Never let her go

Chapter 48

Theo POV

The white wall I was staring at annoyed me. It was too perfect. It was too clean and too fucking white. It was missing something. Maybe a painting should be hanging there. Or maybe the imprint of my fist should be there for everyone to see.

“Where the fuck is Nate?!” Carter sighed angrily.

I’ve been asking myself that same fucking question ever since we arrived at this damned hospital.

Nobody told us anything.

Well, that’s not true.

A nurse came out and told us to wait.

That was an hour ago. A whole fucking hour.

I was on the verge of burning the fucking hospital down. Noah could feel it. His grip on my hand tightened, and I was thankful to him for pulling me out of my destructive thoughts.

Finally, the door to the surgical wing opened and Nate stepped out.

We were on our feet in a second, shouting questions at him.

“How is she?”

“Where is she?”

“I want to see her.”

“Take me to her, now.”

“Is she going to be okay?”

He sighed, raising his hands to stop us from talking.

“Sit the fuck down.” he said, annoyed. “I will tell you everything if you give me a chance to talk.”

We reluctantly sat back down. My heart was hammering in my chest. I wanted to shove Nate aside and run to her, but that would definitely get me kicked out of here, and I’m not planning on doing anything that will stop me from seeing her. I will be the first one in that room, and I don’t plan on leaving it without her.

“What would happen if I asked the two of you to step aside and let me talk to your brothers about her condition without the two minors present?” Nate asked, glancing from Noah to me.

“Try it.” Noah shrugged. “See what happens.”

I just glared at him. He knew it was a stupid question, and he didn’t need me to tell him that.

“Fine.” he sighed. “I will tell you everything, but I don’t want to be interrupted until I’m done. Any questions you have, you can ask when I finish talking. Is that clear?”

We nodded. I gripped Noah’s hand tighter, and he pulled me closer to him.

Liam placed a hand on my leg, and Ezra wrapped his arm around Noah’s shoulders. We knew that we would need each other to survive what we are about to hear.

“Lucy was found in the basement.” Nate started talking, and I could hear sadness and anger in his voice. “She was tied to a pipe with a rope. There are wounds and bruises on her wrist. We found high amounts of zolpidem in her blood. It’s a sedative-hypnotic, which means she was probably drugged and asleep for most of the time. She has two broken ribs and several cuts on her arms and her back. There is a small cut on her neck which we assumed happened when they took her.”

I was already on the verge of breaking down, and I could see that Nate wasn’t done talking. He took a deep breath. This was hard on him. He loved Lucy a lot.

The rest of my family sat still like statues, but I could see rage in their eyes. Noah was trembling, pushing himself closer to me. I leaned my head against his.

“With Liam’s consent, we did a rape kit.” Nate continued and my heart stopped beating. “Thankfully, she was not raped, but we can't rule out that they did other things. We'll have to wait for her to wake up so she can tell us.”

Liam breathed out in relief, running his hand through his hair. Grandpa was sobbing quietly.

“She was knocked unconscious when her head was smashed against the floor.” Nate said, clenching his fists. “We believe it happened when the police arrived. She was bleeding extensively when we arrived at the scene. We put a rib brace on her, cleaned and stitched up her cuts and the wound on her head. She has a concussion, so we have given her something to help her sleep and recover. She won’t be awake for a while.”

My heart was in pieces when Nate finished talking. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t speak. Shit, I couldn’t even feel anything. I felt numb. I felt empty.

The room was completely silent. Nate was looking at us, waiting for one of us to say something.

But we couldn’t. I couldn’t.

I wanted Lucy.

I wanted him to take me to her so I could take her in my arms and never let go. I wanted to see her and feel her, so I knew she was here, and she was safe.

Noah was silent. Tears were streaming down his face. He was staring at the wall with a murderous look on his face. He was pissed.

“Do you have any questions?” Nate spoke after a few silent minutes.

“Can we see her?” Dylan asked the only thing all of us wanted to know right now.

“Yes.” Nate said. “But only her brothers for now.”

He gave an apologetic look to Dylan and the rest of my family.

“Why?” Carter asked angrily.

“We don’t want to overwhelm her.” Nate said. “We don’t know how she is mentally, and I’m afraid it would be too much to see nine men around her when she wakes up.”

Dylan and Carter were pissed. Grandpa, uncle Dan, and Matt looked sad.

“Go home, get her room ready, and pack a bag for her.” Liam said. “I will call you when she wakes up and you can come see her.”

Grandpa nodded, wiped his cheeks, and stood up. Uncle Dan placed a hand around Carter’s shoulders, leading him outside.

“If anything happens to her while I’m gone, I’m destroying this fucking hospital.” he said angrily, glaring at Nate.

“I know, Dylan.” Nate sighed.

He was used to our threats.

Dylan took Matt’s hand, who was staring longingly in the direction where Lucy was, and led him out.

“Follow me.” Nate said as they left the waiting room.

We were on our feet in a second, following Nate to her room. He led us through the surgical wing, all the way to the last room in the hall.

He stopped outside the door and turned to look at us.

“She doesn’t look too good.” he said. “She is pale and bruised. I’m just preparing you, okay?”

I gulped and nodded.

He opened the door, and my heart stopped beating.

She was there. My Lucy was there.

She was pale and covered in bruises, just like Nate said she would be. I was still shocked, though. It still broke my heart to see her like this.

Noah and I were next to her in a second. I carefully placed my hand on the top of her head, leaning closer and placing a kiss on her forehead. Noah buried his nose into her neck, sobbing quietly.

Liam and Ezra sat down on the chairs next to her bed, opposite each other. They each took one of her hands in theirs. They were crying silently, placing kisses on her hands and telling her how much they loved her.

I leaned my forehead on hers, cupping her face and staring into her closed eyes, wishing she would open them, look at me, and smile.

“Nothing and no one will take you away from me again.” I told her as tears started falling down my cheeks. “I am so sorry, Lucy. I should have kept you safe, and I failed. But not again. Never again. I love you. I love you so fucking much, Sunshine.”