“Fucking hell,” I hear Tank gasp.

I’m in the room like a bullet, and find Lawrence on the bed with a plastic bag over his head, his lifeless body surrounded with pill pots.

“No!” Beau screams.

“Shit. Get that bag off!” I grab her and haul her out of the room. “Rose!” I yell, restraining Beau’s flailing arms and legs. I don’t even know if Rose is up here. “Rose! Beau, calm down.” I hear footsteps up ahead, and Rose appears with Esther, both out of breath. “Rose, please, take her,” I beg as Beau wails and screams in my arms, hitting my chest repeatedly.

“What’s happened?” she asks, racing down the corridor, her face horrified by the state of Beau. “Beau, babe, come on. Come with me.” Rose looks at me, alarmed, eyes questioning, and I turn my stare toward Lawrence’s bedroom. Rose gasps, catching sight of Beau’s uncle. “Shit, fuck. Okay. Beau, I need you to come with me.” Rose doesn’t let Beau’s fighting body deter her, grappling with her arms, enduring the constant, deranged hits. “Beau, listen to me,” Rose shouts, and Beau stills, but her breathing is shot. She looks up at her friend on a despairing sob. “He’s going to be okay,” Rose says, leading a now compliant Beau to her room. “I promise.” She looks at Esther, who watches on, stunned. “Will you make sure Daniel’s okay?”

Translated: Keep the child away from the fucking carnage happening all over this house.

I blow out my cheeks, dragging my palms down my face. He’s going to be okay. I think Rose just made a promise she can’t keep. “Fuck,” I yell, punching the door that the twins just charged down, knocking it to the floor. I brace myself, trying to get my head on straight. Beau’s being taken care of. Now . . .

I stalk toward the bed, seeing Tank with his ear to Lawrence’s mouth, his fingertips on his wrist. “Well?”

“He’s breathing but has a weak pulse.”

I exhale, relieved, scanning the scene and trying to assess exactly what we’re dealing with. Endless pill pots. Photos scattered everywhere. “I’m here,” Doc announces, racing in with his case, Fury following with another two hefty bags of equipment. “Oh goodness.” He gets to work immediately while Tank and I stand back, useless. I haven’t seen Lawrence for weeks. He was a slight man, all arms and legs, but the weight loss is dramatic, his limbs now bony. It’s a shocking sight, and one I take absolutely no pleasure from.

I force my eyes away and start pacing the room, wanting to get back to Beau so much, but not without the news I know she’ll need. Doc won’t insist on a hospital. He knows that isn’t possible, both Danny and I made that clear when we brought the retired doctor into our world, and he accepted on the condition that we provided everything he could possibly need for every eventuality. He got it.

“I’ll need to pump his stomach,” Doc says, hooking a bag of fluids to the headboard.

“Will he live?’ I ask, my tone as blunt as my words.

“He’ll live,” Doc replies, pulling a length of rubber pipe from one of his bags and applying some kind of gel to the length. “I saw him only a couple of hours ago.” He nods to the piles of furniture by the door. “That barricade would have taken him some time to build, and he hasn’t vomited.”

I nod, backing out of the room. “Would you two mind?” I say to Tank and Fury, indicating the wide-spread remains of Lawrence’s barricade. They nod and get to work. “Update me.” I make my way to Rose and Danny’s room, entering without knocking. Beau is huddled on the bed sobbing, Rose’s arm around her. She looks up at me through glassy eyes. “He’s going to be okay,” I say quickly, hoping to ease her worry. But I can’t see a way forward without having Lawrence watched constantly, and I’m not letting Beau be that person.

She releases a pained whimper and gets off the bed, coming at me and pushing her body into mine. I hold her, feeling her relief all over me, as well as her tears soaking through my T-shirt. I can only thank God that we found him in time, and I know Beau will be crucifying herself over this. I had her on Danny’s desk for at least ten minutes. Both of us lost.

While Lawrence was attempting suicide.

I swallow down the anger before it consumes me. Beau’s been doing so well. Worried about her uncle still, yes, asking after Dexter, yes, but her lost spirit has been awakening more recently, and it’s been a comfort to my ravaged soul. This will set her back, and I can only resent Lawrence for that. “Come on,” I say softly, gently detaching her from my front, giving Rose a nod of thanks. She waves it off with ease, smiling, though it doesn’t touch her dark blue eyes. The situation, naturally, could be the cause for that, but now I’m more together, I notice she looks a bit pasty. I cock her a questioning look, and she once again waves it off. “I’m going to take Beau to lie down,” I say, leading her from the room.

Tags: Jodi Ellen Malpas Romance
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