Page 72 of Hiding In the Dark (The Righteous 4)
“Hey, Kid. I’ve got you.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile but knew it wouldn’t reach his eyes.
“Kes,” she said, her voice as gravely as the sand on her face. The corner of her mouth twitched before she winced. “I didn’t stop fighting,” she whispered “I used the knife.” She took a wheezing breath that he didn’t like the sound of. “I bit him.” A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth before her eyes fluttered closed again. “I knew you’d come,” she said before she passed out again.
He raised her body so he could lay a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m going to kill them, Kid. Now, you continue to fight your ass off,” he whispered as the Hummer pulled into the emergency area. People stared as it came to a skidding stop. He pushed open the door with his foot and jumped out, running through the emergency doors.
“Help!” he yelled as he ran for the triage nurse. “She’s barely breathing.” The nurse tried to get him to calm down, but he wasn’t hearing her. All he could say was ‘help her’ over and over as his mind continued to fry out. Boom—the sound of the helicopter exploding with Ringo inside, pillars of smoke rising into the night sky, the sound of screaming and pain, it all mixed with the present. He shook his head, trying to clear it to get out what he needed to.
A hand gripped his shoulder hard, and he looked at the hand and then into the eyes of Trev. Was this really happening, or was he a figment of his imagination, too? He blinked as Trev spoke to the nurse, and he must have been real because soon he was following along as they placed Zumi onto a stretcher and ran her down a long hall.
“Zip up your jacket,” Trev said, standing in front of him. He looked down confused but realized he was still strapped with weapons. Hands shaking he did as he was told. “Does she have any health conditions?” Trev asked, and he nodded.
“Heart, something with her heart. I don’t know what, she had an appointment tomorrow with a doctor.”
“What’s the doctor’s name?”
Kes smacked at his head, wishing he could get the fucking thing to work right. “I…I can’t remember.”
“Come on, Brother. Come sit down.” Trev led him to a small sitting area that didn’t have anyone around, but he couldn’t sit and instead paced the space as the image of her abused body kept running on a loop in his mind. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Kes?”
He turned at the sound of Ashley’s voice and opened his arms as she ran to him. They clung to one another, tears falling again. “What happened?”
“They hurt her,” was all he could get out before he needed to sit down and stumbled backward, his ass landing hard on the ground as his body and mind began to shut down. He looked up at Ashley as she squatted beside him and wrapped her arms around him. “I killed him,” he said. “I failed her. I failed them both.”
“Shhh, it’s going to be okay.”
* * *
Along shadow fell over Ashley and Kes, and she looked up to see Trev as he walked into the small waiting area.
“Thank you for coming. I was so scared. I didn’t know who else to call other than Renee.” She held Kes’s head to her chest, but he seemed to have slipped into a catatonic state and hadn’t said a word or moved since.
“You did the right thing. I was at the courthouse and got here not long after Kes,” Trev said as he knelt beside her and reached out to lift Kes’s chin in his hand. She could see him analyzing Kes’s face and those eyes that remained unfocused. Trev’s entire persona shifted. Gone was the mild-mannered lawyer, his face hardening and jaw setting into a firm line. “Look at me, Soldier,” he practically growled, so commanding that Ashley sat up a little straighter. Kes’s head lifted slightly and his eyes slowly found Trev’s. “You have work to do, so I’m going to give you a few to work through your shit, but then you’re getting your ass up off the floor and keep moving. Do you understand, Soldier?”
“Yes, Sir,” Kes mumbled softly.
“I didn’t hear you,” Trev barked out, his voice taunting and on the edge of anger. His fingers squeezed Kes’s chin hard enough to depress the skin and turn the area white. “What do you say?”
Ashley shivered with the tone and wanted to cower away. She wasn’t sure this was the best form of therapy for someone in an obvious state of shock, but Kes stirred in her arms. “Sir, yes, Sir,” he yelled, shocking her and making her body jolt.
“That’s better.” Trev let go of Kes’s chin and signaled for her to follow him out of the room.
“I’ll be right back,” she said. She went to stand, but Kes wouldn’t let go of her hand. “I’ll be right over there. I promise I’m not leaving.” She kissed his temple as his hand slowly released her own.
Trev was waiting out in the hall, his calm demeanor already back in place. She had no idea how he managed to do that, but it helped to steady her own nerves. “Do you know what happened?” she asked.
“Not much. I will need to go download the information from the AI, and then I should be able to piece it together. I do know that someone attacked Zumi, and she’s not doing well.” Her hands flew to her mouth as tears pricked her eyes. “Her leg is broken, she has internal injuries, and from what I was able to get from bribing the nurse, she was sexually assaulted. I’m making sure they keep me posted on every aspect of her exam, but she is going to need surgery and support. Do you know if she has any family?”
Ashley wracked her brain trying to think. “A mother, she mentioned she had a mother.”
Trev sighed. “Yeah, that’s not going to work. Kes filled me in once I got him in the waiting room about what happened. Zumi’s mother is already dead.”
“Oh my god. Well, put me down. Can you do that? I’ll act as her guardian.”
“No, but I will figure something out. Keep an eye on him, he is going to come out of this, and when he does, he’s going to need you.” Ashley nodded as she wrapped her arms around herself, the tears seeping from her eyes in a slow, steady stream. “Arek will be here shortly.”
“Is that a good idea?”
