Nodding, she tried to talk and couldn’t.
“I’m so sorry,” he told her. “Jesus, I’m so sorry.”
She took three shuddering, choking breaths, and finally spoke. “I’m... I’m okay.”
Armie smoothed one hand over her back, her hip. “How bad is your arm?”
“I don’t know. Something happened when he grabbed me,” she whispered brokenly.
God, Armie knew he was going to kill those fucks. “Have they x-rayed it yet?”
“No.” She sniffled, dried her eyes on his shoulder and lifted her ravaged face. “They’re going to but I don’t think it’s broken.”
He swallowed hard. “Okay.” Being very careful, he kissed the bridge of her nose, then the bruised skin around her bandaged cheek. “What happened here?”
“He...he hit me.”
He closed his eyes, swallowed.
“Then he pulled me from the car and when Leese got there, he shoved me away and I guess I hit something on the car.”
That rambling explanation proved that she needed him to be strong now. “He who, honey?”
“The man from the robbery.”
Armie’s muscles twitched. Was Steve somehow involved in that, too? “Have you seen the cops yet?”
From the other side of the curtain, Leese said, “Some officers showed up, but when I explained, they said they’d have Detective Riske or Bareden get in touch.”
Armie said, “Cannon?”
Her brother leaned around the curtain. “Logan’s on his way. Should be here soon.”
Armie nodded, gathered her close again and said to Cannon, “Where the hell is the doctor?”
“He’s here now,” Denver said.
“And,” said a new voice, “he needs everyone to clear out, please. I need room to move, but I promise to take good care of her.”
Rissy’s uninjured arm grabbed him tighter.
Near her ear, Armie soothed, “I’m staying with you.”
She went limp against him. “Thank you.”
“I love you,” he told her. “No way am I budging.”
She shot up to look at him. Her hair was a mess, her face dirty and scraped, bruised and bandaged. Red eyes and a redder nose and she was the most beautiful, most precious sight. “God, I love you.”
New tears filled her eyes. “Armie—”
He was already standing with her, carrying her back to the bed and the waiting doctor.
He and Cannon remained with her while the doctor put some very tiny stitches in the cut on her face.
When the doc first pulled off the bandage, Armie grimaced. From her cheekbone up to her hairline her flesh had been split. He’d seen worse injuries—but not on a woman he loved.
Cannon, having already seen it, still scrubbed a hand over his face.
Thank God Leese had been following her.
The doctor promised her that any scarring would fade to be almost invisible. It made Armie so damned proud that Rissy didn’t look overly concerned about it.
While the doc worked on her, he talked to them, saying it was the first time he’d had a group of MMA fighters crowding the emergency room. He asked questions, not just of Cannon and Armie, but engaging Merissa, too.
Armie thought it might have been the doc’s effort to put them all more at ease.
A nurse bustled around them, constantly glancing at Cannon, and then at Armie, while also being proficient at her job. When the doc finished and a guy in scrubs came with a wheelchair to get her arm x-rayed, Rissy flashed him another look of panic.
Armie helped her into the chair. “I’ll go with you.”
The doctor patted her shoulder. “There’s a waiting area just outside the X-ray room. He’ll be close.”
Armie could tell Cannon didn’t want to hang back, but he did it all the same. That was the thing about Cannon—he always did the right thing. Right now he knew his sister wanted Armie with her, so Cannon would wait.
More than anything else, that proved how much Cannon cared—about both of them.
There was a lot Armie needed to share with Cannon, but at the moment, reassuring Rissy took priority. He decided he’d tell Cannon everything as soon as he had the opportunity.
When they stepped out to the hallway and he saw Lea talking to Leese, reality crashed in.
He’d forgotten all about her.
Leese stepped over to them. “X-rays now?”
“Yes.” Teasing, Merissa shook her head at him. Keeping her voice low, she whispered, “Even here you’re hooking up? Shameless.”
“What?” Blank-faced, Leese glanced back at Lea, then shook his head. “No, see...” Appearing harassed, he turned to Armie for help.
Merissa said, “You’ve done more than enough today. If you’ve made other plans, feel free to go.”
Well, hell.
But it was Cannon who said, “Lea. This is a surprise.”
“Lea?” As the aide tried to wheel her away, Rissy twisted around to glare at Lea with mottled fury. “Lea Baley?”
“She’s here to help,” Armie rushed to tell her. Then to Cannon, “Get the info from her, will you? And update Logan.”
Brows up, Cannon looked at Lea again, then flagged Armie on. “Go. I’ll take care of it.”
Armie jogged to the elevator, sliding past the door that the aide held for him. “Sorry about that.”
The aide nodded. “No problem.”
Armie looked down at Merissa. Pissed didn’t even come close to covering it. He crouched down and took her hand. “Someone went to Lea and asked her about the rumors. But she fessed up to the truth. That’s why she’s here. To let me know.”
Incredulous, Rissy said, “And you believe her?”
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Armie straightened, and then kept stride with the wheelchair. “I do.” He didn’t want to tell her yet that it was Steve stirring up the lies. At the moment, she had enough to deal with.
When she remained irate, Armie said, “I’m not a fool, right?”
Her eyes, red from tears and a little swollen, glared at him. Grudgingly, she said, “No.”
“So you’ll trust me on this? Please?”
“Maybe.”
At the end of a long hallway, the aide led them in to another, smaller waiting area. There were two other people there, an elderly woman glancing through a magazine and an even-older man dozing. A tall female tech gave Merissa a form to fill out. “We’ll be ready for you in just a few minutes.”
Armie again crouched beside her. “Lea’s father passed away a few years ago. She’s married now, has kids, and since she knew I wouldn’t talk to her on the phone, she came to me. She was still telling me everything when Cannon called and all I could think about was getting to you.”
Keeping her gaze averted, Rissy asked, “You think she can be helpful?”
“I do.” Armie faltered. Damn, that had sounded like a wedding vow.
“So...” She glanced at the form, then laid it flat against her midriff. “If we get things resolved, then you and I...that is...we...”
Armie took the paper from her and laid it on the end table. As gently as he could, he cupped a hand to her face. “I love you.”