Page 35 of Stay Little Fighter

Thankfully it’s only a few blocks away, but it feels like we’re in the car for an eternity before we finally reach the emergency room doors.

Grinding to a stop, I’m out of the car before the engine can switch off.

I lift Chloe into my arms as gently as I can manage, but I’m holding on by a thread. I’ve failed her. I promised I would keep her safe. I promised I would protect her. And yet here she is, barely responsive in my arms.

Sprinting toward the double doors, I ignore the waiting room full of people and seek out the closest nurse.

The short woman’s eyes widen when she sees the blood soaking both me and Chloe, and she jumps into action before I can get a word out.

“Gurney over here now.” She barks out the order. “Can you tell me what happened, sir?”

“I don’t know,” I choke out. “She was asleep for a long time, and I got worried so I woke her up. She’s pregnant. About five weeks, I think. I have the records from my private doctor.”

“And these marks on her wrists?” she questions as I carefully place her on the bed that seemingly appeared from nowhere.

“She escaped a bad situation a few days ago.” I keep my reply vague because telling anyone that Chloe fled the Lombardis will only draw them here.

The last thing Chloe needs right now is for her not-so-distant past to show up at the hospital.

The triage nurse stares at me for long seconds before giving me a curt nod. “What’s her name?”

“Chloe,” I reply. “Chloe Beaumont.”

I don’t know why I give my last name. I don’t have a good reason other than that I can’t give hers. But it sounds so fucking right coming from my lips that my chest tightens all over again.

“Can you tell me how long she’s been bleeding for?”

I shake my head. “I’m not sure. I checked on her about twenty minutes ago and got her here as quickly as I could.”

“Okay, we’re going to take care of her.” Another nurse appears and starts pushing the bed toward a set of doors that say “Authorized Access Only,” meaning they’re about to take her away from me. The thought has panic rolling over me in waves. I can’t keep her safe if I don’t have eyes on her.

“Is she going to be okay?” I choke out.

“We’re going to do everything we can.”

They don’t waste another second talking to me before pushing the bed through the doors and out of sight.

I drop into the nearest plastic seat, ignoring the way it groans under my weight, and drop my head into my blood-soaked hands.

It’s been years since I allowed myself to care for someone other than myself, and just days after I let Chloe slip beneath my walls, I’m faced with losing the most important person in my world.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

DAMON

NOW

Every single cruel word that’s ever passed my lips plays on loop as I stare down at Chloe.

I’ve checked her pulse so many times I’m not sure what I’ll do with my hands when they take her away from me at the hospital, but it doesn’t matter. Not if it means she’s going to get the medical care she needs.

But the question lingering in the back of my mind refuses to ease.

What if she doesn’t make it?

What would have been the point of all of this?

Of loving her and losing her. Of hurting her to save her. Of making myself so fucking miserable all these years for a throne I don’t even fucking want.