Abel (5th Street 4)

That gave Abel some hope. “So she checked herself in.” Already grabbing his keys and wallet, he turned back to Noah. “She wasn’t rushed there? How is she?”

Noah shook his head. “Nah, she was rushed. They didn’t want to give us a whole lot over the phone. But they did say she was rushed there by ambulance and she’s not conscious.”

Feeling his heart and stomach sink all at once, he blinked hard, willing the same tears from earlier—tears he hadn’t felt since his dad died—to go away. Hector clapped a hand on Abel’s shoulder. “Let’s go, brother. There’s a car downstairs, waiting to take us to the hospital.”

It had been a long time ago since the day his mom told him his dad had died, but Abel couldn’t remember feeling this agonized in his life, not even then. He was the last one to slide into the limo, but as soon as he got in next to Roni, she hugged him, crying against his shoulder, and he would be eternally grateful for that moment. While his tears were silent compared to hers, he could at least let them out as he hid his face in her hair. “I’m so scared,” he whispered in her ear.

“So am I,” she whispered back. “She’s never been out this long.”

He pulled away from her, feeling even more frantic now. “How long has she been out?”

Roni wiped her tears, and he wiped his own with the back of his hand. “She was unconscious when they arrived, and she still was when I called. She’s been there for over two hours now.”

Abel sat up, throwing his head back against the seat, glad that it was so dark in the car. The tears ran freely down the side of his face, and he was certain of one thing. Never—not in all the fights he’d been in or even the ones Hector had ever been in, which made him more nervous than his own—had he been so terrified in his life.

***

Being told that Nellie was in the ICU was an even bigger blow, but Abel held it together. Somewhere on the drive from Vegas to Henderson, he’d gone numb. Nellie had not only listed Roni as one of her emergency contacts but family according to her insurance, so she was the only one allowed to go in to see her. But Roni fought tooth and nail to get Abel in there with her. Abel wasn’t sure if he should be grateful for it now because he thought he might be sick as they walked through the ICU ward.

Roni brought her hands to her scrunched face and began to fall apart as soon as they got to the door of Nellie’s room and saw her hooked up to all those tubes. The nurse in there, checking her monitors, motioned to let them know they could come in. Once again, he was ever so grateful to have Roni there with him, because he felt ready to fall apart. She took his hand as they walked up to the side of Nellie’s bed.

Instantly, everything inside him went from agonized to on fire. “Why does she have a black eye?” he asked the nurse in an all-too-demanding voice, but he didn’t give a shit.

The entire side of her cheek was swollen, and in all his years of boxing, he knew a shiner when he saw one. If someone in McKinley’s camp had done anything to her, Abel would be in jail for sure before the night was over, because someone would be paying dearly.

The nurse pressed her lips together then looked at Nellie’s chart and nodded. “She was checking in at the hotel when she passed out.” Wincing, she looked up at Abel. “Her face hit the counter on the way down.”

“Oh my God!” Roni gasped.

“But nothing is broken in her face.” The nurse assured them as if that would make them feel better. “It’s just badly bruised, and there is some swelling.”

“She’s never been out this long,” Roni said to the nurse. “Do they know what’s wrong?”

Abel stared at Nellie, feeling numb again. His beautiful girl looked so helpless now, all bruised swollen and full of tubes. He hated that he hadn’t been there for her. It almost hurt that she hadn’t had enough faith that he’d believe she had nothing to do with the obviously staged scandal that she’d been dragged into.

The nurse told them that the doctor would be in to explain exactly what they were doing and to give them an early prognosis. Just like when he’d gotten that vibe from the guys before the fight that they weren’t telling him something, he got the distinct feeling from the nervous way she looked at him that she knew more than she was saying.

“In the commotion at the hotel, no one noticed a few things fell out of Nellie’s purse. Among them was her phone. They had someone bring it in about a half hour ago.” The nurse opened the drawer next to Nellie’s bed and pulled it out. “Since you’d already been contacted, we turned it off. It kept ringing.”

The nurse handed it to Roni as Abel sat back. “I’ve notified her parents already,” Roni whispered. Abel glanced at the phone when he heard it start up. Roni hit the screen a few times. “All our calls when we were looking for her, and . . . Hmm . . .” Abel noticed an odd change in Roni’s tone as she sat up, but he didn’t look up at her. He was staring at Nellie again. “Sam’s been calling too.”

That didn’t just get his attention. Abel was immediately glaring at the phone, his insides warming instantly. “When did he call last?”

“A couple of hours ago.”

That ass**le still had the nerve to be calling her? Did he want to taunt her now? Or were they trying to keep the bullshit story going for the media?

As if she’d read his mind, Roni clicked on the side of Nellie’s phone, making the screen go black. She reached over and squeezed his leg, shaking her head. She obviously didn’t want him getting worked up over this now, but it was too late. After everything Sam and his f**king brothers had caused, he thought calling her was still going to fly? The very thought had him on his feet because he couldn’t sit anymore. He walked out into the hallway and paced. His emotions were being pulled in every direction. Part of him felt like a wild caged animal just waiting for someone to come close enough so he could tear a limb off. Yet another part of him felt so tormented that he’d just as soon curl up in a corner and cry like a child.