Page 135 of Romancing His Heart

“And what about Ash?”

Seth swallows and rubs a hand over his face before speaking. “Ash is in a dark place, man. He wasn’t prepared for this shit, and they went at him hard.”

Guilt invades my soul. This is my fault.

“Did you speak to him?” I manage.

“Briefly. He told me his prognoses like it was a spreadsheet, then told me to get the fuck out.”

My head whips to his.

“Yeah, I told you. He’s in a dark place. I don’t know what it will take to pull him out, but he won’t even let Sylvie into the room.”

“What the fuck did they do to him?”

“Besides disfiguring him? I’m not sure. It pisses me off a little that Sloane killed them all, though. I would love to have my shot at those motherfuckers.”

“Is it bad? His scar?” I’m almost scared to hear the answer.

“I didn’t see it. Sylvie has a specialist flying in from California. He seems convinced he can make it better, but he’ll always have some sort of scar. It’s not the physical scars I’m worried about, though, Loki. This is the kind of thing that changes a man.”

“I know. We can’t give up on him. No matter what it takes, we’ll get Ashton back from whatever hell they threw him into.”

“You can count on me,” Seth says with conviction.

“I know I can. Thanks, man.”

“Thank you. And, thank her.” He leans over me and kisses my girl on the forehead. “I’m going home. Call if you need anything.”

“I will. Thanks, Seth.”

He nods and walks out the door while I’m left contemplating how to handle Ashton. My brother, my friend who is living in purgatory, because of me.

* * *

A week later,Sloane and I are ready to be discharged from the hospital. Truthfully, I could have gone home a few days ago, but if they think I’m ever letting that girl out of my sight again, they have another thing coming.

While I’m able to move around with minimal discomfort, Sloane is still mostly immobile. The first time I saw the bruising that covered her entire front, I felt sick to my stomach. But when I realized she bruised through her delicate body and it covered her whole back as well, I lost it. She has six broken ribs, a punctured lung, and internal bruising, but she’s alive, and I’ll take that.

“Emory?” She’s sitting beside Sloane reading over her discharge papers with her. “I’m going to go see Ashton before we leave.”

“Loki, he’s still not allowing anyone in. Even his doctors are having a hard time getting him to talk.” Emory’s words are pained, and it’s echoed in all of our expressions.

“I’m not leaving here without seeing him. I don’t give a fuck what he wants at this point. I need to speak with him, and he will listen to me.”

“Okay. I have no idea what you’ll walk into. He denied giving me access to his records. He’s in rough shape, Loki.”

“I-I know,” I mumble.

And it’s all my fault.

Leaning down, I kiss Sloane on the cheek. “I’ll be back soon.” Something in her discharge paperwork catches my eye. “Why does this have Preston’s address on it?”

She stares at me with wide eyes.

“She’ll still need care, Loki. She can’t go back to my father’s house. She’ll need someone to help her with everything from getting dressed to feeding herself until some internal inflammation goes down.” Emory looks at me, confused.

“I know.” I ping pong between Emory and Sloane. “I’m going to take care of her. Unless … is this what you want, Red? Do you want to stay with Emory?”