I'll Never Let You Go (Morgans of Nashville 3)

“And I stood here after you were hurt,” Rick said. “It’s just our turn to wait on Alex. Shit. It sounds like he doesn’t even have a legit injury.” The last comment was meant to distract, break her growing panic. “As a kid, he at least had a compound fracture and signs of exposure.”

“That’s not funny!” Georgia shouted.

Rick shrugged. “Cracked ribs, Georgia. Don’t be dramatic.”

“We don’t know it’s just cracked ribs! They might not be telling us the worst.”

So that she could fight rather than cry, Rick said, “Alex’s old scar and, hell, my scar are a hell of a lot longer and nastier than a few bruises.”

Deke, understanding Rick’s motive, nodded. “Alex won’t even have a scar. Just bruises. This really doesn’t even count as an injury.”

“I agree,” Rick said. “Just like Alex to get a baby injury and then try to hog all the attention.”

Jenna and Rachel swallowed smiles when they glanced at Georgia’s thunderous expression.

Georgia gritted her teeth. “God, you two are such jerks. Why’s it always a competition with you guys?”

“It’s no competition when you know you’ve won, Georgia,” Rick said. “He’ll be out of here in a day with a handful of aspirin. I had months of rehab.”

Georgia’s face reddened.

Jenna laid a gentle hand on Georgia’s shoulder. “Tell me again why you like having older brothers?”

Tears glistened in Georgia’s eyes. “I don’t. They’re a pain.”

Jenna smiled. “I know. But in a good way, right?”

Rachel’s pale face revealed her worry far more than her words. “He’s going to be fine.”

A young doctor wearing green scrubs and a white medical jacket rounded the corner, and Jenna was the first to spot him. “Your answers have arrived.”

The five turned and arguments and jokes were silenced.

The doctor had thick, brown hair and dark circles shadowing smiling eyes. “Your brother said to follow the sound of arguing voices. He said when I located the source, I’d find the Morgans. Have I found the Morgans?”

Deke extended his hand. “You found us. And before my sister attacks, how’s Alex?”

“He’s got bruised ribs. But he’ll be fine. He’ll be out in the morning.”

Deke looked at Georgia. “See?”

She swiped away a tear. “Jerk.”

Rick winked at her. “Brat.”

Deke grinned. “Can we see him?”

“Room 206. He’s awake and ready for visitors. Though I want you to clear out in ten minutes. He needs rest.”

The Morgan entourage made their way up in the elevator and then down the hall. Georgia was the first to push into the room and find Alex trying to sit up. Pain and fatigue had paled his angled face, but his gaze remained sharp and alert.

“You’re supposed to be resting.” Georgia came up behind him and propped his pillows.

“Just the idea makes me want to jump out of my skin,” Alex said. “I want out of here.”

Jenna and Rachel hovered close to the door of the small room while Deke and Rick moved to the foot of the bed. For a moment, neither spoke as the weight of the evening lessened.

“Get a look at the guy?” Rick asked.

He grunted as he settled against the pillows. “Like I told Deke, fucker came out of nowhere. I think he’d have caved in my skull if I hadn’t drawn on him.”

“What did you see?” Deke pressed.

“Hoodie. Mask. Tall. Lean. Broad shoulders. Black jeans and tennis shoes. Couldn’t tell you more than that, which really pisses me off.”

“Okay,” Rick said. “Take it easy. This isn’t something we’re going to figure out tonight.”

“The doc says you have to spend the night,” Deke said.

Alex pushed to straighten up, winced, and collapsed back against the pillows. “I want out.”

“I can stay the night,” Georgia said. “Consider me your personal nurse.”

“I’m fine,” Alex said. “Really.”

“I want to stay.”

Alex shook his head. “I can’t sleep if you’re staring at me.”

Her sweet smile belied her tenacity. “I won’t stare.”

“Yes, you will. And you’ll fuss. I’m not doing that tonight.” A crooked smile meant to soften the honesty fell short. “I mean it.”

