I dropped my shoulders and felt my eyes drift shut. I should use my time wisely and get some rest while I could. I allowed a moment to marvel at myself for being so responsible, then I lay down and curled up as if I were a child.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
When I opened my eyes again, a warm blanket had been draped over me and I was no longer alone. Lukas was sitting in the chair next to the bed, staring at me intently. ‘Hey, you,’ he said softly. ‘You’ve been out for the count.’
I rubbed my face, sat up and yawned. ‘The X-ray?’
‘The doctor popped in earlier and said it’ll be another hour or two before they can fit you in. The hospital is very busy.’
I grimaced. After that sleep, I felt considerably better and an X-ray was starting to feel like over-kill. ‘What time is it?’
‘Just after 11pm.’
Alarm lit through me. ‘We’ve been here for hours!’
‘You needed the rest, Emma,’ he chided gently.
Even so, that was a lot more time than I’d been willing to waste. ‘Where’s Buffy?’
‘They woke up Fred and she’s with him.’ He tapped his mouth. ‘I think she genuinely cares for him, you know.’
‘Is Fred—?’ I held my breath.
‘He’s okay.’ Lukas smiled. ‘He’s doing well.’
I exhaled with relief, then I leaned across and gave him a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around me and held me. ‘I needed that,’ I mumbled.
‘It’s been a rocky road,’ he said. ‘But everything is beginning to work out.’
The sudden image from my Cassandra vision of the gun firing at me flashed into my head. Not yet it wasn’t. I burrowed deeper into Lukas’s arms. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked, concerned.
I knew that I should tell him, but he’d wrap me in cotton wool. And even if he did, the prediction would probably still come true. I had to let events play out as they must. Even so, I stayed where I was for several moments, drawing as much comfort from Lukas as I could. ‘I’m great,’ I told the crook of his shoulder. ‘Do you think I can see Fred?’
He pulled back and smiled. ‘Let’s find out.’
He took my hand and we wandered down the hallway until we eventually found Fred’s room. I peered through the window at his thin figure in the dimly lit bed. Buffy was there, focused on the book in her hands; it looked as if she were reading aloud to him. Wonders would never cease.
She must have felt my gaze because she looked up. As soon as she saw us, she put down the book, sprang to her feet and came out to speak to us. ‘He’s sleeping now,’ she said. ‘But he was talking earlier.’ She offered me a genuine smile. ‘I think he’s going to be okay.’
Thank fuck. ‘That’s great news.’
She nodded happily, just as one of Lukas’s vampires approached. He cleared his throat pointedly and we all turned to look at him. The vamp, who was dressed remarkably formally for a hospital, adjusted his tie. ‘We’ve found him.’
I jerked. ‘Stubman?’
The smile on Buffy’s face disappeared; patches of angry fur were already breaking out all over her skin. ‘Where is he?’
The vampire flicked a nervous look at Lukas, but he nodded and motioned to him to continue. ‘He’s at his flat. We located him on one of the streets nearby and tracked him back there. He’s pinned down. He’s not going anywhere.’
A trickle of unease ran down my spine. Why had he gone home? Even if he’d hit me hard enough to kill me, Stubman knew that I wouldn’t stay dead. Why would he blithely return to the one place where we’d be sure to find him?
I opened my mouth to voice my concerns but Buffy was already sprinting down the hospital corridor. ‘Stop!’ I yelled. Of course, she ignored me.
‘She won’t get near him,’ the vampire said. ‘We’ve got Stubman penned in.’ He was underestimating what Buffy was capable of.
I shook my head in dismay and pulled out my phone. ‘What’s Lady Sullivan’s direct number?’
Lukas stared at me.
