7. Anders

Chapter seven

Anders

“ H er heart is barely pumping,” I snarled as Levy grabbed my shoulder, pushing me away from the VIP lounge, where Douglas and two other men had dragged a barely conscious Grace into a private back room nearly an hour ago. “We have to get her, now!” He shoved me back into the wall, pinning me by the throat.

“Not until the others get here,” Levy hissed, fading so much I could see people dancing through his translucent form. “We can’t rush in there and get ourselves killed. That won’t help her!”

“Get the fuck off of me, or I will drop you myself,” I snapped, and he squeezed my throat in warning. I was still holding her pulse in my mind, panicking when the weak pumping began to flutter, the telltale signs of arrhythmia. “She’s dying Levy, I can feel it !”

Levy’s fingers loosened around me, and I shoved him away, my eyes roving the crowd, spotting two people in uniform weaving their way across the dancefloor. My eyes caught on the stretcher they carried between them, just as the flutter that was Grace’s pulse ceased altogether. It was like my heart stopped at the same moment, and my knees buckled, forcing Levy to catch me before I hit the floor.

Keep pumping, keep pumping.

I willed Grace’s heart to restart, coaxing her blood to continue circulating, keeping oxygen flowing to her brain.

“Text King,” I muttered, concentrating as hard as I could to keep her functionally alive. “Tell him to meet us at the hospital.” I managed to collect myself, forcing Levy to get the car ready and waiting as I focused on Grace. Someone had started CPR finally, so it wasn’t as hard to get her blood flowing. I stayed at a distance, following the EMTs out the door. Reluctantly, I tore my gaze away from the tiny figure on the stretcher and ran to the car, forcing Levy out of the driver’s seat so I could follow the ambulance.

It was not easy driving one-handed, but I managed it. We did some very illegal moves, but I never lost sight of the ambulance, and Levy kept Erik and Jesse up to date as we chased them into the hospital parking lot. I was out of the car before I realized I’d parked, striding up to the hospital doors as I followed Grace’s faint, but steady, heartbeat. I felt Levy’s hand wrap around my wrist, slowing me as we got within sight of the EMTs, and I noticed Douglas speaking with the nurse at the front desk.

“You can’t let him see you!” Levy hissed in my ear, and I snarled back as his grip tightened.

“Go then! Stay with her,” I snapped, and the pressure on my wrist vanished. I seethed and sat down in the nearby waiting area, listening to Douglas argue with the administrative person for a few minutes before he stormed off down the hall. Once he was gone I resumed my hunt, leaving a good amount of distance between him and me just in case. I found myself in another waiting room deeper inside the building, Douglas choosing to wait inside a private room he must’ve paid extra to reserve for Grace. Levy was closer to the action, giving us the horrible play-by-play.

Levy

They’re saying she overdosed.

Doc’s pumping her stomach.

She’s gonna be here overnight.

This is our chance .

My skin was buzzing uncomfortably, and I couldn’t sit down anymore. This was our best shot, we could reach her here. We just needed a way to get into the room and get a hold of her charts. I dug through my wallet, looking for my old key card for the hematology lab. It had been nearly a year since I’d last shown my face in the lab, but there was a chance that they’d forgotten to deactivate my access.

This was nearly a plan… I tried not to get too excited when I found the staff locker room and scanned my card. The light turned green, and I nearly shouted as I swung the door open, striding inside and glancing around quickly. I tore off my sling, wincing as my stitches twinged painfully, and quickly changed into a spare pair of scrubs, dumping my clothes in the trash. I slicked back my hair and grabbed a couple of face masks from a nearby box, stowing them in my pocket for later. Sufficiently disguised, I checked my phone to see what I’d missed .

Levy

In the room now.

D looks like he got mauled by a tiger.

He’s got a doc here in his pocket, they’re talking meds for Grace.

Let me kill him. Please.

Erik

Stand down, we are outside now. We need a plan. Don’t shoot anyone in the hospital.

I strode back out toward Grace’s room and hovered nearby, studying the security situation. My wounded arm hung useless at my side, and I tried to relax into a somewhat natural pose without tearing my stitches. It looked like Douglas had only brought his stone-faced bodyguard tonight; the idiot thought he was invincible.

Anders

I need a distraction, get D and his buddy out of there.

I look like a nurse, I can slip inside, get Grace out, and use my key card to sneak her down to the service entrance.

Erik

How the fuck did you get a key card?!

Anders

Just get them out of the fucking room and pull the car around to the back entrance, by the loading bay .

It felt like hours, watching and waiting for the room to clear out. Finally, one of the administrative nurses strode up to the door and poked her head inside. A moment later, Douglas emerged, the bodyguard in tow. They followed the nurse as she led them down the hall, muttering something about the system malfunctioning and losing their admitting information.

I tugged one of the masks on and headed toward Grace’s room, slipping inside. The sight of her, bruised to hell and deathly pale in the bed, made me pause and, for a moment, I forgot what I was doing.

“Anders,” Levy hissed. “Come on!” I shook myself roughly and walked over to the machines she was hooked up to, quickly turning them off so I wouldn’t trigger their alarms when I moved her. When I turned to remove her IV, her eyes met mine, and for a split second I thought she saw me, actually saw me, but then the flash of recognition was gone, replaced by a vacant look of confusion. I carefully slid the needle out of her vein and dropped the discarded tubing on the floor at my feet, tucking her hand back into her lap.

“Kitten, this might be uncomfortable, I need you to just lay as still as you can, alright? And keep your eyes closed,” I warned her gently, yanking all the pillows off the bed and lowering her so she was laying flat. No one would stop a nurse pushing a bed with a deceased patient down to the morgue; it was the perfect cover to get her to the lower levels.

