Page 60 of Use Me

“Do I need to go the hospital?”

“I would advise you do go.”

Rhys and Ethan helped me off the couch and then brought me to a window where the paramedic placed a chair. Rhys opened the window, and a rush of winter air blew in, sending a chill over my body. I took a few sips of the water.

“But I don’thaveto go to the hospital, right?”

“Well, given it was only ether and all your vitals are stable, you don’t have to, but—”

“I don’t want to.” I took in another deep breath of the fresh air. I was already starting to feel a little better, and given what I knew about ether, doctors once used it like they used Propofol as a general anesthesia. “My other brother’s a doctor and if I don’t feel better, I’ll have him check me out.”

“Okay,” the paramedic said. “Just promise me you’ll get a lot of fresh air and drink plenty of water.”

I nodded. The paramedic took my blood pressure one more time. “What happened to Philip?” I asked both Rhys and Ethan, not caring who answered.

Rhys and Ethan looked at each other, but my brother was the one to answer first. “He’s—”

Rhys knelt beside me and brushed a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear and spoke before Ethan could finish, “He can’t hurt you anymore, Cupcake.”

“He’s in jail?” I looked up at my brother for confirmation.

Ethan took a deep breath. “No. I shot him.”

I gasped, and my eyes widened in shock. I hadn’t realized Ethan arrived while everything was happening. I assumed that he was called in afterward. “You did?”

“Shit went down, Ash.”

“Apparently,” I replied dryly. My stomach started to feel a little queasy, so I turned back toward the window and took a deep breath of the chilly, fresh air.

A detective came over and pulled Ethan away. Rhys started to rub circles on my back. “You want to walk over to my place?”

“Yes.” I definitely didn’t want to stay at my place.

Rhys looked toward the paramedic, and she nodded. “If you can walk, that should be okay. Just go slow.”

“Let me see if we’re allowed to leave.” Rhys stood and spoke to my brother for a few seconds. After it looked like they exchanged numbers, he came back. “We can go. Ethan pulled some strings or something, so the detectives will come over to get your statement tomorrow morning.”

I nodded and started to stand. Rhys reached out and guided me as though I was a ninety-year-old woman. I actually felt as though I was. It didn’t dawn on me until I noticed the lump on the floor that Rhys was taking me the long way around toward my front door. My breath caught as I realized who was under the white sheet.

“Is that …”

“Yeah.” Rhys moved to block my view.

“He’s dead?” Ethan had said he’d shot him. I didn’t realize that he meant he’d killed him.

“Yeah.” Rhys laced our hands together, and we walked past investigators and out my front door. When we got downstairs, Rhys muttered, “Crap. I didn’t grab you a coat.”

“It’s okay. We’re only walking across the street. I think I’ll survive.”

Rhys took off his tux jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. It was warm and smelled like him. As we walked out of the elevator, Rhys pulled me to him, draping his arm across my shoulders.

“Ms. Valor!” I looked over to see Jose rushing to us. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “I can’t believe this happened while I was on my dinner break.”

I stopped walking. “Honestly, Jose, I think he was waiting for that moment.”