I put the phone down and glare at the officer, who’s still hovering around, and then start stalking the corridors only to have the same doctor come back in front of me and get in my face. He holds a hand out, as if trying to stop me. I bat it away, irritated with everything.
“Can you please come back into the room so I can get your knee stitched up?”
“Not until someone tells me Blake’s okay.”
He looks over my shoulder at the officer. “He’s being looked at. He’s alive and reasonably well.”
A sigh of relief falls out of me, a breath hauled in after to counter it, and then … “What does reasonably mean?”
“He's having scans. We're checking him over. Is that enough for you?”
I frown, thinking. “Yes. I suppose. Kind of. Where is he?”
He herds me back to the room rather than answer, but I go willingly now I know Blake’s okay. My jeans come off, and the doctor starts doing whatever he needs to. It’s not like I’m getting out of here for another hour or so considering the distance from London, so I might as well play ball for the time being and get this knee dealt with.
Hours seem to pass while I’m being treated. The nurses and doctors come, and then I’m alone again. It isn’t until the annoying officer comes back into the room, acting like I’ve done something wrong by blocking the door again, that I start getting angsty with everything. The actual reasoning behind my thoughts suddenly settles in as I begin running through why they’re keeping Blake away from me. He killed two people. Whether it was in self-defence or not won’t mean a jot to some arse in court who’s in a bad mood. And the last thing they’ll want is Blake and I in a room together discussing what happened before they can interview us separately.
“You do realise I was the one bloody well abducted,” I spit and scowl at the officer. He doesn’t answer, nor does he even look at me, as the doctor gets on with stabbing more needles into my skin. “Not just me, Blake, too. We’re the victims here. Have you seen his head? Or my face?”
Nothing.
Nothing but more needles and people stapling my knee back together.
I don’t even know why they’re fussing as much as they are considering it’s only a small rip in my skin. Frankly, I’ve had worse falling out of a tree. And where’s Landon? Christ, the one time I actually need my brother—the lawyer—and he’s probably fucking his secretary rather than getting here to do his job.
“He only did what he did because of the situation we were put in,” I snap, trying to defend Blake. “He's ex-military. Probably reflex and all that.”
“Please keep still, Ivy.” I look sharply at the doctor, annoyed at his calm tone while he rubs some lotion into my skin. He lifts his head to look at my lip, fingers reaching for the cut on it. “I think we're done here.”
“Can I go?”
“We’ll need to keep you in for observation for a few hours—”
“The hell you will.” I swing my legs off the bed, grabbing at my jeans so I can get out of here and find Blake. “I want to see Blake. It was self-defence. It wasn’t his fault he had to shoot those men.”
“Ivy, be quiet.” Landon’s voice cutting through the air makes me look towards the door, watching as he stares at the officer acting like I’m a prisoner. He explains who he is, and then asks the officer to step outside. Rational conversation isn’t on my radar at the moment, so I slip out into the corridor and walk away from them.
I’m halfway along it when I feel a hand on my arm. I turn, glare, and find Willow smiling at me. “Oh. What?”
“Come with me.” She turns off down another side corridor, heels striding along like she’s floating on air, and then swerves to the left.
“Where are we going?”
“To get you to Blake. I looked up where he was when Landon was talking at the reception desk. Stupid woman had her screen wide open, so I could see his name and location.” She turns another corner and looks at some signage. “I'm assuming, given your tone in that room, you want to see him.”
“Good assumption. Is there going to be another officer there?”
“Probably, but I can distract him, don’t worry,” she says, unbuttoning the top of her shirt.
“And you’re doing this, why?”
“Call it a favour for a friend.” I smirk and follow, beginning to appreciate this woman’s shrewd ways. Not only does she manage to keep her relationship with Landon under wraps, but she’s also a super sleuth. Useful.
“I’ve decided I quite like you,” I muse, walking after her.
“Good. I’m sure Landon will have something to say about me leading you here, so I’m glad it’s going to be worth the argument.” I chuckle and watch as she holds a hand up, halting me. “Wait here a minute. You’ll see when it’s the right time.”
“Hold on, Willow. Is he being nice to you? Landon, I mean. I know you're seeing each other. Must be for you to have been in bed with him this morning.”
