Page 87 of Wicked Shadows
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Elle and Bethrushed into the emergency room, frantically searching for Devon. The agents who’d swarmed the old clubhouse told her she couldn’t leave. The cops who showed up after the federal agents forbade her from leaving before they’d completed their paperwork. Axle had been her saving grace in that moment. When everyone else told her to wait, he told her to go—before it was too late.
“Where is Devon Kane?” she shrieked at the triage nurse.
“We don’t have anyone here by that name,” the nurse stammered. “When was he brought in?”
“About thirty minutes ago, by ambulance. Gunshot wound.”
“Okay, I know which patient you’re talking about now. Are you family?”
“She’s his wife,” Beth interjected. “She’d like to see her husband.”
The nurse looked at her computer screen and back up at Elle. “He’s in surgery. They took him straight to the operating room when they got here—didn’t stop in the emergency room at all. Go up to the fifth-floor surgical waiting room. The surgeon will come out and talk to you when they’re finished.”
Elle and Beth made their way to the waiting room, expecting to be the only ones there, but they found a room full of sad, anxious faces instead. They found two seats and sat quietly, holding hands and waiting for an update from the doctor. Elle’s eyes stayed glued to the door, willing the surgeon to magically appear, though she could feel eyes on her. She waited for the moment cell phones emerged to snap pictures of her to sell to the paparazzi or for someone to tip off the media where she was.
But she didn’t care. She needed answers. She needed to understand what had happened. She needed an explanation that made sense of the chaotic state her emotions lived in.
How can he be part of this?
All the time we spent together, was it all a lie?
No, it couldn’t have been. But then, why did he do this?
Is he in trouble? Was he forced to help them?
Doesn’t he care about me at all anymore?
Has this been his life all along? Is this why he never let me be part of his life? Why he said it was too dangerous?
Some of the federal agents who’d rushed in after Devon was shot walked into the waiting room. At first, she thought they’d tracked her down, but they moved past her and sat against the wall. Their expressionless faces gave nothing away of their intentions, but Elle assumed they wanted to question Devon almost as much as she did.
“Beth, we have to call our families and Devon’s. I’ve been so crazy, I didn’t even think about them until right this second.”
“That makes two of us. When I saw him get shot, and all that blood, I think my brain just shut down. I’ll go call them right now. You can wait here.”
Elle was lost in her thoughts when she heard familiar voices from the hallway. She looked up to see her parents and brothers enter. She rushed into her parents’ open arms, feeling safe for the first time in weeks. With hugs and kisses and tears all around, they had a family reunion in the hospital waiting room. She couldn’t answer their questions about anything regarding her time held captive by the gang. There were too many aspects of it she needed to understand first.
Her father wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her back to the chairs. Beth stepped in front of her and knelt. “Elle, my parents are taking me to the station to answer their questions, then we’re going to the apartment. I’ll grab some clothes for you. Do you need anything else?”
“No. Thank you, though.” She touched Beth’s face, thankful to have such a loyal friend.
Beth squeezed her hand and smiled through her tears. “You and I will need therapy after this. You know that, right?”
“Without a doubt.”
Beth kissed her cheek before leaving, then lingered in the doorway when second thoughts clouded her mind. She gave Elle a questioning look, but Elle waved her on. It had been quite an ordeal, and Elle understood her need for normalcy, or a semblance of it.
Elle watched Beth disappear around the corner, then kept her vigil over the door while waiting on any news about Devon. Time seemed to stand still and fly by at the same time. She was desperate to know. When a tall doctor’s frame darkened the doorway, she decided she was definitely not ready to hear.
“Kane family?” he called into the room.
Elle and her family stood to greet the doctor, and she was startled when eight others quickly stood and gathered around her. She glanced at the men and women around her, not recognizing the first face. She met the doctor’s surprised gaze when he asked, “You’re all here for Devon Kane?”
“Yes,” came the simultaneous reply.
