Page 71 of Dirty Desires

“There was some kind of attack. This armored truck hit her. She’s got internal injuries, they said, and her head was bleeding too.” I gulped as I sat back down. “They took her straight into surgery as soon as she got here.”

“Was she talking?” Lila asked.

“No.” I shook my head. “She was knocked out.”

“By the drugs they gave her to help with the pain?” Duke asked hopefully.

“No.” I tried to put logical words together but found it was hard to do. “Unconscious. That’s how they found her.”

Lila put her hand on mine as she sat on one side of me and Duke sat on the other. “Was she breathing?”

I nodded. “Yeah.” My hands moved over my face. “Blood was running like this over her face. Her nose was bleeding.” My hand went to my stomach. “There was blood on the blanket around her stomach.”

The color ran out of Lila’s face. “I see.”

Duke ran his arm behind me to put it on Lila’s shoulder. “We’ve got to have faith here, you guys. We can’t lose hope now. She’s a fighter. She was breathing when she came in. That’s better than nothing.”

It was barely better than nothing. But he was right. It was something. Natalia hadn’t fared so well after the accident. Nina wasn’t as bad off as she’d been.

I closed my eyes and begged God to give Nina a chance. I knew I couldn’t go on without her. I had no idea what would happen to me if she didn’t make it.

I looked at Duke. He was a great friend to me. And the only one I knew who could stand up to Artimus. Artimus wouldn’t let me go, but Duke might. “Duke, if she dies, just let me go, okay?”