Anarchy (Hive Trilogy, #2)(15)

Once we reached the door to the operating room, a tall blond woman put a hand out on my chest, stopping me.

“You’ll have to wait outside.” She was polite but glaring with her squinty-ass eyes.

I pushed her hand off smoothly. “Not a chance.”

I stepped forward as she stood there with her mouth open. These people treated us like shit, put cameras up to spy on us, bugged our rooms. There was no way in hell I was leaving Ryder weakened and alone with them.

One of the male vampires that had begun cutting Ryder’s shirt open narrowed his eyes at me as well. Still I refused to move, secure with the heat of Kyle at my back.

“Operating room is for the patient only,” the male vampire growled.

Kyle and I moved further into the room, pushing the blonde out of the way. She didn’t try to stop us.

Kyle was all casual as he leaned against the wall. Despite his stance, I could see the determined fierceness in his gaze; he would not be leaving his best friend either. “We’re not leaving, and if he dies I’ll kill you all, so I suggest you stop talking and start saving his life.”

I heard the enforcer’s teeth clank as he slammed them together. His eyes were wild, and the way his right hand was twitching over his gun should have been worrying the doctors. Even if it was a bit of a suicide run trying to take on three vampires, for Ryder, Kyle and I would not even hesitate. Striding to his side, I put on my best tough-unicorn face, leaning on the wall and crossing my arms.

The male vampire’s nostrils flared as he prepared to retort, but the third scrub-attired vampire in the room, a female who looked kind of familiar, placed a hand on his arm. “You’d do the same. Besides, this one is the Quorum’s favorite. We better do all we can to save him.”

I remembered then where I’d seen her. She was one of Lucas’ confidants. Often seen with the Quorum leader. That sort of had me feeling like we might have a slight ally in the room.

The male vamp looked like he was going to ignore her. He paused with a scalpel in hand and continued glaring at us. You mother effer! If he didn’t start patching Ryder up in two seconds, I was going to go postal.

He sighed and shook his head. “Let’s do this, he’s bleeding out fast.”

The breath I had been holding left me and I nearly burst into tears. As the first cut was made, I decided to find a spot in the room to stare at because there was no way in hell I could watch this. Even the knowledge they were slicing into Ryder had me on the verge of losing my shit and falling to the ground in tears.

I felt a strong warm hand take mine, a lifeline which pulled me back from the edge.

Kyle.

I wasn’t alone. Holding on to him as tightly as I could, I decided on two things. One: life was too short to live half-assed. If you wanted something, you needed to go for it. And two: I was a hundred percent most definitely falling in love with Ryder. And who could blame me?



The next twelve hours were some of the most painful and scary of my life. The medical team kept asking for more blood to be hung. Not to mention all the cursing as Ryder’s stomach continued closing over the surgeon’s hands before he could patch up the damage inside. Even with the ash’s advanced healing, the organs needed to be properly stitched together, bullets removed. Just like my broken leg had to have the bones set properly before healing or it would have fused together crookedly.

Kyle and I sat on the operating floor, against the wall. We were slumped together in a ball, my head on his shoulder. The surgery seriously felt like it had been going on for years, when the doctor finally stepped away from Ryder and rolled his neck to work out the kinks.

He met my eyes. “He’ll be fine.”

He turned then and made his way to a hand-scrubbing station. That was it, all the information I was getting, but it was all the information I needed.

I jumped up, my heart slamming against my chest as relief flooded me.

“Thank you!” I said, as gratefully as I could. Still hated the *s, but they had saved Ryder’s life.

I followed as the vampire female whisked Ryder down the hall and into a recovery wing. There were three other ash in there, all hooked up to blood and curtained off from each other. A wheelchair was set up next to Ryder’s bed.

The nurse gave me some clear liquid in a syringe. “He can go home in an hour or so when he wakes. This will help with the pain. Stick it in his leg.”

My eyes widened and Kyle nodded before thanking her.

Once we were alone with our boy, I exchanged a look with Ryder’s oldest friend, a look that said Holy shit we just survived something crazy and thank you for being there with me. But we didn’t say a word. Sometimes there are no real words that can describe what you’ve just gone through.

Kyle wrapped a warm hand around my shoulder; he looked exhausted and ready to drop. I, however, was so jacked up on adrenaline there was no way I was sleeping until Ryder was awake and talking.

“You want me to bring him to my apartment and take care of him?” Kyle asked.

My heart tightened at the thought of letting Ryder out of my sight. I shook my head. “No, I can do it.”

Kyle nodded and pulled me in for a big hug. “You did good today, rookie.”

I gave a lame attempt at a smile as he pulled away and met my eyes. “Get some sleep,” I told him.

He nodded and yawned. “I’ll check on Markus. I have to report to the Quorum before I can sleep.”