Marcus’s jaw was clenched, but he didn’t argue, took the forms and allowed Chloe and Megan to escort him down the hall. Bautista was standing beside a door partway down, looking like a sentinel. He opened the door for them without a word and stepped back to maintain his post. Eden and Zack rose as they entered.
Chloe helped Megan get Marcus into a chair. They lowered him slowly, his hiss of pain slicing through the room. “Marcus,” Megan said in a low voice. “At least let them do an x-ray.”
“No. It’s just soft tissue damage. Nothing to be done,” he grated out, sweat beading his brow as he gingerly stretched his bad leg out in front of him.
He didn’t want to risk missing something about Kiyomi.
“Here, Chloe.” Eden came over to slide am arm around her waist and usher her to an empty seat.
Chloe dropped into it and put her head in her hands, closing her eyes. It was killing her not to know what was going on with Heath. Was he still unconscious? Were they dealing with a simple concussion, or was it a brain injury? Was there a risk of a coma? Worse?
Too many thoughts raced through her mind, and the waiting was hell. She was conscious of Eden’s hand gliding up and down her back, the touch gentle, but not in the least soothing because Chloe was in total turmoil and the only thing that could calm her was finding out that Heath was going to be okay.
She thought of him lying on a gurney right now, unconscious. Or awake and in pain, confused, wondering where he was and what was going on. Maybe he was asking for her. Not understanding why she wasn’t at his side. Because he would have been at hers.
More tears stung her eyes, Kiyomi’s situation and the fallout from the op landing like another hammer blow on top of her already chaotic mindset. Too much had gone wrong. Everything felt out of control.
She didn’t know how much time passed. Quiet murmurs flowed around her. She tapped her foot on the worn carpet, struggling to calm her racing thoughts, to slow her thudding heart. Every minute that passed without answers was torture.
The waiting room door finally opened. She looked up, bit back a groan of disappointment when Amber walked in instead of a doctor. “Got you both some civvies to change into,” she said, handing clothes to her and Marcus.
Changing was the last thing she felt like doing, but their tactical clothes would only bring more questions if the cops came, so she did it anyway, standing and stripping down to her underwear right then and there, not giving a shit who saw her.
“We can’t stay here,” Megan said. “Especially not all together.”
“No,” Amber agreed. “Everyone but Chloe and Marcus need to go. A few of us will stay close and act as lookouts. The police will probably be here soon, because by now the staff will have called them. You’ll have to stick to the cover story we came up with.”
Chloe nodded dully. “What about Trin?”
“She’s working with Rycroft. I need to head back to HQ to meet with them, but I’ll stay if you want me here.”
Chloe appreciated the offer, but shook her head. “You go. I’ll be okay.” Marcus was here. She wouldn’t be alone.
Amber and her sister shared a questioning look, then Megan nodded at her. “All right. But I won’t be far. Text me if you need me. You too, Marcus.”
He and Chloe both nodded, and the others all filed out of the room.
In the sudden silence that followed, a flood of despair swamped her. “Oh, dammit,” she breathed, bending over and rocking, arms wrapped around her waist. She felt like she was about to split apart.
“Here,” Marcus said. He reached out a hand, surprising her.
She was well aware that she wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so to speak, and that she definitely wasn’t Marcus’s. Her high-energy, impulsive personality was the polar opposite of his quiet steadfastness, and she knew it had rubbed him the wrong way more than once. Yet now, with the two of them here suffering in silent, mutual solidarity, he was offering her his support.
She got up, sat in the chair next to him and put her hand in his, a bittersweet pang hitting her at the way his fingers closed around it and held fast. At the moment she was thankful he wasn’t a talker. She couldn’t have handled inane conversation right now. And his solid presence, the reassuring grip of his hand letting her know she wasn’t alone, were comforting.
Neither of them spoke as the clock kept ticking, each lost in their own thoughts. When the door opened again, she sat up straight as a doctor walked in. He glanced at them, then down at his clipboard. “Is someone here for Heath Barrett?”
“Yes.” Chloe shot to her feet, her heart trapped in her throat. “How is he?”
“In surgery.”
Her heart constricted. “What—”
“He had internal bleeding that needed to be addressed immediately.”
“What kind of internal damage?” Her voice sounded strained. Strangled.
“His spleen, and possibly his liver. His kidneys were bruised by the impact, and he sustained a head injury as well. But he regained consciousness before going to the operating room. He was alert and responsive.”
She exhaled in relief, then frowned. Head injuries were dangerous and tricky. “That’s good, right?”
He gave her an understanding smile. “That’s very good. It will be a few hours before you’re able to see him, so if you wanted to perhaps leave—”
“I’m staying. I’ll wait as long as it takes to see him.”
The doctor nodded, then focused on Marcus. “I understand your wife was brought in with stab wounds earlier?”
“Aye.”
“She’s currently in surgery as well, and we’ve called in a neurosurgeon to try and save the damaged nerve in her arm. It could be a long wait until she’s in recovery too.”
Marcus let out a slow breath, all but slumping back against the wall. “I’ll wait as well.”
When the doctor left, Chloe immediately texted the others to update them, relief and hope making her throat thicken. She dropped back into the chair beside Marcus with a hard sigh and rubbed a hand over her face. “Holy hell.”
He grunted in agreement and gave her back a reassuring pat before folding his hands across his middle.
The quiet started to grate on her within a few minutes, the urge to get up and move making her squirmy. “I never understood what it was like until now,” she said softly.
Marcus glanced over at her. “What what was like?”
“How it felt to be on the other side of this. What it’s like for one of you guys. Being involved with one of us, and having to deal with the risks and then the aftermath if anything went wrong.” Her and the other Valkyries, she meant.
She continued, taking care to put her thoughts into words. “When I was alone and it was just me risking my own neck, it was different. I didn’t care as much if anything happened to me, as long as the job got done and the target was neutralized. I never stopped to think about how it must have felt for Heath once we got together, and never understood how awful this helplessness feels. But now that it’s him in that operating room…I get it. The cost is too high.”
Marcus was silent for a moment. “Aye. Way too high.”
She swallowed, thinking of everything she would tell Heath when she saw him. “I think Kiyomi will get it now too.”