Nico patted the security guard on the shoulder. “Thank you, bro. Thank you.”
Oh, for God’s sake.
I grunted as I took Nico’s extended hand, and I wanted to smile when he hissed as Bronagh took hold of his other hand.
“It’ll be okay, husband,” she growled. “We’ll take it easy on you today.”
“Yeah,” I chimed in as the security guard swiped his keycard and opened the doors for us. “We’ll take really good care of you, baby.”
“Lucky son of a bitch,” the security guard said from behind us.
We walked in sync then when the doors behind us closed, each of us girls landed a punch or a slap to different parts of Nico’s body.
“Ow, ow, fucking ow!” he hissed and jumped away from us.
He turned to face us and walked backwards with his hands raised in front of his chest. “I couldn’t think of anything else to say to get us back here.”
Alannah narrowed her eyes at Nico. “You couldn’t think of somethin’ better than sayin’ the four of us were your wives?”
Nico gnawed on his lower lip. “No.”
Liar.
Bronagh all but hissed at Nico. He refused to look at her, which was the smartest thing he had done in the past five minutes.
“It got us back here, didn’t it? Let’s just find my brothers and find out what’s happening with Kane,” Nico sighed and turned around. “Which room did that security guard say Ryder and Alec were in?”
“Last one on the right,” I murmured.
We all picked up our speed until we reached the waiting room door. Nico walked straight into the room and so did the other girls who were hot on his heels. I hung back for a few seconds, and I had no idea why. The only thing I could think of was that I was afraid.
I was so damn afraid, and that fear worried me.
I wasn’t sure what it meant. I mean, did I care for Kane if I was this concerned about him? Did I like him? Or did I just not want him to be dead for the sake of everyone else? I went with the latter because it was the only choice that didn’t cause my mind to explode with even more stupid questions.
I jumped when Bronagh’s head popped out of the doorway. “Hey, are you okay?”
I blinked. “I’m fine.”
She reached out and took me by the hand. “Come in, then.”
I let Bronagh lead me into the waiting room, and when all eyes fell on me, I looked down at my feet as I waited to hear an update on Kane. Bronagh placed her hand on my back and said, “No news on him yet.”
That pissed me off. I—I mean we—needed an update on Kane.
I balled my hands into fists. “Give me one minute,” I growled.
I turned and pulled the door open, stepping back out into the hallway, and looked up and down. I spotted a nurse reading a clipboard as she walked in the direction of the doors that led back out to the A&E reception.
“Excuse me!” I shouted and briskly walked down the hallway towards the nurse when she stopped and looked over her shoulder.
“Can I help you?” she asked when I stopped in front of her.
“Yes, please,” I replied. “I’m with the family of Kane Slater, and we have received no information on his current status. He arrived here around twenty-five minutes ago, and his brothers in the waitin’ room down the hall behind me are getting very impatient. Each of them are over six-foot-tall and combined, they probably weigh the same as a full-grown bull. Please come and give them an update before they... get upset.”
The nurse swallowed, but nodded her head at me.
“Thank you,” I breathed, relieved she believed the brothers would be dangerous.
I mean, they could easily go crazy, but I knew they wouldn’t. My white lie would get us the update we needed though so I didn’t care what was running through the nurse’s mind.
I re-entered the waiting room and again all eyes fell on me, but when their eyes switched to the nurse behind me everyone stood up. Everyone.
“You,” Keela growled to the nurse.
I raised my eyebrow.
Did something happen that I didn’t know about?
“Oh, damn,” the nurse whispered.
“I told you we wanted a different nurse!” Keela snarled.
The nurse shrugged her shoulders. “We’re short on staff today, it’s me or nobody.”
“You might as well be nobody, you evil cow!” Keela bellowed.
Oh, hell.
Keela. Was. Pissed.
I moved over to my friend. “What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice low.
“That bitch refused to give me any information on Kane. She made the security man outside keep me in reception from the moment they wheeled him through the double doors. If Alec and Ryder hadn’t showed up, I would have still been kept out there.”
“It’s protocol!” the nurse snapped. “I told you that. It’s the hospital’s rules, not mine.”
“I’ll show you fuckin’ protocol,” Keela snarled.
I remained in front of Keela. “Calm it,” I grunted then lowered my voice to a whisper, “just until we get the update on Kane from her.”
Keela instantly calmed herself, but I could see she wasn’t happy about it.
I nodded and turned back to the nurse. “So,” I began, “how is he?”
I held my breath after the question left my lips.
The nurse flipped up a few pages on her clipboard and read a few lines then looked around the room. “Mr. Slater is stable. We have him on oxygen, an IV drip for fluids, and we’re running his blood now to see what could have been the cause of him collapsing.”