Warrior (First to Fight #1)(71)

“She’s bleeding. We have to get her to a hospital,” Jack says from somewhere behind Ben.

But he’s already wrapping his strong arms around me and lifting me into his embrace. I try to voice my fears about Cole, but the horrors of the past few weeks converge and I give up the fight against the darkness consuming me. The echo of Melissa’s shouts follow me into oblivion.





I carry Olivia from the car to the emergency room, though because I’m not family, I’m not permitted to be with her during the evaluations. Jack goes in my stead and keeps me updated as they admit her and examine her wounds. While I wait, I make a call to check on Cole and find my mother nearly frantic with worry. I manage to calm her down with the news that Olivia was found safely and promise to call back when she wakes.

Logan still hasn’t quite explained to me how the small-time drug dealer and Melissa were related, but I can’t seem to muster the energy to care. The only thing I can focus on is the fact that Olivia nearly died for the third time due to my own stupidity and selfishness. I wasn’t about to let there be a fourth. In fact, she won’t be leaving my sight for the rest of her life.

Three hours after I carried her lifeless body into the emergency room, I still haven’t been permitted to see her. But I don’t care. They’re going to have to pry me out of the waiting room with a crew of firemen and the Jaws of Life if they want me to leave.

Jack made a few trips, but none of them brought the news I wanted. The doctors sedated her, so it wasn’t likely she’d wake any time soon, Jack said. He even suggested I go back to my parents with Cole and get some sleep. I ignore the suggestion until he takes the hint and leaves again.

When at last they let me into her recovery room I find myself unwilling to enter, afraid of the truths I may see in her eyes. Jack comes out and holds the door open for me so I have no choice but to face my mistakes. My shortcomings. My failures.

“She’s awake, but groggy,” Jack says. “She’s asking for you.”

I pause at the entrance to the hospital room with Jack at my side. “I want to apologize to you.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, man.”

“Yeah, yeah, I do. I’ve let her down so many times. But I want to tell you, to promise you, that it won’t happen again. You have my word.”

Jack nudges my shoulder with his. “If it does, I’ll have your ass. Now go.”

For the second time, I walk to her hospital bed and gaze down at her slumbering form. I take the chair already placed on her uninjured side and hold her free hand in both of my own. I bow my head over it, like a man seeking absolution. And maybe I am, in a way.

I must have fallen asleep because when her hand jerks in mine, I shoot straight up to find her eyes open and on our clasped hands.

“Baby,” I mumble, sure I’m dreaming.

“Ben?” Her voice is scratchy with sleep, so I grab her a glass of water and hold it to her lips.

I wait as she swallows, and for her to open her eyes again. She blinks rapidly and winces against the bright light.

“So, this is what it takes,” she says and I frown.

“What do you mean?”

“This is what I have to do to keep you in bed next to me, isn’t it? I have to say, the school pays me pretty well, but the insurance is shit. I don’t think I can afford to keep landing in the hospital just to keep you around.”

I’m nearly weak with relief. “It’s not funny, Olivia. She could have killed you…again. For a while, I thought she had.”

“We Walkers are made of pretty tough stuff.” She coughs, and I offer her another sip of water. “What happened?” she asks when she’s able to talk again.

“We don’t have to talk about this now—”

“No,” she cuts me off. “I want to get it over with so we can finally move on.” She pauses and seems to consider something before continuing on, though her voice is now laced with a tremor. “She was my mother, my biological mother.

I caress the soft skin of her cheek, thankful she didn’t suffer another round of head trauma. “Yes,” I tell her gently. “She was. How did you know? Did Jack tell you before I got here?”

“No,” she answers. “She did. She blamed me for my biological dad’s death. He and my little brother were killed in a car accident. How did she find me?”

“You’ll have to ask Logan for the specifics, but he believes she’s been watching you for a long time.” The mere thought of how close she came to dying makes me want to throw something. “We think your pregnancy may have set it off, maybe even caused a psychotic break. That’ll be up to the courts and the psychologists to decide. Whatever it was, she tracked down your family, your dad, you, and bided her time. But you don’t have to worry now. She’ll be going away for a long time.”

Tears leak from the corner of her eyes, and I wipe them away with a knuckle.

“I just can’t believe it, after all this time.” She hiccups.

I nod. “She couldn’t handle their loss, so she put you up for adoption.”

Livvie closes her eyes and rests her head against the pillow. “Cole? Is he with you?” she asks, her voice still heavy with grief and sleep.

“He’s still with my parents. My mom is keeping a hawk eye on him.”