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“Thanks.”

She was removing the blood pressure cuff when Jake came back in.

Gently lifting me, he sat on the bed and positioned me in his lap. His mouth moved against my forehead as he asked, “You okay?”

“Yeah. When can I go home?”

At my own words, panic seized me again. More flashbacks, like the world’s worst slide show, played out in my head.

Jake’s grasp on me loosened, but he murmured to me in soothing tones until I knew I was safe.

I also knew I was never going to that house again.

“When can I leave here?” I rephrased.

Sally’s eyes were sympathetic and warm. “You have a concussion. There’s a specialist on her way to look at your throat to make sure there’s no lasting damage. You’ve already had an MRI, but you’ll be heading for another one shortly. They want to be sure that, between the concussion and the lack of oxygen, there’s no bleeding or swelling. If everything is okay, you could be discharged tomorrow.”

“I already had an MRI? How long was I out?”

“They gave you a mild sedative, hon. It’s only been a few hours. I’ll go get your water and see what time the MRI will be.”

After Sally left, Jake ran his hand through my hair, carefully avoiding the back of my head.

“James?” I asked.

“Slight concussion and a gunshot wound to the shoulder. But he’ll be fine and headin’ home in a couple days. We’ll go visit him later.”

Even though I hated to ask, I needed to know. “Chloe?”

“No,” he said with a slight shake of his head. He didn’t look too broken up about it.

“Z?”

Jake’s jaw clenched. “I’m assumin’ that crazy fucker is in a prison somewhere and headed for a padded room. It’s better I don’t know.”

Though I wanted to know more about what happened, I was too drained to ask.

Sally brought me water, which I was only allowed to sip.

She obviously has no clue what it feels like to have a desert in her mouth.

After I drank, Jake put the cup on the table and pulled me closer.

“She’s nice,” I whispered when Sally left again. “I bet Jet would wanna rock her arch supporting, nonslip shoes off.”

Jake let out a deep laugh that eased some of the tension on his face. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Get some sleep, sweets.”

“Yes, Mr. Bossy Pants.”

*******

“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill him.”

“Mr. Hyde, go wait in the hallway.”

“Fuckthe hallway.”

“Go or I’ll have security remove you.”