Lost in Paradise (Paradise Club #2)(79)
Whoever the fuck did this …
… I’m going to fucking kill them.
They better pray the police find them first.
“Ivy, please, wake up,” I plead.
“She has a pulse, but she seems to have been knocked out cold,” a staff member explains. “We’ve called an ambulance, and they’ll be here in five.”
“What happened?”
“No one knows. She was found out here like this,” the person tells me with a frown on their face.
Fuck! I turn my attention back to Ivy and talk to her with soothing words. “Come back to me, Ivy. I can’t lose you. Not when I’ve just found you. I fucking love you, okay?” I hope she hears me. I wish I’d told her before now that I love her. I know I told her I had feelings, but she needed to know the full truth about those feelings. She needed to know everything, but I was too scared to voice my sentiments.
“Wake up! Please, Ivy … I need you to know you’re the one for me. Forever. I’m done looking. I’ve found you, and now that I have, I never want to let you go.”
“Alex,” her words are groggy as she blinks open her eyes.
“I’m here, baby,” I say, helping her to sit.
Ivy grabs her head and holds it with a frown. “What the hell happened?” she asks as she looks down at the ground and then at the blood staining her hands.
“Help is coming! Sit tight.”
“I’m fine,” she says, seemingly annoyed as she tries to get up off the ground.
“Ivy, someone attacked you. You’re not fine. You’re far from fine,” I tell her.
Ivy stills, and all the color drains from her face as she turns as white as a ghost. “I need to go,” she says, panic lacing her every word.
“You can’t leave. The EMTs need to check you out at the very least. You’ve taken a nasty blow to the head,” I say, steadying her as she sways.
“The ambulance is almost here,” one of the staff members says.
Ivy turns as if noticing them for the first time then looks up and sees everyone milling around and looking at her. “I have to go,” she reiterates, looking like a frightened animal who’s been cornered. “I can’t be here. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Please, let me go,” she says angrily, pulling herself away from me.
“Ivy, you need medical treatment.”
“I don’t. I know what’s wrong. I’ve been here before,” she says, shrugging off my hands from her body. What the hell? She notices one of the staff members holding a wet towel in their hand, she grabs it, wipes her face trying to clean off the blood. “See … all good,” she states as she begins to walk away from me even if she is staggering a little.
“Ivy, what the hell?” I call after her, grabbing her arm.
Ivy flinches, then cowers as I touch her. “Don’t touch me.”
“You’ve likely got a concussion. You need medical help,” I tell her quietly, trying not to spook her.
“I want to go home.”
“You can after the ambulance checks you,” I tell her, but I keep my hands to myself.
Moments later, the ambulance arrives, and the EMTs rush toward Ivy. They begin talking to her and asking questions. She keeps telling them she’s fine, but they insist on checking her over before letting her go home. She sighs, stops fighting, and takes a seat while the EMT does her job thoroughly.
“What’s happened?” the other EMT asks.
“I don’t know. She went to the bathroom, but then I realized she hadn’t come back, and I went in search of her. When I saw the staff members running around, I came outside and that’s when I saw my girlfriend had been attacked.”
“Do you know who would do this?” the EMT asks.
“I have no idea. She literally went to the bathroom …” My eyes fall on Ivy who’s getting cleaned up.
“We found her on the ground in a heap. None of her clothes are ripped,” a staff member adds.
“You need to report this,” the EMT states.
“I will as soon as she’s clear to leave.”
It doesn’t take long to get Ivy cleaned up. She’s bruised but not too bad otherwise, and it seems like she might have had a lucky escape.
“Are you sure you’re safe to go home with your partner?” I hear the female EMT ask her.
“Yes, it wasn’t him. He would never do this,” Ivy adds, and the EMT frowns.
Damn right! I’d never touch a woman. What kind of fucking coward attacks a woman, anyway?
“If you know who did this to you, then you need to talk to the police,” the EMT tells Ivy.
“I can’t.” She sighs.
The woman reaches out and touches Ivy gently on the shoulder, letting her know she’s there for her. And with that kind gesture, tears start falling down Ivy’s cheeks. “I know it’s hard, but you should okay?”
Ivy shakes her head.
The EMT nods, knowing she can’t do anything more. “Good luck, sweetheart,” she says before turning and packing up her gear.
“Can I take her home?” I ask.
“It’s up to her,” the EMT states coolly.
“Yes, thanks,” Ivy states, looking up and giving me a small smile as she hops down from the ambulance and walks over to me. She reaches out and wraps her arms around my body and gives me a firm hug. My body relaxes at feeling her touch—I thought I’d lost her.