Page 77 of Crushed Vow

The nearest hospital wasn’t far. I drove with my hands trembling on the wheel.

If Ethan wasn’t there—if he was gone—

No. I wouldn’t let my mind go there.

At the reception desk, I tried to stay calm. “Please,” I asked the nurse, “do you have a patient named Ethan? He was shot. In the back. And the leg.”

She frowned slightly, tapping at her keyboard. “We’ve got three Ethans admitted recently. Do you know his surname?”

I froze. My mind scrambled—God, I couldn’t remember it. I’d always called him Ethan. Always. He never gave me anything more.

“He got shot trying to save someone,” I said instead, desperation creeping in. “He should still be in serious condition.”

The nurse raised a brow. “Any ID?”

“I don’t have one on me. But if he’s conscious, just ask if he knows me. Charlotte.”

She stared for a moment. Then sighed, picked up the phone. “Your name?” she whispered.

“Charlotte,” I repeated.

She nodded and relayed it into the call. “Hi, there’s a Charlotte here to see you... yes... Okay.”

Then she hung up and looked back at me. “Ward 12. He’s conscious.”

My knees nearly gave out.

“Thank you,” I breathed, clutching my chest as I headed quickly down the hallway.

I didn’t know what I’d find when I saw him. Didn’t know if he would still be the same.

But I was going to find out—for myself.

The moment I stepped into Ethan’s hospital room and saw him—alive, upright, breathing, I gasped.

Relief rushed through me like a wave, knocking the breath right out of my chest. I almost ran to him, despite everything still raw between us. But before I could reach him—

A hand.

Hard. Unforgiving.

It yanked me backward so fast I slammed into a wall of muscle, my back colliding with a body I knew too well.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Cassian’s voice growled into my ear.

I whirled around, heart thudding. “Are you following me?”

“It seems you ache to throw yourself into his arms every chance you get,” he said, his jaw tight, his eyes burning behind those distorted glasses.

I yanked my arm free. “And how exactly is that your business?”

He didn’t answer. Just stared over my shoulder at Ethan, expression unreadable but cold enough to freeze bone.

I blinked. “Wait... how are you even here this fast? You were trailing me. You knew I’d come.”

His hand slipped into his coat pocket—and before I could even scream, a silver flash flew past me.

A knife.