UofJ411: King watching over his queen #CasanovaWatch #Kaysonova
*picture of Mason by Kay’s side inside the ambulance*
@Mimi_reads: Is it wrong to swoon over how he’s not leaving her side? #IfItsWrongIDontWantToBeRight #CasanovaWatch #Kaysonova
@Miss_rae_mcnally: @CasaNova87 looks pissed AF here #IfLooksCouldKill #Kaysonova
#Chapter4
After the arrival of the first responders and the revelation that Liam fucking Parker is the cause of me being stuck in a living nightmare, it feels like someone pushes a button and everything happens in fast forward.
The police officers start questioning those who didn’t scatter.
The EMTs finish their examination of Kay and load her onto a gurney.
I climb into the back of the ambulance, not once giving them the opportunity to deny me, while our friends and most of the party attendants not being questioned filter outside to watch the drama unfold, the former hustling to the parking lot behind the AK house to get into cars and follow us to University General Hospital.
Before the metal doors close, I see Grayson already on the phone calling E, and I shout out to Em to call JT as well. If the situation were reversed, I know Kay would be on the first flight to Kentucky.
The thin cushion on the bench seat does nothing to help absorb the bumps and potholes as we speed over the roads to U Gen.
I reach out and take one of Kay’s small hands between both of mine, smoothing a thumb across her knuckles. She looks so tiny and helpless, her skin a ghostly white to match the gauze now wrapped around her head in place of my polo.
“I love you, baby.” It’s a statement, a declaration, a whole-hearted promise.
U Gen is only minutes from campus since it’s associated with the U of J’s medical school, but each mile feels like thousands without Kay ever opening her eyes.
I pray to God, to my dad…hell, to whoever will listen that she will be alright. It’s impossible to imagine a scenario where she isn’t.
The rig comes to a stop, the doors are thrown open, people in white lab coats and red and maroon scrubs swarm in, waiting as I jump out and let the paramedics unload Kay, the wheels of the gurney hitting the asphalt with a loud clunk!
My sneakers pound against the tile floor as I rush to keep up with the flow of people hurrying inside the emergency room, the smell of antiseptic filling my nostrils as medical jargon and statistics about Kay’s condition are volleyed between the EMTs and doctors.
My gut rolls and I have to swallow down bile at the thought of her having an injury so catastrophic it’s considered a condition.
Two blue doors swing open as they push Kay into an open trauma room. I follow, almost certain I’m not supposed to, but I don’t give a fuck. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.
Four-legged Equidae may not be able to stop me, but a dark-haired nurse in U of J-red scrubs has no problem keeping me from taking my place at Kay’s side where I belong. “Stop right there, hotshot.”
I glare down at the nurse, my gaze going to the palm splayed in the universal sign of her command then back to her face again. She can’t be serious.
“You good, Vic?” one of the other nurses calls out, and I swear the edges of her lips curl in an I dare you to try me smile in response. She’s tall—then again, most females seem tall when compared to the one being worked on a few feet away—but I could easily move her.
“Yeah.” She nods, never taking her eyes off me. “I got this.”
I narrow my eyes, adding every ounce of intimidation behind my glower. Her smile only grows until I can see a line of white from her teeth.
“If I can put a Kraken in his place on the reg, a little football player doesn’t scare me.” The humor behind her words washes over me, loosening some of the panic trying to strangle me like a noose. It probably helps that she referred to me as little when I can’t ever recall being called that in my life.
“Now, Mr. Nova…” She glances over her shoulder to check the status of things, and I experience another stomach cramp at the sight of Kay’s wound being flushed with saline when I follow her gaze. With the hospital’s association with the school, it comes as no surprise she knows who I am. “Can you tell us what happened to Kayla?”
I swallow and have to work to clear the football-sized ball of emotion stuck in my throat before I can answer. It only gets worse when I see a doctor holding up a curved needle in preparation for stitching Kay’s head wound closed.
“She was punched.” I throw my arms up, holding my hands out to display my innocence. “It wasn’t me,” I rush to get out.
“Never thought that for a second.” She places a comforting hand on my bicep, her blue eyes softening. Based on the paramedics’ reactions earlier, that was the last thing I expected her to say, especially with such absolute certainty. “What about the gash?”
Again my eyes flip up to Kay, my foot rising to take a step closer of its own accord. As if anticipating it, the nurse—Vic-something—shifts with me, keeping me in place.
I have to shove my hands into the pockets of my jeans to prevent myself from balling them into fists as I recall the details my friends filled me in on. I’m only one step inside the room, but it’s obvious I’m not even supposed to be that close. I can’t risk losing that small liberty due to someone thinking I’m threatening the staff when my fury is fully directed at one Liam Parker.
“She hit her head on a table when she fell.” I have to pause and clear my throat once again. “I didn’t want to risk moving her, but I tried to stop the bleeding with my shirt, and I touched her face gently, trying to get her to open her eyes but…but…she never did.” My words come out rushed, breaking off at the end, the fear of what this could all mean getting the best of me.
Tears sting the backs of my eyes, but I blink them away, refusing to let them fall. I’m not afraid to cry, but I am afraid if I give in to the emotion, it’ll be like confirming the worst-case scenario with the universe.
“We’re taking her down to CT, Vicki,” calls out someone I assume is a doctor based on the white lab coat, the bed Kay is lying on already in motion toward the doors opposite the ones I stand in front of.
“Thank you, Dr. Holloway. I’ll stay with Mr. Nova until the results are back.”
Just like before, she shifts with me when I attempt to follow. I appreciate her for offering to wait with me—really, I do—but how can she expect me to stay behind when that’s my heart they’re taking away?
Please be okay, baby.
At nurse Vicki’s suggestion, we make a pit stop at the bathroom so I can wash the blood—Kay’s blood—off my hands. As I watch the crimson-tinted water swirl around the drain, my veins burn with the need for vengeance.
The only thing powerful enough to keep me from chasing down Liam Parker right this moment is the necessity of being here for Kay in any way possible.
Psst! Over here. My inner coach chimes in for the first time in a while. We should figure out where they do the testing and go get our girl.
Now that’s a play I can get on board with.
I crumple the rough paper towel in my hands and toss it into the garbage, ready to follow through on my new plan, but I stop short in the doorway to the bathroom at the knowing look nurse Vicki sends my way.