Monroe, Marla - Their Broken Lady (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

He talked to her as the other man had, but when the siren came again, he didn’t leave her. He stayed by the car until the others arrived. Then he let someone else take his place. She hovered in and out of consciousness until they got her door opened and started to move her. Then she passed out.

* * * *

Bryan pulled up behind the emergency vehicles and stopped. They had the road blocked as a wrecker pulled an SUV out of the trees ahead of him. He couldn’t see very well from where he was, but the thing looked in bad shape. He hoped whoever had been in it had lived. He couldn’t figure out how they had ended up losing control. Maybe they had fallen asleep or had a blackout.

He waited along with several other people until the wrecker made it up on the road and headed toward town. He looked over just as it pulled up even to his truck and cursed. It was Amber’s Pathfinder. He pulled off the road and ran up to where the police gathered around one of the cars.

“What happened to Amber? Is she alive?” he demanded as soon as he was close enough they could hear him.

Officer McKenny stepped out from the group and walked up to him.

“Bryan. She’s on her way to the hospital. I don’t know how bad she is. You should call Tanner and tell him.”

“What the hell happened?”

“It looks like someone forced her off the road. A man pulled up hearing a car horn and saw someone trying to choke her and ran toward them, yelling. He scared the attacker off. We are in the process of going over the man’s truck to figure out who he is. You should call Tanner and go see about Miss Reynolds.”

Bryan shook his head and then nodded.
Fuck!
He pulled out his cell and punched in Tanner’s number.

“Hello, Bryan. I can’t talk right now.”

“Amber’s on her way to the hospital. Get your ass over there now.”

“What happened?”

“Someone tried to kill her again. They ran her car off into the trees.”

“I’m on my way.” Tanner hung up, leaving Bryan listening to a dial tone.

He slammed the phone back in its holder and climbed back into his truck. He turned it around in the field and pulled back on the road, flooring it on the way to the hospital. Tanner had better be there to tell him what was going on, or he was going to piss some people off looking for her.

When he arrived, Tanner met him at the emergency room door. He pulled him to the side once they were inside.

“She’s here and I’ve seen her. They’re working on her, Bryan, but she is unconscious right now. She has a head injury, and they’re checking her for internal injuries right now because the steering wheel was against her abdomen.”

“The police said someone was there trying to choke her.”

“Yeah, you can see his handprints around her throat. I don’t know how bad she is yet, Bryan. I’m waiting for the surgeon to finish looking at her CT.”

“Someone forced her off the road then tried to strangle her. It has to be one of her old boyfriends. I can’t imagine anyone else going to all the lengths this guy has gone through.” Bryan wanted a piece of him.

The police had better get him before he got hold of him. He might not leave anything for them to put in jail.
God, let her be okay.
He couldn’t imagine losing her. He loved her more than anything.

“Tanner, I’ve got to see her. I need to see she’s alive.” Bryan tried to walk around his brother.

“I know, Bryan, but you can’t right now. They’re still examining her.”

“You don’t understand, Tanner. I love her.”

“I know. I do, too. I want to be in there just as much as you do, but I know I’d only be in the way. We’ve got to wait here until they can tell us something. I can get the information faster as long as I don’t interfere.”

“Fuck! I can’t just wait like this.”

“Tanner.” Another man walked up. “I’ve looked at the films. You want to step over here, and I’ll tell you what I’m seeing.”

“You can talk in front of Bryan, Mark. He’s my brother.”

“Um, I don’t think,” he began.

“Bryan is her boyfriend.”

“I thought you were,” Mark said.

“We both are dating her. Together. Just tell us what in the fuck is going on,” Bryan said.

“Bryan,” Tanner warned.

The other man sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look she’s got a bruised liver and spleen. I’m going to watch her spleen. If it starts bleeding, we’ll take it out, but I’d rather not operate on her if we can prevent it. I don’t see anything else inside her to worry about. She has a good lump on her head, but her CT looks fine. She’s got a concussion, but nothing serious.” He paused and huffed out a breath.

“The only other thing we’re worried about is the fact that someone tried to choke her. With her being unconscious, we can’t determine how much damage they may have done to her. We don’t know how long she may have been without oxygen. As soon as she wakes up, we can assess that.”

“What is next?” Tanner asked in a tight voice.

“We’ll transfer her to ICU and watch her. That’s all we can do. My major concern is her spleen. I’ll be keeping a close eye on it. Once we get past the twelve-hour mark, I’ll feel better about it.”

“Thanks, Mark. When can we see her?” Tanner asked.

Bryan wanted to see her now. Forget fucking hospital protocol. Someone needed to be with her at all times to assure the bastard that tried to kill her didn’t come back and finish the job.

“As soon as they get her transferred I’ll make sure you can see her.” The other man walked off toward one of the trauma rooms.

“Is that where they have her? I want to see her now, Tanner. Someone tried to kill her.”

“I know, Bryan, but you can’t see her right now. Once they get her into ICU, I can get us both in there.”

