I didn’t wait for the car to come to a complete stop, I jumped out, tucking myself in a ball to roll on the ground. When I stopped, my feet finally got under me, and I ran to the door, jumping up ten steps. The wood creaked under my weight, and I lifted my leg, busting the door down to see Brian holding Lucy up by her throat, feet dangling off the floor.
I’d never touch her throat again. Never. Not when this was happening to her. Three giant strides and I was at his back. I yanked his arm behind him and then twisted, breaking it in two. He shouted in pain, but it wasn’t enough to stop me. I threw him against the wall and wrapped my hand around his throat just like he did her, but this time I squeezed so hard, his eyes and face turned purple. He tried knocking my hand away with his unbroken arm, but my grip was too strong. I wanted to watch the life drain from his eyes.
My face trembled, my muscles and nerves firing to each other with all the adrenaline pumping through me and my fingers digging so far into his windpipe, I thought about ripping it from his neck.
“Go to Lucy,” Cortez said. “She needs you. I got him. He is done for, okay?”
“He attacked me. You saw him!” Brian tried to defend himself, gasping and choking for air. “You…saw…”
“I didn’t fucking see shit!” Cortez kneed Brian in the face. “Shut the fuck up. Get on your stomach, hands behind your head.”
“He broke my arm!”
Cortez yanked one arm back, and then the broken one, Brian screamed like a little bitch as Cortez cuffed him. The pain became too much for him because he passed out. The man would never see the light of day, and if I ever found out he did, I’d hunt him down and kill him before he ever found Lucy.
I scooped up an unconscious Lucy and sobbed, pushing her hair out of her face, so I could see just what happened to her. “What did he do to you, baby?” I held her close to my chest, trying to protect her the best way I could as I brought her to the ambulance. I laid her on the gurney, and as they inserted the IV and checked her over for injures, everything went so fast, but slow at the same time.
“She’s pregnant,” I told them in a haze. “She’s pregnant.”
“Sir, we have her, okay? We are going to make sure she is okay.”
“Is my baby okay?” I held onto her hand while I climbed into the ambulance.
“We will know more when we get to the hospital.”
That meant they had no idea. I brought her hand to my lips and held her knuckles there, kissing them the entire way. She stayed unconscious for the entire ride, sirens blaring as we sped down the highway. If it was up to me, we would have flown there to get there quicker.
We finally rolled to a stop, and the back doors opened, red and blue lights still swirling in the night as they slid the gurney from the metal tin. Doctors and nurses ran out from the automatic doors.
“Female. Pregnant. She was kidnapped. She’s unconscious, but blood pressure is stable. We need to get a head CT.”
“What? Why? What’s wrong with her!” I ran after them as they rolled her away from me, through the doors and down the hall. “Where are you taking her!” I screamed, and everyone in the waiting room stared at me.
“Sir,” a small nurse body blocked me, “you can’t go back there.”
“That’s…that’s my…” I wanted to say my wife, but she wasn’t yet. “My baby. She’s pregnant. Please, I need to know if she is okay.”
The nurse’s eyes were warm and kind. and when she placed her hand on my arm, I breathed easier, even if I was still panicking, her touch was magic. “I’ll check on her for you, okay? I need you to calm down, or we are going to have to admit you. You don’t want that, right? You want to be able to see her as soon as possible. You won’t be able to do that from a hospital bed.”
The hell I wouldn’t. I’d crawl from anywhere if it meant getting to Lucy.
“Sit down, sir. I promise to update you soon.”
I fell into one of the chairs, and it was so uncomfortable as I waited. I buried my hands in my hair and hung my head, waiting and waiting for something, for anything, but every minute felt like an hour.
I was slowly dying inside. This had to be what torture felt like.
“Hey, any word?” Logan asked with a red-eyed Maria at his side.
I shook my head and blew out a breath that made my lips vibrate. “No, nothing. I think she is okay, but she was unconscious. They are making sure she doesn’t have a head injury.”
“Oh, god,” Maria said. “Where is Gabriel?”
“He should be here soon. He arrested Brian. He should be coming here since I broke his arm.”
“Lucy Green?” A doctor came out of the double doors, and I stood so fast, the chair flew backward.
“That’s us. That’s me. That’s him.” I pointed to Logan. “It’s all of us. She’s my fiancé,” I rambled, nervous and scared. She would be my fiancé after tonight. I had the ring in my pocket and everything. I refused to wait to marry her. They had chapels here at hospitals, right? Surely, they had a minister. I’d pay for her dream wedding, but after tonight, she’d be my wife.