Page 47 of No One But You
“Wooden bat,” I muttered.
“Those motherfuckers.”The curse came from somewhere else.
“Good.Thank you, Max.I’m going to help you up so Maia can see it properly.In the meantime, why don’t you start at the beginning and explain what happened?”
He made that sound so easy, but my rattled mind was having trouble picking apart the order of events.
“You and Bailey left Mum and Dad’s house,” Nate said from wherever he was.“Did you come straight home?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Asher slid his arm under my shoulders and helped me sit.I squeezed my eyes shut and sank my teeth into my lower lip to stop myself from puking everywhere.
“Did she come into the house first, or did you?”
“Um, her, I think.”
“And then someone knocked at the door?”
“No.”
Fingers brushed my head, and it took everything in me not to recoil from the touch.
“So, they were already inside?”Nate asked.
“Yeah.In the, uh, hall.Or maybe the spare room.”The sentences slurred together, but he didn’t ask me to clarify.
“You fought, and they knocked you out with a bat?”
My throat clogged.“They took her.I couldn’t stop them.But I….”
“You what?”
“I got the tracker from her bag and gave it to her.”God, even talking exhausted me.
“So as long as she still has it, we can track her.I’ll let Mehrtens know.”
I stayed still as Asher and Maia assessed me.I could hear Nate speaking but not his individual words.Perhaps he’d left the room.
“We should take you to the hospital to get you checked out properly,” Maia said as she flashed a light into my eyes.“Your pupils have a delayed response.At the very least, you have a concussion, but we should get your head scanned to be sure there’s nothing more serious going on.”
“No.”I clawed at the floor and struggled to sit up.“I don’t want to go anywhere until I know whether Bailey is safe.”
“That could take hours.”Her tone was gentle but firm.“You know how precarious head injuries are.”
“I do, but I’m a doctor.I can tell you’re right about the concussion, but the pain doesn’t feel like more than that.”
“Doctors make the worst patients,” Asher muttered, circling and then squatting in front of me.“Do you think you can stand up?”
“Yeah, but I might need help staying steady.”Even on the ground, my limbs felt wobbly.I doubted they’d support me very well.
He offered me his hand, and Maia hovered at my back as I rose slowly to my feet, then Asher wrapped his arm around me, and I leaned into him, allowing him to support me.
Nate came back in from the kitchen.“Mehrtens has got a location on the tracker.They’re driving down Overhang Road.We’re going after them.”He moved closer and made to touch my shoulder but then hesitated, as if worried about hurting me.“Don’t worry.We’ll get her.”
“I’m staying until you do,” I insisted, despite the throbbing at the back of my head that almost drowned out my thoughts.
Nate crossed his arms.“No way.”
