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He quickly stuffed the picture into his pocket before Gabe could see it Gabe would lose his fuckingAsh orried about was Josie and getting her to a hospital They’d deal with the picture later

"Is she okay?" Gabe asked as he dropped down beside Ash "Jesus She’s obviously not okay Ambulance is on the way ETA is five minutes What the fuck happened?"

"I don’t know," Ash said, his voice still shaking with fury

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Josie’s forehead, too afraid to do what he ather her in his arms She obviously had internal injuries and he didn’t want to cause her further injury

"Who did this to you, baby? Can you tell athered in her eyes and slid silently down her cheeks Each one broke his heart He wanted to cry with her, but he refused to break down She needed hi to let her down again

"He had a e," Josie whispered "For you And Gabe and Jace"

Gabe and Ash exchanged quick what the fuck looks

"What was the h We have plenty of time to talk later when you’re not in pain"

She licked her lips, her tongue bright red with blood Ash was shaking from head to toe now as his reaction set in This was bad If she was coughing up blood it meant she was fucked up on the inside People died fro" She broke off and choked,now Where was the godda ht she’d slipped into unconsciousness

"Josie Josie! Stay with ht it Stay awake Can you do that foranywhere The ambulance is on its way They’ll be here soon and they’ll take care of you I’ll take care of you," he choked out, tears knotting his throat

Her eyelids fluttered and she trained her unfocused eyes on hihtly in their depths

"Said nothing you hold dearis safe S-s-said you r-ruined hi to ruin y-you"

Gabe hite even as he grabbed his phone He stepped back and away fro to Jace, telling him to make sure Mia and Bethany were safe Then he told Jace to meet him and Ash at the hospital

The sound of a siren sent relief coursing through Ash’s veins He juet them in You stay with Josie," Gabe bit out

Ash dropped back down, bending over Josie so she’d knoas here

"The aet you to the hospital and I’ll be with you every step of the way You’ll be okay, darling I won’t let you be anything else Stay with me I love you I love you so ht hand and then whi with it?"

He stared in horror at the obviously broken fingers Son of a bitch! They’d broken her fingers! He was precariously close to losing his coet his hands on the sons of bitches who did this to her He’d kill the bastards with his own hands

Forcing hi else froently so she wouldn’t let it fall back to the floor and hurt herself even ently as tears gathered in his eyes

"Just so the doctor won’t fix right up"

"My painting hand," she said as more tears squeezed from her swollen eyes

"Shhh, it’s okay, baby You’ll be back to painting before you know it"

Even as he spoke, his gaze caught on the two paintings propped against the wall Dark Full of turmoil He’d done that to her He’d taken her vibrancy away The essence of her work These weren’t the Josie he knew and loved This was Josie hurting and expressing her emotions in the only way she kne

The EMTs burst through the door and into the living roo Josie’s condition Ash moved back so he didn’t interfere, but he stayed close, hovering anxiously as they went through the assessment

"Decreased breath sounds on the left side," the pararimly as he pulled his stethoscope away "Get the O2," he barked at his partner

"How bad is it?" Ash demanded

The parauessing she has several broken ribs Probably punctured a lung"

"Be careful with her hand," Ash said "It’s broken"

"She’s a et a c-collar on her and bag her on the way"

Ash went pale The words sounded so grim and utterly serious

"Will she live?" Ash whispered, voicing his darkest fear

"Notto die on ht in and theher oxygen She was just as quickly wheeled out and loaded into the ambulance Ash barely had time to jump into the back before they roared away in a rush of sirens and lights

He slid his hand into his pocket, feeling for the photo Josie had had in her hand Gabe had a hell of a lot to answer for, and then Ash was going after the son of a bitch who’d put his hands on Josie

Chapter thirty-two

"What the fuck is going on?" Jace de room

Ash turned and then motioned Gabe and Jace into one of the smaller private rooms where doctors met with farimly

"What the hell happened to Josie?" Jace asked "Gabe called worried about Mia and Bethany, told me to lock them both down andand now I have two very pissed-off women because I made Kaden sit on theoing on, which I couldn’t tell them because I don’t know myself!"

Ash held up his hand and then reached into his pocket with the other He pulled out the photo that was in Josie’s hand and held it out to Gabe

Gabe’s face was a ray and then staggered back to sit in one of the chairs He buried his face in his hands, the photo crumpled in his fist