“Wh-” she croaked, as I settled the blanket over her face, concentrating on lowering her heart rate until it was barely pumping, the blanket stilling over her, completing the ruse .

“Levy, let’s move,” I bit out, sweat breaking out on my forehead as I concentrated on her heartbeat. I kicked the locks on the wheels and pushed the bed toward the door, ignoring the screaming pain in my shoulder as we moved out and into the hall. I followed the path to the service elevators, and Levy took my card and ran ahead, calling them up for us. I pushed the bed onto the elevator and pressed the button for the main level, wiping my hand across my face, the mask beginning to stick to my skin. Just a little bit longer, I could do it a little bit longer. The lack of sleep was catching up to me quickly, my body straining as I forced it to keep running on the fumes of exhaustion. Just a little bit further.

I shoved the bed off the elevator as soon as the doors opened and hurried down the hallway, watching for anyone who might come across us. Patients, even dead ones, wouldn’t be down here; it would be difficult to explain this if we got caught. I turned into a small alcove and parked the bed, grabbing her chart off the front of the bed and thrusting it out for Levy to take. I ripped off the blanket, bringing Grace’s heart slowly back up to a normal rate. Mindful of her battered body, I gently lifted her into my arms, feeling my stitches rip open as I cradled her to my chest. I double and triple-checked that she was breathing properly. She still needed medical care, we couldn’t take her home yet.

“Let’s go Anders,” Levy hissed at me, and we took off toward the exit. Erik was idling nearby, and I noticed Jesse’s death trap of a Jeep close behind. Levy swung open the back door, and we climbed inside, settling Grace down between us.

“Sparrow’s,” I snapped, kneeling on the floor next to Grace, her head propped up on Levy’s thigh. Erik sped off toward the bar as I monitored Grace’s vitals, making sure I hadn’t done any damage. I would catalog every bruise on her body, searing it into my brain. Each bruise was a failure of mine, and Douglas would answer for each of them. I’d find the other men from the club too—they would suffer equally, if not worse.

“Jesus, Anders, your shoulder,” Levy muttered, and I waved him off, wiping the sweat off my forehead as I focused on Grace’s heartbeat.

Sparrow’s place wasn’t far, but it still took too long to get there. The entire drive I parsed over Grace’s injuries as Levy read over her file, the pages flipping as he muttered under his breath.

Levy hopped out first, holding the door for me as I lifted Grace out of the vehicle, walking toward the front door. Jesse had beaten us here and already had the door propped open, Sparrow hovering inside. Her eyes widened as I walked in wearing stolen scrubs, with a fragile creature in my arms.

“Upstairs,” she ordered, and I followed her, vaguely aware of the others behind me. Sparrow led me into her apartment, toward one of the guest rooms at the end of the hall. Wren was fussing, the bed ready for Grace and her medical kit on the nightstand beside it.

“Levy, the file,” I ordered, jerking my head toward Wren as I laid Grace carefully on the bed. She looked so small, so pale. I missed the blush in her cheeks; now there were just dark circles under her eyes and horrible bruising coloring her skin.

“Anders, I need to see her,” Wren announced, and rough hands clasped my shoulder, tugging me out of the way, forcing me to stumble back .

“What the fuck happened to this poor woman?!” Sparrow hissed, glaring at the group of us as Wren started checking Grace over. Erik kept a hold on my arm, preventing me from moving back to Grace’s side. I was still monitoring her heart rate, and it would increase ever so slightly whenever Wren brushed her fingers over her.

“She was brought in for an overdose. Douglas has been drugging her for weeks, and he got sloppy tonight,” Levy explained, flickering into view.

“Was she hit by a truck before or after the overdose?” Sparrow demanded, and Erik stiffened, his grip on me tightening.

“The file… it doesn’t mention the bruises,” Levy muttered, and I scoffed. Of course not, the doctor was clearly being paid off.

“Doug and these other men had her in one of the back rooms of the club,” I bit out. I knew what had happened, I could feel those injuries inside of her like a knife in my chest.

“We were right there ,” I snarled, “and we did nothing !” I jerked out of Erik’s grasp, and Sparrow’s lips thinned.

“Is she, do you know…” she trailed off, watching me pace with her eyes narrowed.

“She’s not on anything,” I muttered. “She should take an emergency contraceptive, to be safe.”

The room dropped into a deadly silence as everyone caught on to my meaning. Erik turned, and I heard a dull thud as his fist collided with the wall.

“My friend is a traveling Women’s Health doctor. I’ll have her come by. She can help,” Wren murmured, and I bristled at the thought of someone else being around Grace right now. There were too many people here as it was, and I didn’t like it. Grace’s pulse picked up a notch as Wren did something to her leg, and I swore, stepping forward. Levy’s arm caught me around the chest, and I shoved at him, but his grip was like steel.

“You all need to step out and give Wren the room,” Sparrow announced. “The amount of testosterone in here could choke a bear.”

“I’m not leaving,” I snapped, and she narrowed her eyes at me as Levy tightened his hold.

“I’ll put you down happily, Anders, don’t give me a reason,” she warned. I opened my mouth to dare her to try, but Levy shoved me toward the door, then shoved again until I stumbled and fell into the wall in the hallway. I was on my feet and swinging at his head as he followed me out. I caught him in the jaw, my knuckle splitting open as he jerked back, wide-eyed.

Jesse and Erik were on me in a heartbeat, grabbing my arms and holding me as Levy rubbed his face, hurt flashing in his eyes.

“Anders, enough!” Erik snapped, and the thrum of adrenaline faded away, sapping the last of my energy. At least they were holding me when my knees buckled, otherwise, it would’ve hurt a lot more.