What the fuck?

And then he broke out in a smile, pulling back the curtain that hid the other bed in the room.

“Right here,” he teased.

I looked over, seeing Winter curled up on top of the made bed, still wearing jeans and sneakers, but with Will’s sweatshirt on now, it looked like.

“Want me to wake her up?” he asked.

I shook my head, seeing her mouth twitch a little. “No, leave her.”

I sighed as everyone surrounded my bed, and I wished they’d all go away. This felt so pathetic, and I wanted to leave now. Why were they even still here? Banks, I could understand, but the rest of them?

Reaching down, I peeled away the surgical tape and gauze on the right side of my abdomen, trying to gauge how bad the injury was.

Peering under the bandage, I spotted a small incision, examining it.

“Three stitches?” I said out loud.

Three?

“Don’t worry, there’s more on the inside,” Banks informed me. “Ten whole stitches. Super manly.”

I let my head fall back on the pillows, tightening my abs a few times to gauge the pain.

“The injury wasn’t that serious,” Will said, folding his arms over his chest. “But ignoring it was. You lost a lot of blood.”

“Luckily Rika had the same blood type,” Michael stated.

“Yeah, luckily,” Kai mumbled.

I almost laughed. Rika gave me blood? Like really?

I shot my eyes over to her, dropping my gaze to the Band-Aid on her arm where they’d drawn the blood.

Interesting.

“You going to say ‘thank you’?” Michael prodded.

“Someday.”

Rika let out a snort. “Well, now that he’s fine, I need to go lock up the dojo.”

“I’ll go, too,” Kai moved around Banks. “Some inventory came in that needs to be sorted.”

“See you at home,” Rika told Michael, leaning up to kiss him.

“I’m heading out, too,” he said.

Kai kissed his wife as he, Michael, and Rika started to leave the room, but then Rika stopped and looked over at me.

“I would say ‘I’m glad you’re okay’,” she told me, “but I’m still deciding.”

I quirked a smile, and she shook her head, probably more at herself than me.

They left, but Will and Banks stayed, Banks handing me a bottle of water.

“I’m going to get you some real food and pick up some clothes,” she said, smirking. “I gather you won’t be here for long.”

Damn straight.

“Thanks,” I told her.

She leaned down and did something she never does… she kissed me on the cheek. But before she could rise again, I grabbed her arm, keeping her eyes level with mine.

“I, um…”

I trailed off, wanting to say something, but I didn’t know what.

Before my friends and before Winter, Banks was my safe place. She could read me, take care of me, and just be there with no talking or expectations. She was the best thing in my life for a lot of years. I was tired of disrupting hers with all my bullshit.

I wanted to tell her that I…

I didn’t know.

The words tasted like sand on my tongue, and I knew they’d come off disingenuous and unnatural sounding, because I never said shit like that, but...

I finally just met her eyes and shrugged. “Ya know.”

A soft smile crossed her beautiful face and her eyes started to glisten. “Yeah, I love you, too,” she told me.

Will sniffled at my side, feigning heartbreak, and I jerked my chin at him.

“Go. Both of you,” I told them. “Get out of here.”

He laughed as Banks walked around my bed toward the door.

“We’ll be back with food,” Will called out, leaving the room with her.

I hadn’t meant to fall asleep again, but one minute I was looking over at Winter, knowing why she’d chosen to distance herself all the way over on the other bed instead of curl up on mine, but I was still relieved she decided to stay at all.

What a fucking mess. Every time something good happened…

I needed to take her to Maine. Out in the woods, away from everyone else, no WiFi. Maybe then we’d get some time.

The curtain was drawn again between us, the nurse probably pulling it closed for privacy or to not wake Winter, and I sat up in bed, noticing a brown bag on the tray and some clothes on the chair.

Had Banks and Will already come and gone?

I grabbed the bag, opening it. Looking inside, I inhaled the scent of Marina’s piroshki and groaned as my stomach rumbled. Grabbing one of the buns, I popped it in my mouth and ate it before tearing off the sheet and swinging my legs over the side.

“Winter,” I said, not bothering to whisper.

She didn’t respond and I didn’t see her move behind the curtain.

My body ached like hell, but I forced myself to stand anyway, stretching and rotating limbs to wake them up.

