doctor, who wore a yellow hospital gown over his scrubs.

The only words I could manage were, “My wife?”

He smiled at me. “Your wife is fine.”

I wavered on my feet as I took in that news.

“She has anemia, which is fairly common with pregnancy, but her anemia went a bit too far, which resulted in low blood pressure. The shock and adrenaline probably caused her bleeding.”

I worked to stay on my feet and take in his words. “What now?”

“We gave her a blood transfusion and an iron infusion treatment. We’d like to monitor her for a few days, but she should be ready to go home within forty-eight hours.”

“She’s going to live?” I repeated, needing the confirmation.

He smiled. “She and the baby will be fine.”

Wait, what? “The baby is okay too?”

He paused and frowned. “I thought you understood that.”

I couldn’t speak because of the enormous lump in my throat. I swallowed repeatedly.

He patted my arm. “Mom and baby are doing great. They are just transferring her to a room. The best thing for her is a lot of sleep.”

“Can I see her?” I gasped.