Fever (Breathless 2)

“She’ll have whatever it is she needs,” Jace said. “However long it takes. But I’ll be there with her every step of the way. She’s never going to be alone again.”

The driver roared to a stop outside the emergency room entrance and Jace jumped out, running inside, where he was immediately met by Kaden. Jace grabbed the much larger man by his shirt, pulling their faces close together.

“Where is she?”

“They’re working on her now,” Kaden said grimly. “Doc came out briefly to ask about family. I told him you were on your way. Said it was definitely an overdose but they can’t rouse her enough to ask what she took or how much.”

“Fuck!” Jace exploded.

He dropped his hold on Kaden and then stalked toward the desk and the wary-eyed receptionist.

“Bethany Willis,” he bit out. “I want to see her now.”

She rose and walked around the desk as Gabe and Ash came up behind Jace.

“Sir, they’re working with her now. You’ll have to wait out here.”

“The hell I will! Take me back to her now. I have to see her. She’s not going to die alone. I have to see her.”

She looked helplessly at Gabe and Ash as if asking for their help in calming him. Thankfully neither did or said a word and stared the woman down to show her that Jace had their full support.

“Belinda, let him come back,” an older doctor said from a few feet away.

Jace immediately turned to the physician. “Is she okay?” His heart hammered and he staggered, struggling to remain upright. Icy fear gripped him. What if the doctor had come out to tell him she was gone?

“Come with me,” the doctor said in a quiet voice.

Jace followed behind, every step filled with overwhelming dread. He was led into a room where Bethany lay pale and quiet on a bed. Surrounding her was a bevy of doctors and nurses. There was a tube down her throat, and one down her nose. They were injecting some nasty-looking shit into the tube in her nose.

“Is she . . . is she still alive?” Jace choked out.

“We’ve managed to stabilize her but she still hasn’t regained consciousness,” the doctor said. “We don’t know what she ingested or how much so we’re treating her blind. We’ve tried to get her to rouse so she can tell us what happened, but so far we’ve had no luck. Maybe you can try to get a response from her.”

Jace surged toward the bed and one of the nurses stepped out of his way so he could get to Bethany’s side.

He picked up her limp hand and curled both of his hands around it. He brought it to his lips, pressing his mouth against it. Tears burned his eyes and he swallowed, sucking in deep breaths so he didn’t lose his composure.

“Bethany, baby, you need to wake up,” he said in a low voice.

“You need to speak louder,” the doctor advised. “I know you’re instinct is to be gentle, but she needs to regain consciousness.”

Jace leaned over and kissed her forehead as he swept one hand through her bedraggled hair. “Bethany, baby, can you hear me? You need to wake up and talk to us. We’re worried sick, honey. Come back to me. Please just come back to me.”

He broke off as a sob welled in his throat. She lay unmoving, all those damn tubes running everywhere.

“What about the tube in her throat?” Jace demanded. “If she wakes up, she’s going to panic. She can’t talk around that damn thing.”

“Right now it’s the only way she’s breathing,” the nurse said gently. “If she starts to come around, we can remove it. But we need to find out what she took and how much.”

Jace closed his eyes as tears ran freely down his cheeks.

“Baby, please,” he choked out. “Wake up and talk to me. You have to come back to me, Bethany. I’m lost without you.”

He pressed his forehead to hers and his tears seeped onto her skin.

“Please come back to me. I love you. We can work this out, baby. Just please open your eyes for me. I’m begging you. Don’t leave me. For God’s sake, don’t leave me.”

As he pulled back, her eyelids fluttered sluggishly. He could tell how hard it was for her to even open her eyes. And then he saw the brilliant blue and the constricted, pinpoint pupils. She was clearly disoriented and then panic surged into her eyes.

Joy flooded into Jace and he turned excitedly to tell the nurse, but they were already moving in, monitoring her vitals before taking the tube out. Bethany struggled, panicking and gagging. Jace gripped her hand and squeezed until he was sure he was hurting her.

“Don’t fight it, baby. Just give them a few minutes. It’ll be over soon, I swear it. They had to put a tube in to help you breathe.”

Tears filled her eyes and they widened and then focused on him.

“That’s it, baby. Just focus on me. Look at me and breathe. Just breathe for me,” he said brokenly.

A few minutes later when the tube was gone, Jace had to step back long enough for them to ensure Bethany could breathe on her own. They placed an oxygen cannula in her nostrils to replace the rebreather bag that had accompanied the tube in her chest. And then finally they stepped back to allow Jace access once more.

Bethany struggled to keep her eyes open. He could see the strain it caused her. Several times she blinked sluggishly as if she’d slip back into unconsciousness but he surged forward, demanding that she stay awake and stay with him.

“Jace?” she whispered, her voice nearly gone.

“Yes, baby, I’m here.”

He took her hand and put his face close to her so she could see him and feel him.

She weakly raised one hand, touching his damp cheek where his tears had been and she frowned.

“I don’t understand. What happened?” she whispered.

Confusion was heavy in her eyes and she glanced rapidly around, taking in the hospital environment and all the medical staff in her room.

“Baby, you overdosed,” Jace said gently. “We need to know what you took and how much so they can help you. You have to fight, Bethany. I can’t—won’t—give up on you or us. Whatever happened, we can fix it. I love you. We can get past this, I swear it. It doesn’t matter to me. Whatever happened, why you did it, it doesn’t matter. You’re the only thing that matters.”

