Raven
I couldn’t stop shaking.
Not when I held Lexa in my arms in the back of Quinn’s car and Bash drove like the hounds of hell were chasing us to the nearest hospital. There was so much blood. So many bruises.
Not when the doctor and a team of nurses took her from us when we ran into the ER, shouting for help. I screamed at them to let me go with her, my heart beating so hard it was close to exploding because I couldn’t fucking stand to be away from her.
Not during the long wait, or when the cops arrived because we’d walked in with an unconscious, badly beaten child. We answered their questions. Told them who to call if they really needed to know so badly—Vito Vitucci, his son, his son-in-law. They always came up with a cover story to protect their muscle. They would sort the cops all out. Get these damn pigs out of my face so I could just worry about my daughter.
Not when the doctor finally came out to tell us what was going on and that Lexa was being rushed up to surgery.
Contusions. Broken bones. Internal bleeding. Severe concussion.
She’d been beaten to within an inch of her life. If we hadn’t gotten her to the hospital in time, she could have bled out from a lacerated liver and a ruptured spleen.
Bash held me close, telling me it was going to be okay. But I didn’t believe him. Lexa had been so still, so fucking broken. And that cut. What the hell had he used to make that damn cut? What had he done to my sweet little angel?
I was still shaking when the surgeon came out and said Lexa was going to be okay.
And that was when the world went black.
--
When I opened my eyes again, it was to find Bash leaning over me, his eyes wet with tears as he cradled my head in his huge hands. “Baby,” he sobbed. “Thank fuck.”
“Lexa!” I cried, sitting up so fast, the world began to spin.
Bash eased me back, carefully holding me. “She’s in recovery. The doctor said we can see her as soon as she starts coming out from under the anesthesia,” he reminded me. “You scared the hell out of me.”
The shaking was starting to take hold of me again, but it was worse now. My teeth began to chatter together, my entire body feeling as if it was encased in ice. “Why can’t I stop shaking?” I demanded, irritated.
“Reaction. Shock. You’re coming down off some pretty high adrenaline, baby.” He moved back then stood before lifting me to my feet.
He pulled off his coat and wrapped it around my shoulders, carefully pulling my hair out from under it and then folding his arms around me.
That was when I broke. When the lump filled my throat and the tears burned my eyes. I buried my face in his chest, and he gave me his strength as I let the stress and pain and agony of the last six-plus hours go.
It wasn’t until Jet and the others arrived at the hospital that I was finally able to get some semblance of control over myself and wipe away my tears. By then, Bash’s shirt was soaked in my tears and snot, but he didn’t seem to care as we moved into the corner of the OR waiting room and the guys filled us in on what had happened after we’d left.
They had cleaned up the mess I’d created when I blew the man’s face off.
I wasn’t sorry. I knew I was supposed to feel some kind of remorse for taking a life, but all I felt was this overpowering sense of relief. Fontana couldn’t hurt us anymore. Bates wouldn’t get in our way again.
That wouldn’t have mattered, though, if Lexa hadn’t made it out of there alive. I would have wanted to follow them to hell and spend eternity tormenting the fuck out of them.
A nurse appeared in the doorway, glancing around. There were two other families waiting on their loved ones to get out of surgery, but somehow, I knew she was looking for us.
I moved forward and she frowned, probably wondering if I could possibly be the mother of the little girl who was under her care. Lexa and I looked nothing alike, but even though we didn’t share a single drop of blood, she was mine just as much as Max was. Legally, I was her mother, but it was more than that. In my soul, she belonged to me.
Then she saw Bash behind me and understanding cleared her eyes. Lexa and Max both looked so much like their father, there was no denying who they belonged to.
“Mr. and Mrs. Reid?” I nodded. “Your daughter is starting to come around, and she keeps crying for her mommy. Would you like to follow me, and I’ll take you back to her?”
I was already on her heels before she could clear the door.
Lexa was in the ICU, where the doctor told us she would be for the next day or so just as a precaution. She wasn’t the most critical patient in the ward, but she was definitely the youngest.
When I saw her again, my heart stopped at just how badly Fontana had beaten her. There wasn’t a single inch of skin that wasn’t covered in bruises. Her face was stitched, the jagged cut going from her temple down to the corner of her mouth, disfiguring the entire right side of her face.
Rage filled me anew, and I wanted to kill the monster who did this to my baby all over again.
She was whimpering as the doors opened, and I rushed forward. Her blue eyes opened, and she started to cry as soon as she saw me. “Mommy!” But when she tried to sit up to hug me, she cried out in pain, and I bent so I could hug her, hold her.
I kissed her forehead carefully, brushing her hair back from her face, and just soaked up the fact that my daughter was alive.