Bryan could see Tanner’s jaw working as he struggled to keep his cool.

“Look, once we get in, someone has to stay with her all the time. I don’t trust that this guy won’t try to get to her again,” Bryan said.

“I’ll figure out something. It will help if the police will corroborate that.” Tanner looked up as someone walked through the double doors into the emergency room.

“Officer McKenny.” Tanner held out his hand.

“Doc. How is she?”

“Holding her own right now. She’s got some bruised organs and a concussion,” Tanner told him.

“Tell them that someone tried to kill her. We need to be able to stick with her all the time to keep her safe,” Bryan said in a growl.

“I’ll do what I can. I would say we would stand watch, but we have two out right now. One with a broken collarbone and the other is on vacation.”

“We can take care of her. I just need you to tell them it’s necessary for us to stay with her.” Bryan rubbed his face with his hands then shoved them in his pockets. He didn’t feel like he was getting anywhere. He needed to see her. He needed to see her breathing and feel her warm skin.

“The witness described this man as wearing a ski mask just like the man that attacked her at home. He was leaning in the car doing something to her, but he couldn’t tell for sure what. By the time we got there, the man was gone, but there were fingermarks around her neck.”

“It has to be one of her boyfriends coming after her,” Bryan said.

“I agree with you. We’ve got people looking for them now to verify their location,” the officer said.

Bryan sighed. They had to catch the bastard first. Then they had enough to put him away. He’d been stupid and left footprints and fingerprints at her house. Maybe there would be fingerprints on her car as well. All he knew was they better find him before he got a chance at him.

“Bryan, don’t even think it, son. You stay away from the man if you see him. Call us and let us take care of it,” Officer McKenny said. He’d obviously seen the bloodlust in Bryan’s eyes.

“Tanner!” the other doctor called out. “They’re moving her if you want to ride up on the elevator.”

Tanner looked over at Bryan. “Come on. I’ll squeeze you on there somehow. Just don’t touch her until they have her stabilized in ICU.”

“Let’s go.” Bryan was already halfway across the ER.

He watched as they wheeled Amber out of the trauma room toward the elevator. Her white face with the lump on the side scared him. He wanted to reach out and brush her hair to the side. Instead, he kept his hands in his pockets and followed them as they wheeled the stretcher into the elevator.

Tanner squeezed in behind him. He was right next to her. They had a monitor on that followed her heartbeat. The soft
beep, beep, beep
was somehow comforting. It meant she was alive. That was all that mattered right then. He could see the bruised marks around her throat and nearly choked thinking about how scared she must have been. He owed that man who’d stopped a beer, a case of beer.

They stopped on the second floor where the ICU was located. He waited as they wheeled her out then followed as far as the double doors. Tanner clapped him on the shoulder and followed them inside.

Bryan walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out without really seeing anything. All he could see was the bruises around her throat and the lump on her head. He would carry that sight with him always. Had it not been for the beeping of the monitor, he would have almost believed she had been dead. His heart skipped at the thought. He swallowed hard to keep the tears from forming in his eyes. When Tanner returned, they needed to agree on what was next, because he no longer wanted her to live with them. He wanted her to marry them.

Chapter Fourteen

Amber’s head throbbed as she fought to open her eyes. Her throat hurt, her belly hurt, her whole body hurt. She couldn’t remember what had happened, but she remembered that she needed a loaf of bread. Maybe she had fallen at the grocery store. She couldn’t get her eyes to open.

“Wake up, Amber. We’re worried about you, baby.”

That was Bryan’s voice. Why was he worried? She tried to speak, but her throat hurt.

“Look, she worked her mouth,” Bryan said in an excited voice. “She’s trying to talk.”

“Squeeze my finger, honey.”

Tanner. That was Tanner’s voice. She felt something in her hand and squeezed. Had she squeezed it enough? She tried again.

“That’s it, Amber. I can feel you. Do it again for me. Here, Bryan, put your finger in her hand.”

Amber swallowed and moaned at the pain in her throat. She squeezed down on the finger in her hand. She was so tired.

“I felt it, baby. You rest now. We’re right here with you. One of us will always be here for you.”

Amber realized she was in the hospital. She didn’t know why, but she recognized the smells and sounds now. She hated hospitals.

“She’s going to wake up next time, Tanner. You wait and see.”

She wanted to wake up now. Her head hurt. She wanted some Tylenol. Why couldn’t she open her eyes?

She drifted for a while, thinking about things. She couldn’t remember what happened, but she remembered how she felt about Bryan and Tanner. She loved them. Funny that she hadn’t realized that before. She wanted to hold them and snuggle between them. They would make her feel better.

She wasn’t sure how long had passed, but she tried opening her eyes again, and this time they opened some. The room was dim but lit. She could see a wall across from her with a chalkboard with a date on it. She looked up some and there was a clock. It was one, but was it in the morning or the afternoon. She couldn’t remember what day it was, either. But she needed a loaf of bread.