“Let’s go buddy, let’s go,” I grunted.
I made it a handful of steps.
It was the last thing I remembered.
23
Aftermath (Tempest)
News about the explosion was everywhere – TV, the internet, you name it.
When the bomb detonated, it destroyed everything. The entire warehouse burned to the ground, incinerating everything inside, leaving nothing behind but ash.
Nothing was left -- no bodies, no evidence, and… no case.
Watching Dorian come out of the warehouse with Ronan, carrying him to safety, terrified and thrilled me at the same time. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less from him, not after all he’d done to protect me.
Luckily, both of them survived.
Dorian’s men got us all back to the estate. Once we got there, his private doctor arrived soon after, taking care of both Dorian’s and Ronan’s injuries.
Except for some bad bruising, Ronan recovered from the impacts of gunshots thanks to the bulletproof vest he wore. What’s more, even though the tumble he’d taken left a nasty reminder on the back of his skull, requiring a bunch of stitches, he lived to tell about it.
Just before the explosion, Dorian lost his grip on Ronan and dove on top of him, shielding him from the blast. Unfortunately, shrapnel from the explosion spread far, some of it hitting Dorian.
He’d lost a lot of blood and even though the emergency surgery to remove it was successful, he hadn’t regained consciousness. Until he did, the doctor wasn’t comfortable telling us much about his prognosis.
That night Dorian, still unconscious, rested in his room when the doctor entered.
I hadn’t left Dorian’s side since we got back to his estate. Standing from the chair, I met the doctor near Dorian’s bed. After checking some monitoring equipment and examining Dorian, the doctor looked at me, frowning.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my stomach beginning to do flips. “Is he getting better or worse?”
“It’s too soon to tell, unfortunately.”
I looked at Dorian. Even though he’d been badly injured, he had a peaceful expression on his face. I had no doubt, none, he would recover. There was no way he wouldn’t. The doctor spoke again, breaking my concentration.
“We’ll have to continue to monitor him for any dramatic changes.”
He paused and leaned in over Dorian’s face, just staring at him for a couple of seconds before backing away.
“It looks like we have the appropriate level of sedation for now. I wouldn’t expect any major issues. On the other hand, this is an unusual situation, so just about anything is possible.”
I tugged a strand of hair behind my ear. “So what do we do now?”
The doctor shrugged. “There’s not much we really can do. I’ve done everything within my power to give him the best possible chance to survive. For now, it’s out of my hands. All we can do is monitor him and treat each circumstance accordingly.”
Survive?
I lifted my hand to my mouth and slipped my thumbnail inside of it, nibbling at it while looking at Dorian. After everything he did to save me, risking his own life, I couldn’t do a single thing for him.
I fucking hated feeling so helpless.
“I’ll be leaving the estate soon,” the doctor began, removing his glasses and slipping them into the front pocket of his exam coat. “I don’t know if you’ve met Nurse Jasper.”
“No, I haven’t.”
The doctor cleared his throat. “She’s highly trained and absolutely qualified to handle anything that should arise. If the situation becomes life-threatening, I’ve already arranged for Mr. Scott’s personal ambulance to be on standby. We’ll have him to a nearby hospital in plenty of time.”
I know he was trying to comfort me, but for some reason everything he said just made me more anxious. All this talk of life-threatening situations and ambulances brought the worst-case scenario to my mind. The doctor seemed oblivious. He straightened his exam coat and offered me a polite smile.
“Do you have any questions for me right now?”
Questions? I could hardly remember my name.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“All right, then,” he said, turning to leave the room. “Nurse Jasper is in the infirmary. She’s got instant access to all of Mr. Scott’s monitoring equipment. I’ll stop by on my way out and let her know that you and I have spoken.”
I extended my hand to him. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”
He took my hand in his and shook it. It felt warm, reassuring. “Okay Ms. Rain, I’ll be going.”
I nodded and smiled at him. He left and minutes later Ronan walked inside, Ainsley trailing behind him.
“I’m so glad you guys are here,” I said, walking towards them.
“What is it? Has something happened with Dorian?” Ainsley asked.
“No. Nothing new.”
I explained to both of them everything the doctor told me. Once I finished, Ronan looked at me.
“Would you mind if we spoke in private for a few minutes?”
I looked at Ainsley and then at Ronan again.
“You guys go ahead,” Ainsley began, walking towards Dorian. “I’ll stay here with him in case anything happens.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
She nodded and made a shooing motion with her hand. “You two go talk, really.”
Ronan stepped to one side and gestured towards the bedroom door. After taking one final look at Dorian, I turned and started to walk, Ronan following close behind. I’d been so preoccupied with Dorian, I hadn’t realized this would be the first time I ever talked to Ronan alone.
What could he possibly want and why now?
Poor Ronan, what he must have felt like in the aftermath of everything…
Even though his brother was a straight up psycho, he was still his flesh and blood. I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.
We walked for a while, making small talk until we exited the house at the rear and walked out onto the veranda overlooking the grounds.
“Let’s sit,” he said, pointing to a row of chairs.
It was a beautiful afternoon, not overly hot. For this time of year in Vegas, it was a welcome change. Ronan slid into the seat next to me, leaning back and looking in my direction.
“How are you holding up?”
The white-yellow sun shined just beyond him. I held my hand up in front of my eyes, shielding them from the glare.
“I’m fine. I wish I could say the same for Dorian.”
“Yeah,” he replied, pausing and nodding his head. “Listen, Tempest… I won’t keep you long. I feel like I owe you an apology.”
An apology?
Whatever ideas I had in my head about this talk, that wasn’t one of them.
“I don’t understand. What do you need to apologize for?”
“Well, let’s just say that when Dorian told me about you staying here, about wanting to keep you safe… I didn’t think it was a good idea. In fact, I thought it was a huge mistake.”
I didn’t respond, just looked at him.
“See, since you weren’t involved in any of this, I thought it would be best for you if he let you go.”