Her eyes widened and she struggled against the sluggishness of her lids. Her mouth opened and she tried to speak. She closed her lips and then reached for him, urgent, frantic.

“Jace . . .”

“What, baby? Talk to me. Fight this. Please, for me. For us.”

“I didn’t do it,” she said fiercely. “I didn’t take anything. I wouldn’t. You have to believe me.”

He stared back at her in shock. “Baby, you passed out. You almost died. You have to tell us what happened.”

“I don’t know what happened!”

Her voice rose, hysterical. She became agitated and an alarm went off, causing one of the nurses to rush forward.

“Sir, you need to leave now,” the nurse said briskly. “She’s not getting enough oxygen and her vitals are dropping.”

He was shoved aside as the medical team crowded in. They put a mask over her face, but she fought it and them.

“Jace!”

“I’m here, baby. I’m here!”

“I didn’t do this! Please, you have to believe me,” she sobbed.

Then he was shoved more firmly from the room. Gabe and Ash were there to pull him back the minute he was forced out.

The door was shut firmly in his face and he turned, putting his fist into the wall.

Gabe and Ash grabbed him, subduing him before he could punch the wall again. They forced his back against the wall he’d just punched and Gabe got into his face.

“Cool it, man. You have to keep calm.”

Jace shrugged them off and stalked back to the waiting room, where Kaden still stood.

“Where is Kingston?” Jace snarled.

Kaden’s eyes darkened. “I don’t know. I didn’t give a fuck about him when I saw Bethany on the floor. My sole concern was her. We loaded her into the ambulance and left. He was still at the apartment.”

“You go find him and you bring him here,” Jace roared. “I don’t give a fuck what you have to do. You get him here now.”

“I’m on it. I’ll call Trevor. He was on his way over after I called. I’ll make sure he sits on Kingston until I get there.”

“You do that,” Jace said tersely.

Kaden walked briskly away and Jace turned to see Gabe and Ash standing there, confusion in their eyes.

“What the fuck was that about, man?” Ash queried.

Jace was seething with fury. His fingers curled and uncurled as he tried to gain control of his rage.

“Bethany says she didn’t do it. She didn’t take anything.”

Gabe’s brows furrowed. “You believe her?”

“Hell yes, I believe her!” Jace exploded. “You didn’t see her. When she came to, she was scared and confused as hell. You should have seen her face when I told her she’d overdosed. She got hysterical. Vitals tanked. They shoved me out. But she said she didn’t take anything. Didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about. She asked me what the hell happened.”

“Then what the fuck?” Ash demanded.

Jace’s nostrils flared and he sucked in deep, steadying breaths. He had to get control. He had to be strong for Bethany.

“What it means is that if she didn’t take that shit, then someone gave it to her. And Kingston was the only other person in that apartment.”

Chapter forty

Jace paced the floor of the waiting room in agony, not knowing how Bethany was doing. They’d kept him from her room as they worked to rid her system of the drugs she’d ingested. He didn’t know how or why Jack had forced them on her, and he wouldn’t know until the bastard showed up. It would be a miracle if Jace didn’t kill him before he could wrest an explanation from him.

And then the gloves were off. No more would he allow this to go on. He didn’t give a fuck how upset it made Bethany, Jack was gone. Out of her life. If Jack had given her the drugs, Jace would file charges and have him arrested. He could rot in jail for all Jace cared.

Mia had rushed to the hospital the moment Gabe had called her and she kept vigil with the others. She worried incessantly over Jace’s state of mind, but she’d backed off when Gabe had murmured to her to leave her brother alone. He’d sent Gabe a grateful look. The last thing he wanted was to lash out at his sister when she was only trying to help. And he appreciated them all being here. Appreciated their unwavering support, though God only knew he didn’t deserve it after the way he’d treated them all. Especially Ash. But Ash hadn’t moved from the waiting room the entire time. He sat just as worried as the rest, fretting endlessly over Bethany’s condition.

And then Kaden came through the door, shoving Jack in front of him. Kaden held up his hand when Jace would have launched himself forward, and hustled Jack into one of the private family waiting rooms. Jace followed behind, with Ash and Gabe on his heels. They likely wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to commit murder in a public facility.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Jace slammed Jack into the wall and got into his face.

“What the fuck did you do to her, you bastard?”

Jack’s face was twisted with grief. He looked haggard. Completely wrung out. His eyes were bloodshot and he didn’t even attempt to defend himself.

“What did you give her?” Jace snarled. “She’s in there fighting for her life and we need to know what the fuck she ingested so they can help her.”

“Narcos,” Jack said in a shaky voice. “An entire bottle. I think there were forty or so. I don’t know exactly.”

“I’ll go let them know,” Gabe said in a low voice.

“Why did you give them to her? How the fuck did you give them to her without her knowing? She would have never taken that shit.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be her,” Jack choked out. “Never supposed to be her. She took the wrong cup. It was hot chocolate. She drank the wrong one.”

“What the fuck?” Jace snarled.

“It was supposed to be me,” Jack said in a resigned voice. “I didn’t expect her to show up. She wasn’t supposed to. Had no idea you were having the place watched.”

“What the fuck are you saying? That you were going to commit suicide?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I put the pills in the hot chocolate. I was going to leave her a note and then I was going to do it quietly.”

“You stupid fuck. You claim to care about her and you’d put her through that shit? Do you think it wouldn’t have destroyed her if you took the coward’s way out and killed yourself? That is so unbelievably selfish. Did you even stop to think what it would do to her for you to go down like that?”