“You promise you’ll take care of her and won’t let her die?”

Her expression softened. “We’ll give her the best possible care, but I can’t promise you any more than that.”

Exhaling a defeated sigh, I stomped out of the door. I watched it close behind me while the nurses worked on Abby. The sobs that had been building overtook me. Just as I was about to sink to my knees, Frank’s strong arm came around my waist. “Come on, son.”

With my eyes blinded by tears, I let him lead me past the Authorized Personnel Only doors and back into the waiting room. Collapsing down into a chair, I put my head in my hands as my body shook with sobs.

“She’s going to be fine, Jake. She’s just banged up real bad,” AJ reassured.

“I can’t lose her,” I muttered.

He thumped my back. “You won’t, man.”

“Should we call her brothers or her parents?” Frank asked.

Digging my phone out of my pants, I thrust it at Frank. “Micah’s number is in there. They’re all together tonight. They had a show in Tennessee or Kentucky.”

“Okay, I’ll go call.”

I shuddered at the thought of Abby’s parents and brothers finding out what happened. It was bad enough I wasn’t high on their list of favorite people, so the very fact she lay battered and broken in the emergency room because of me wasn’t going to cement our relationship.

Raising my head, I swiped away the tears. To my horror two people across the room started snapping pictures. Unable to control my emotions, I whirled out of my seat. “Do you have absolutely no fucking shame? My girlfriend was almost beaten to death not thirty minutes ago, not to mention my mother’s dying of cancer! So you think you could give the fucking photos and gossip a rest for one moment?”

Their eyes widened in shock while AJ grabbed me around the shoulders. “Let it go, man.” Dragging me over to the registration desk, he asked, “Is there somewhere more private we could wait?”

The lady nodded. “Sure, come right on through here.”

As the Authorized Personnel Only doors buzzed opened again, AJ, along with Rhys who had appeared a few moments earlier, ushered me inside a small room that had a few plush chairs. Chewing my ragged thumbnail, I refused to sit down. Instead, I paced around the room like a caged animal. “Why don’t they come tell us something?”

“They have to check her out first, Jake,” AJ argued.

Standing in the doorway, I caught of glimpse of Bree limping past the door with her father, Lyle. Rage burned within me, and I raced out into the hallway. Before I knew it, I’d grabbed her by the shoulders and was shaking her so hard her teeth were clattering. “You conniving little bitch! How could you do that Abby? She never did a damn thing to you!”

Rhys grabbed my waist and jerked me away. “Don’t touch her, man!”

“Touch her? I want to kill her!”

Rhys’s breath warmed my ear as he spoke in a low voice. “Look, I can understand that you want to break her neck right now, but you have got to think clearly. You physically assaulted her tonight too, and she and Lyle could sue the hell out of you. Give him one hell of a severance package and send them on their way.”

“What about Bree attacking Abby? Is she just going to walk away from all of that?” I hissed.

“It’s the bigger picture, man. Trust me.”

I slung him off of me. “Fine.”

Tears streamed down Bree’s face. “I’m sorry, Jake. I really am.”

“Don’t give me your bull-shit apologies. It’s Abby you should be telling you’re sorry.”

Lyle wrapped his arm around Bree’s shoulder. “I hate that it had to end this way.”

“Just pack your things and go. I’ll have the lawyers get you a settlement.” My eyes burned into Bree. “But I better never see her at any show of mine ever again, or I’ll press charges!”

Bree broke down in sobs as Lyle led her into one of the rooms where a nurse waited to asses her sitation. Brayden and Lily appeared then. Their expressions were ashen and filled with worry. “Heard anything yet?”

“No,” I muttered miserably.

It seemed like an eternity passed before a middle-aged doctor in a pristine white coat entered the room. “Which one of you is Jake Slater?” she asked.

Swaying on my legs, I tried not to pass out. “I am,” I croaked.

She gave me a reassuring smile that sent relief ricocheting through me. “I’m Dr. Mitchell, and I’m in charge of Ms. Renard’s case.”

“How is Abby?”

“I won’t lie when I say that she suffered some pretty extensive injuries. The CT scan along with some X-Rays confirmed she has some bruised and fractured ribs, a fractured clavicle, and a concussion, but fortunately, there’s no internal bleeding or hemorrhaging.”

In one long, exaggerated whoosh, I finally exhaled the breath I’d been holding. “So she’s going to be all right?”

Dr. Mitchell nodded. “She’s going to need quite a while to recover though. Fractured ribs can take up to eight weeks to heal, and they can be very painful. After stitching her up, we’ve sedated her and are moving her to a room. We’ll keep her overnight and then probably release her in a day or two depending on how she’s doing.”

“Can I see her?”

Dr. Mitchell hesitated. “Well, we currently have her heavily sedated for the pain, so she probably won’t wake up.”

“I don’t care. I still want to be there for her. In fact, I don’t plan on leaving her alone one minute. I want to be right there when she wakes up.”

With a smile, Dr. Mitchell patted my arm. “She’s very lucky to have such a caring and loving boyfriend.”

I fought the urge to say, Yeah, well, it’s all because of me thinking with my dick that Abby’s in the broken and bruised condition she is.

“Give us about thirty minutes, and you can go up to see her. She’ll be on the fourth floor.”

Extending my hand, I shook Dr. Mitchell’s. “Thank you so much, and thank you most of all for taking such good care of my Angel.”

“No problem,” she replied before she left the room.

“Need me to stay with you?” Brayden asked while Rhys and AJ nodded in agreement.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” AJ questioned.

“Yeah, you guys go on home.”

Brayden stepped forward to give me a hug. “Frank told us that Abby’s family should be here in the morning. They were going to have to drive since they couldn’t get a flight out.”

Inwardly, I cringed at that statement. “Okay, thanks for letting me know.”

After AJ and Rhys gave me a brotherly hug, Brayden said, “I guess we’ll head out for now and come back to check on Abby in the morning.”

“Thanks guys.”

While I waited to go up to see Abby, I called my mom. She was devastated to hear what happened. And because she was the most amazingly giving and caring woman, she told me to bring Abby back home to the farm for her recovery. The thought of having the two women I loved most in the same place made me very, very happy.

I had just hung up with my mom when a nurse came out to tell me that Abby was upstairs and I could see her. The entire elevator ride up I waged war on myself for what had happened. I played a thousand “what-if” scenarios in my mind of why I hadn’t ensured there were more security or insisted that Frank walk Abby all the way to the bus. Most of all, I wondered how I ever let someone like Bree weasel her way into my life and my bed.

When I got to Abby’s room, I hesitated outside of the door. I couldn’t help but be afraid of what I might find once I got inside. Guilt continued crisscrossing its way through my chest. The sins of my past had come barreling into my future and almost destroyed my perfect happiness. With a gutted feeling, I pushed open the door.

The room flickered in shadows as only the dim light over Abby’s bed lit the room. Even in the dark, I could see the extent of her injuries. Just the sight of the angry purple and green bruises along with Abby’s swollen face made me feel like someone had kicked me in the balls. Bending over, I braced my hands on my knees and tried stilling my out-of -control emotions by taking several deep breaths.