Page 6

Ridge

I 'm going crazy. There's literally nothing I can do, because as much as I would like to track this guy down and kill him, I don't have the skills. Kind of like how I can't magically heal Nina's concussion or stop her from sobbing herself to sleep.

That was a new kind of fresh fucking hell. Watching the woman I love cry and choke on her tears until she eventually fell asleep was a living nightmare. I couldn't soothe her; she would flinch and cry harder. Fuck, not even Henry could touch Nina without making it worse.

Since then, Nina's been in and out of sleep. Five hours of her dull gaze sweeping over us like we don't exist until exhaustion drags her under but always woken within forty minutes by a nightmare or a damn nurse.

The cycle continues and with each passing moment that she won't talk to me or anyone, my nerves fray further.

"We were supposed to keep her safe..." Trevor mutters to himself for the eighteenth time tonight. The sun hasn't risen on a new day and yet it feels like it's been years since I felt the sunshine. For Nina, that actually happened.

Henry takes it upon himself this time to make Trevor see logic. "She's safe."

My cousin doesn't look up from his laced fingers. "She's hurt . We were supposed to keep her safe. Safe as in, whole. "

"Trevor, Nina's safe and whole. A little banged up, but she's okay."

Trevor fucking explodes out of his seat. "SHE'S NOT OKAY!" If the chair he was sitting in wasn't pushed against the wall, it would have crashed to the ground.

A whimper draws my shocked attention to Nina. She was asleep a minute ago, but now her minimal rest has been replaced by fear and undeniable pain. "Shh, Nina girl. It's just Trev. It's okay," I coo.

"Nina," Trevor breathes, looking mortified. "I'm so?—"

A nurse cuts him off by popping his head in to glare at us. "This is your one and only warning. Keep it down or you're out of here. I'll have?—"

A face we weren't expecting for at least another hour hovers like a storm cloud behind the crabby nurse. "Excuse me."

"Daddy!" Nina gasps out and flings herself toward the edge of the bed with her arms outstretched toward Will.

I barely manage to snatch her hip bone before she crumbles off the bed. "Shit," I hiss, scrambling up onto the bed to get her settled. She fights me, but almost immediately her poor head forces her to calm down.

The nurse tries to stop Will and Meg from entering the room, but Will is already five steps into the room. "Sir, there are too many?—"

"Take it up with your supervisor," Will snaps, but his entire focus is on his daughter who swats me away and reaches for her dad with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Meg looks so much like Nina as she takes my place on the bed.

The appreciative look Meg sends me makes me want to cry and join them, but I take a step back instead.

I've never felt so far away from Nina in my life. Actually, that's a lie, but fuck, it hurts being on the outskirts as my girl curls into her mom's chest. When Kai suggests we go to the waiting room to give them space, I hate myself for agreeing.

A day ago Nina chose to sit on my lap after dinner, and now she won't even look at me. I hate not being able to read her mind, but it's probably for the best. Whatever's going on in her pretty head might just send me spiraling.

I can't spiral. It's time to be there for her, and no matter how hard she tries to push us away, we have to show Nina we aren't going anywhere.

" W hat are you doing here?"

Henry sighs in response to Trevor's rude tone and tosses a chip down onto his plate to fold his arms. I nudge my glasses up on my nose and look around in an attempt to figure out what's making my cousin pissy this time.

The past two days have not only made our faces scruffy, but our attitudes are suffering too. No matter how many times Meg tells us to go home and get cleaned up, we refuse. Leaving Nina is not an option.

"I think what we should be saying is thank you ," Kai corrects, taking in the vaguely familiar guy that stops in front of our table.

"We didn't properly meet. I'm Adam."

I watch in confusion as he shakes Kai's hand but nod when my friend introduces me. It isn't until Adam asks about Nina that it all clicks into place. This is the guy who answered Nina's phone.

I exchange a glance with Kai. We don't know this man, and what's even weirder is the fact that he's here . Before we can decide how much to tell Adam, Will's voice cuts through the rising tension.

"Hooooly shit! Adam, my man, is that you?" A look of complete surprise and happiness lights up Will's features as he bypasses the four of us to give this guy a bro hug.

Adam's dark eyes brighten with a wide smile too. "William Solace. Fuck, it's been a long time. How's it going?"

Just like that, Will loses any lightness he just had. "Long story. How do you know my boys?"

"Your boys?" Adam frowns, looking between us and our girl's dad. "Uh, I helped a girlfriend of theirs the other day when she fell and banged her head on the curb."

Will stiffens.

Meanwhile, I swear a weight lifts off of my shoulders just knowing that Will hasn't disowned us for not being good enough for Nina. We will never be good enough.

"You—" Will scratches his lip while glancing at us. "That was Nina. My daughter. Wasn't it?"

His question is aimed at Kai, who is the most communicative right now. "Yeah. He answered Nina's phone when we were trying to find her..." Kai trails off and his eyes cloud over like he's reliving the complete terror we felt in those ten minutes.

Hell, I can't help the way my stomach bottoms out just thinking about what happened. What could have happened. Mr. M was right there. He could have ? —

"Ridge." Henry bumps my leg with his beneath the cafeteria table. Shooting him a grateful look, I tuck back into the stale mac-and-cheese on my plate. Where's the meat around here?

I must have missed part of the older men's conversation because once I tune back in, Will's already done explaining Nina's condition and they've moved on to the statements both Nina and Adam had to make yesterday.

Adam offers his support before parting ways with Will and our table, but I don't have the energy to do more than nod at the man.

Everything feels fucked.