“How is she? Where is she?” he asked wildly.
“They wheeled her into the operating room,” Liam told him. “Holly is there with her.”
“How bad is it?” Drake was afraid of the answer but he couldn’t stand not knowing either.
Liam sighed and Drake didn’t need to hear the words.
“She lost a lot of blood, buddy. She was stabbed once in the ribs and it went pretty deep.”
Noah came in and looked around the empty area. “What is going on?”
Drake found a chair and sat down. Why did he always end up sitting in the waiting room waiting for news on one of the women? From Alana to Faith and now Jasmine. He closed his eyes and just took a deep breath. He couldn’t lose her, not when they just found each other.
Noah sat next to him. “I sent Matt to get Kate.”
“Shit man. My mind is blank,” Diego muttered. “How did this happen? She was having lunch with the girls. Who would mug her in broad daylight?”
“Alana is calling Alicia right now.” Noah stood back up and brought his cell phone out. He walked away while talking into the phone. He came back five minutes later, looking grim.
“Sam talked to Harvey. All he saw was a thin male dressed all in black wrestling with Jasmine. They fell to the ground and the guy ran off with her purse. He called us and ran out to where she was on the ground. He stayed with her until Liam arrived.”
Drake soaked it all in. He would worry about who did this later. Right now his only concern was Jasmine. He asked Noah to call his sister for him. He needed her here with him but his hands were shaking badly.
Matt and Kate walked in just as Holly came into the room. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying. She was wearing green scrubs and had her hair pinned up.
“God, no,” Drake whispered. “Please tell me—”
“She is still alive,” Holly said in a hurry. “She is in surgery right now. She lost a lot of blood. It went in deep and punctured her spleen. They’re going to remove it.”
“Oh my Lord,” Kate cried as Matt hugged her tightly. Kate sobbed into his chest.
Holly patted Drake’s hand with sympathy and refused to look at Matt. She sat next to Drake, keeping her eyes away from the big man. “I was just with her an hour ago. I left early to come to work and she stayed behind talking with Alicia.”
“Was this a random mugging?” Matt asked, looking upset and angry. Drake knew the big man considered Jasmine and Kate family.
“We think so,” Noah answered. He repeated what Sam reported.
They all sat down to wait. The room was silent and filled with tension. Drake couldn’t believe this was happening. Eva showed up alone and just held his hand silently. He couldn’t hold it together long enough to speak. Just when he thought his life with her was coming all together and he had dreams for the future.
“I can’t lose her,” he said out loud, unable to keep his thoughts contained.
Holly patted his arm. “She’s strong, Drake, and she has a lot to live for. She loves you and brags about you all the time.”
Kate said on the other side of him and agreed with Holly. “She loves you so much, Drake. I have never seen her so happy and so filled with hope. You are her world and for that she will fight to help the doctors keep her alive.”
“Thanks Kate. I love her too. She is my life,” Drake choked out.
Eva leaned her head on his shoulder. “She is strong and that will help. I believe this, Drake, and you need to. Faith is everything.”
They sat in silence with only the sound of phones ringing in the background. People walked up and down the hallway oblivious to the somber mood in the waiting room. Drake was beginning to hate hospitals.
Finally after what seemed like forever the doctor came out.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat this. It was touch and go there for a minute. We removed her spleen and stopped the bleeding. It was one wound but it went deep,” he said to the worried group. “But she is a fighter and a young, healthy girl. She fought and I think she is going to make it through this. She hasn’t woken up yet but we’re moving her to ICU.”
Holly stood up. She smiled with relief, shaking the doctor’s hand. “I knew it.”
Noah and Liam hugged Holly while whooping with joy. Holly hugged Kate and almost reached out for Matt. She sent daggers his way instead and moved to the other side of the room.