Reaching over, I whipped the curtain aside, the rings sliding across the track, but when I looked at the bed, it was empty.

Where was she?

“Winter?” I called.

Was she in the bathroom?

I tried to walk, but the cords attached to me stretched taut. Reaching down, I pulled all the plugs out of the wall, yanked off my monitors, and slid out my IV, a stream of blood following and spilling onto the floor.

“Fuck,” I mouthed.

Walking over to the chair, I stripped off the gown and pulled on some jeans Banks brought, a T-shirt, and shoes and socks.

“Winter?” I called again.

I looked around, not seeing a clock or my cell phone. I couldn’t remember where I’d left it, but it was dark outside, so I knew it was late. Or really early.

Stepping across the room to the bathroom, I knocked on the door, straightening my back and not feeling as sore as I thought I would be. Will was right, I guessed. It wasn’t that serious.

When there was no answer, I opened the door, not finding her in the bathroom, either.

I opened the door to the room and entered the hallway, looking both ways for Winter or a nurse.

“Hello?” I called.

Where was everyone?

All the doors were closed, the corridor was dark, and the only light I could see was from a desk up on the right.

I headed up to it, finding the chairs behind the nurses’ station empty.

“Hello!” I shouted, getting pissed off.

What the hell? It was the evening, but there had to be someone here.

Blood trailed down the back of my hand from the IV injection, dripping off my fingers, and I spotted some gauze on a cart, grabbing it and wrapping some around my hand before tearing it off and tucking the end inside the rest.

“Hey!” I barked into the dark.

Something was wrong.

Heading back toward my room, I passed it and rounded the corner for the elevators.

But as soon as I did, someone caught me and shoved me against the wall, putting their hand over my mouth.

I grabbed their collar, ready to shove them off, but Rika pressed her finger to her lips, telling me to be quiet.

Will stood behind her, both of them peering around the corner from where I just came.

Finally, she took her hand off my mouth and backed away.

“What the fuck?” I whisper-yelled.

“Someone tried to take Alex from the dojo tonight,” Will told me. “She was able to fight them off and run, but…”

He looked down at Rika.

“What?” I hissed, losing patience.

“One of them was Miles Anderson,” Rika said.

Miles Anderson. One of them. Which meant there were several, including him.

It wasn’t hard to figure out motive. And then suddenly everything dawned.

“My father,” I said what I was thinking out loud.

She looked up at me, fear in her eyes. “Yeah, I can’t find Michael, and…”

“And Winter’s gone,” I added. “Shit.” I ran my hand through my hair and then met her stare. “He knows.”

She nodded, agreeing with me.

“We hired security to guard your hospital door,” Will told me. “We’ll deal with this—”

“Fuck you,” I cut him off. “We’re leaving now.”

“You’re not well enough.”

“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” I glared at him. “Go get some fresh air!”

Clear your damn head, because you’re confused.

He cocked an eyebrow, looking displeased, but then shared a look with Rika, and let out a laugh. “Yeah, we thought so.”

And he tossed me a black backpack.

I opened it up, finding some clothes, a pullover, and a cell phone.

I grabbed the hoodie, dropped the bag, and pulled it on.

“Where’s Banks?” I asked.

“She and Kai are with Alex, talking to the cops,” Rika said. “She’s safe. They’re waiting for us.”

“Do you have a plan?” I snatched up the bag, digging out the cell phone, already finding Rika, Will, and everyone else already programmed in.

“No, that’s your domain,” she answered.

My domain. So since we played our little mind games, she thought I was that good?

Not when I was aching, hungry, and distracted, though.

Jesus. Winter. If he hurt her…

I scrolled through, trying to call her just in case.

“Damon,” Rika spoke up as I let the line ring. “Gabriel will give me Michael, because of his respect for Evans Crist and a sign of good faith, but Alex is disposable to him. She saw the information we were looking for. He’ll find her and kill her.”

I knew that. I knew what our problems were, Rika.

But she kept talking. “And he knows that even if we give him the evidence we have about my father’s accident, we were smart enough to make copies. He’ll want assurance we won’t use it. He’s going to keep Winter.”

“The hell he is.”

No one answered, so I hung up and led the way to the elevators. Adrenaline was taking over, and I barely felt my stitches at all right now.