Page 114 of Rune
“Are you okay going with Roderick to Hailstorm?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Then why don’t you get going. You don’t need to see any more of this.”
With that, Roderick shuffled me out into a car, and we drove through the dark streets of Navesink Bank toward this big, gated storage container mansion on the hill. With its floodlights and barbed wire. And men walking around with guns.
“It looks scary on purpose. But you’re welcome here, so don’t freak out about the guns.”
We had to go through a security checkpoint before we were allowed to drive through, park, and make our way into the building.
It was labyrinthine, just endless windowless rectangular halls and rooms. I was disoriented within two turns, but Roderick seemed to know exactly where he was going.
Then, eventually, we walked into an actual hospital ward: white walls and floors, dozens of little beds with white linen.
“Baby,” Roderick said, rushing forward toward a tall, gorgeous woman in her baggy T-shirt and shorts, her long, dark hair falling out of a high pony.
This was Liv, Rune’s mom.
I couldn’t think of a worse situation to be meeting her during.
“Carm,” a voice said, making me turn to find Croft a few feet away.
My gaze tracked down his body, taking in the blood still covering his hands and his shirt. A choked whimper escaped me.
“Hey, he’s okay,” he assured me. “I talked to the doctors. They’re optimistic. They’ve got to get the bullet out and stitch him up, but it’s looking positive.”
“Was he still conscious when you got here?”
“Yep. Conscious and demanding we check to make sure you’re okay. Are you okay?”
“No.”
“Me either,” he agreed, exhaling hard. “Come on, let’s sit. You look ready to pass out.”
The floor did feel unsteady under my feet. And my head was racing so fast that I was getting dizzy.
So when Croft grabbed my elbow, I let him lead me toward the set of seats near his parents.
“Livvy, this is Carmen,” Roderick introduced. “She saved our son tonight.”
Liv reached out, grabbing my hand. “I hate having to meet you this way, but I love you for making sure I didn’t lose my firstborn tonight.”
We fell into silence then, all of us lost in our thoughts as we waited for news from the doctors.
I stared down at my hands, hyperfixating at picking the blood from under my nails and around my cuticles that Fallon missed.
I was so distracted by it that I missed the doctor moving into the room until Rune’s family was jumping to their feet.
I couldn’t bring myself to rise. If it was bad news, I didn’t trust my legs to hold me.
“He’s in recovery,” the doctor launched right into it. “Everything went as expected. Rune is conscious and his vitals are good. I have every reason to expect a full recovery. Of course, we do have to consider the possibility of infection, but we will be watching very closely.”
“Can we see him?” Liv asked.
The doctor shifted his feet. “He actually requested…”
“Go ahead, Carmen,” Roderick said, understanding. “We’ll see him once you’ve checked in.”