Georgia smoothed her hand over the rumpled sheet. “You shouldn’t be here alone.”

Alex closed his eyes. “I need to sleep and get better. Someone is going to pay.”

Deke laid a steady hand on Georgia’s shoulder. “He’ll be fine. You can see him first thing in the morning.”

She pointed a finger at Alex, her voice cracking as she spoke. “You scared me.”

Alex arched a brow. “You’ll survive. Where’s my phone?”

“You can’t have your phone,” Georgia said. “You have to rest.”

“Phone, Georgia.” Pain honed the words to brittle sharpness.

She rolled her eyes and moved to the closet, where his personal items had been stowed in a plastic bag. She fished out his phone and tossed it in his lap.

He winced. “Brat.”

Groaning, she closed her eyes. “Are all my brothers jerks?”

“Yes,” Alex said. “Now beat it.”

The Morgans left the hospital, each grateful to be away from the antiseptic smells and fluorescent lights. The five hovered near the emergency room doors. Cold wind blew across the lot, forcing them all to burrow deeper into their coats.

Whatever goodwill they’d projected to Alex vanished. Deke glared at Rick. “What’re you doing tonight?”

“I’m at the station with you, trying to figure out what the fuck happened to Alex.”

Leah arrived at the hospital just before one in the morning. She paused as she entered the emergency room. The last time she’d been there, she’d been on her back, bleeding, pain cutting through her body. The doctors had been talking over her, as if she weren’t there. Several times, when her eyes were closed, a few of them had voiced their fear that she would die.

But it was a young nurse who had taken her hand and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “You hang tough, Leah. We’re going to fix this, but you have to stay with us. We need your help.”

Leah had opened her eyes and seen the vivid smile. The moment of kindness had been the anchor that had kept her among the living.

At the admitting desk, she cleared her throat, and a clerk gazing at a computer screen looked up at her. “I’m here to see Alex Morgan.”

“It’s after visiting hours.”

“I know. He texted me and told me he was here.” The truth wouldn’t get her past the gatekeeper. “I’ve got his medicine. He asked me to bring it.”

The clerk’s gaze narrowed. “What kind of medicine?”

“I’m not exactly sure. He’s a private guy.” She fished a bottle of prescription pain meds out of her purse. It was for a canine with a bad hip. When the owner, a longtime client of the clinic, had called in, she’d offered to drop it off. They hadn’t been home when she arrived so she’d kept the pills. Pills rattled as she shook it. “I won’t be long. Honest.”

“I can give it to him.”

Her fingers tightened around the bottle. “He was clear I take it to him.”

“Let me check.”

Frustrated, she turned and waited. The clerk’s phone started ringing just as an ambulance crew showed. They had a teenager with alcohol poisoning, the paramedic shouted to a harried doctor. All this offered just enough distraction for her to slip past the desk and down the hallway toward the elevators. She punched the Up button and waited, as if she had every right to be there. The doors opened and she slipped inside.

Seconds later, she approached Alex’s door. A television buzzed conversations as the light from the screen flickered and cast shadows on the wall. She knocked gently.

“What?” He sounded angry and annoyed.

She pushed open the door. “Good to hear you’re in such a good mood.”

Gripping the remote control, he turned from the screen. For a moment, he didn’t say anything, as if he wasn’t sure she were real.

“Better let me in your room. There’s a nurse out there right now paging security to have me thrown out.”

He clicked off the television. “Breaking and entering.”

She closed the door behind her, moving toward his bed. “That would be correct. The hospital has a thing about visiting hours.”

He pushed himself up into a sitting position and winced. Without a word, she came behind him, fluffed his pillows, and settled him in a comfortable position.

She sat on a chair beside his bed, not sure why she’d come to his side. He’d returned her text an hour ago, saying he’d been delayed by a minor injury. “So what happened?”

He tossed the remote control aside. “Someone confused me with a piñata.”

Carefully, she set her purse on the floor. “You were hit with a bat?”

“That’s correct.”

His even tone belied the jolt of panic shooting through her. “Did you see the guy?”