Page 123 of Saving His Heart

“Preston?” I yell. I don’t mean to, but Loki’s a little scary. “Come talk to Loki. Let him know we’re with you, and we’re just taking care of him.”

“I can hear you, sugar,” Loki groans as I lift his shoulder to get his shirt off.

“Yeah, well, you nearly strangled me to death the last time, so I’m going to let your buddy here do the talking for a bit.”

His eyes widen in surprise at my words. His stare is intense and focused solely on me, and it sends a shiver down my spine. As if he can feel it, too, the left side of his lip curls up just before he nods off again.

“Hey, Loki. It’s me, Preston. Where the hell have you been? I almost died and didn’t get to give you a proper beat down for making us all worry. Now that you’re home, we have to get you better so we can all take turns kicking the shit out of you.”

I can hear the commotion in the hallway, and Emory turns just as the crowd from upstairs descends on us. Dexter and Sylvie are at the front of the line trying to enter, but Emory holds up her hand to stop them.

“I’m sorry. I can’t have anyone else in this room. It’s not a sterile environment, and I have no idea what I’m looking at in terms of his care. We’ll keep you all updated, but I’m doing the best I can here. Please, everyone, go back upstairs.”

Sylvie has tears in her eyes when she speaks. “My earthly Angel. You may have been sent to Preston, but in my heart of hearts, I know you’re here to save another of my sons, too.”

Jesus, talk about pressure! When has anyone other than my sister ever looked at me with such admiration, though?Never, that’s when. I’m the family screw up, the black sheep. Black sheep don’t get the looks of love that Emory so rightly deserves.

“Mom? Let Dex take you home, okay? I’ll call you with updates, but you don’t need to sit vigil.”

“Don’t you dare try to send me away, Preston Westbrook. I’ll be waiting upstairs for an update. I’ll go home when I am good and ready, you hear me?”

“Oooh, someones in truuuble,” Loki slurs.

“I thought you said this would knock him out?” I whisper yell.

“It should have,” Emory says, looking as confused as I’ve ever seen her.

“Excuse me, Mom. Ems, here you go,” Ash says, entering the room. I see in Sylvie’s face she’s about to argue, but thankfully, Dexter guides her out of the room. “He has been trained for, well, let’s just say he’s been trained for everything. A horse tranquilizer wouldn’t stop him.”

“That’s right, Ashy.” Apparently, it doesn’t knock him out, but he does get playful?

“I’m going to need more information than that to treat him, Ashton,” Emory scolds.

He hands her a chart and a bag of supplies. She peers into the bag and looks up, ashen-faced.

“Where did you get these medications, Ashton?”

“The Agency supplies them.” He doesn’t elaborate, and I can tell he won’t.

Opening the folder, Emory scans its data.

“Holy shit,” she whispers.

When I try to get a peek, she snaps it shut, shaking her head and mumbling about HIPPA laws. I want to argue that we are in my bedroom but notice her concerned face and stop.

“What do you want me to do, sis?”

“Let’s finish getting him cleaned up so I can run some scans,” she says distractedly while Preston and Ash exchange a muted conversation.

“On it.” Moving to the other side of the bed, I cut his shirt over his shoulder so I can slide it down his arm. His sleeve is folded tightly in the palm of his hand, so I try to pry it open. When his muscles finally relax, I realize he is holding onto something. Pulling it away, I unroll it and see it’s the second half of the note.

“Ashton?” He turns his head and stops mid-sentence. Crossing the room, he takes the note from me. It’s also written in some sort of code I don’t understand.

“Is it Julia’s?” Preston asks.

“Yeah.”

“It’s good codes,” Loki mumbles, apparently still aware of his surroundings.