Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
“Gabriel.” I said to him.
Still he didn’t look down at me.
“Gabriel Luca Maldonado Junior, look at me.” I demanded.
My throat felt as if I was rubbing a barbed spike up and down my throat, but I ignored it and concentrated on Gabe.
His eyes snapped to mine so fast that my head spun. He looked scary.
Swallowing past a lump in my throat, I held his eyes and grated. “This isn’t accomplishing anything. Let’s go see how your daughter is doing.”
Giving a sharp nod, he shrugged off Max’s arms like they were tiny irritants, and walked towards the nurse’s station. I nodded at Max to follow, and he walked off abruptly with a scowl in Sidney’s direction. Turning slowly, I regarded Sidney. She was wearing a cat ate the canary smile. As the officer’s closed in, having heard enough, I asked her a question.
“Are you stupid?”
She only thought she accomplished something, but really, she just made this all the more easy. Turning in disgust, I didn’t wait for her response. Gabe and Max had disappeared.
Great.
Ω
I was sitting on a gurney in the minor ER when Cheyenne came through the room.
“What the hell is going on?” She yelled at me.
She knew everyone here, so no one questioned her when she picked up my chart and started scanning it. She was in her last few months of nursing school, and knew what she was doing. She was also massively pregnant.
“A vocal hemorrhage? Really Ember?” She asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. It wasn’t as if I planned to do this. I didn’t know that such a thing was even possible.
“Alright, they released you. So where did they move Cora to?” She asked.
I shrugged. I had no clue. I hadn’t seen Gabe in a little over two hours. I didn’t even think he knew that anything was wrong with me. Not that I would’ve told him right now. He needed to be with his daughter. Not down here worrying about me, too.
Cheyenne went to the nearest computer and started typing.
“Third floor. That’s not the ICU floor, so it looks like she’s more stable than we originally thought. Let’s go.” She said.
Gathering my strength, I walked with Cheyenne to the elevators, and then rode them up to the third floor. My throat was throbbing like a son of a bitch.
Sam arrived about twenty minutes after Gabe and Max went to see Cora. I was telling him what was going on in more detail when blood started to leak out of my mouth after I coughed. I didn’t even realize that it was happening until Sam’s face went sheet white and he called for a doctor.
That’s when I was told I’d had a vocal cord hemorrhage. Sam settled down once he found out it wasn’t life threatening, and I sent him off to make sure Gabe was doing okay. I also threatened his manhood if he told Gabe about my voice before I did. He must’ve taken it to heart because Gabriel hadn’t made an appearance yet.
We arrived on the floor, and walked up silently to the nursing station. Cheyenne must’ve been on this floor during her schooling too because she started talking about the woman’s cats, and I was getting very impatient. Walking away, I wandered around until I heard low murmured voices. Peeking around the corner, I saw Gabe, Max, and Sam talking in low quiet tones. I leaned my face against the cool tile and listened.
“What do you want us to do?” Sam asked.
“Take her home with you. I think I need to be alone for a while.” Gabe said.
I knew immediately he was talking about me. Fuck that. I marched right on up to Gabe’s back, and saw Sam and Max’s mouths twitch.
“I will not go home and leave you here. I will stay here, with you!” I ground out.
Oops. Too late, I forgot about my throat. Shards of agony shot through my throat again, I started coughing, and everyone knows once you start it doesn’t stop until it wants to stop. Gabe was staring at me waiting for me to get myself under control when suddenly his eyes widened. He snatched me up into his arms so fast that my neck whipped back with the force. Blood dribbled out of the corner of my mouth, and then I knew what made him react so badly. I pinched my eyes closed, and counted down from twenty to get my mind off the feeling of fire ants biting my throat. Slowly it dialed down to a more manageable notch, and I opened my eyes.
Gabe’s eyes were panic filled.
“She’s not supposed to be talking. Dammit Ember. You could lose your voice permanently if you keep that up. Is that what you want? All you need are a few days of vocal relaxation, and it’ll all be fine. Shut the fuck up already. How many times do I have to tell you this?” Cheyenne grumped.
I gave her a sheepish look and turned my gaze back towards Gabe.
Understanding flashed over his face, and he gave me a soft kiss on the throat. Tears threatened to spill over my eyes, but I reined them in.
“Did she tell you what’s wrong?” Gabe asked Cheyenne.
“Vocal hemorrhage. Apparently when she was screaming for you, a blood vessel blew in her vocal cords.” Sam said.
“You really should go home. I think you need some rest. I’ll be fine here by myself.” Gabe said.
Shaking my head, I opened my mouth to tell him how it was when the glare he shot my way snapped it shut.
“You’re not going to give in, are you?” he asked quietly.
Shaking my head, I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. Once I got my tears sucked back in, I peeked around his big body into the room that housed Gabe’s daughter. Following my line of sight, Gabe started in on what was going on with her.
“Cora’s stable. Apparently, she was in there since they arrived at the courthouse at eight that morning. They’re not sure there will be any lasting brain damage. Her brain shows activity, but really, we won’t know until she wakes up. They’re keeping her sedated for another twelve hours to make sure everything’s back to normal before they start waking her up.” Gabe said pain filled voice.