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your head is the size of a goose egg.
 Did you lose consciousness? Jaime asked, a soft, reasonable voice in a sea of fear-
induced irritation.
 I& N-no, I was awake the whole time.
 You should still get it checked out. I think you ve done something to your ribs too.
You could have internal bleeding or anything, Jaime said, sounding genuinely worried.
 Really. I m f-fine.
 Don t make me drag you down there, Lark growled, but under the exasperation it
was easy to hear how upset he was.
Mark rounded the corner into the kitchen and came to a sudden halt in the doorway.
The room was full of people Zak, Lark, Jaime, Andy, Dave. Raven was only just visible as
the centre of attention perched on one of the bar stools with a cold pack wrapped around his
wrist and Jaime holding another to the back of his head.
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As determined as he d been less than an hour ago to try and mend his ways and not
jump in unless Raven asked for his help, Mark found he couldn t just sit back and let this go
on.  You need to at least go in and get the evidence recorded or& 
 Or no one will ever believe me, Raven finished, a bitter edge to his words. Mark
didn t begrudge him even while he had to fight the urge to flinch.  Yeah, b-been there. D-
done that.
No one said anything. They all just looked between each other in a mixture of confusion
and concern, depending on how much they knew or suspected, Mark guessed.
He swallowed, afraid of what he had to say next, unsure how Raven would react to his
interference.  You said it was time to stop running.
Raven was silent and still for so long, Mark was beginning to think he was going to be
ignored completely. Then Raven edged his way off the stool with a slight grimace of pain.  I
just& I n-need to check in on Ryan. Then& can you guys l-look after him while I g-go get this
looked at?
 Of course. You know you don t even have to ask, Brody said, still looking worried.
 Thank you.
Raven slowly shuffled past, cradling his arm in a makeshift sling someone had rigged
up for him.
As Raven disappeared down the hallway, Mark reached into his pocket for his keys.
There was no way Raven was going to the hospital without him.
 I ll bring my car around to the back dock.
Jaime got to her feet.  I ll come with you to the hospital.
Mark felt a flush of embarrassment. He d forgotten all about giving her a lift home.
 Damn! I m sorry, Jaime. I forgot. Maybe someone 
 It s fine. I want to come too. I ve got friends that work the emergency department at St
Andrew s. Jaime winked at him, but her smile didn t quite meet her eyes.  Trust me, it s not
what you know& it s definitely who.
Mark studied her for a moment but couldn t work out any deeper meaning right now.
He didn t have it in him. All he could think about was Raven in pain and possibly more
injured than they realised.  Okay. I ll meet you out back.
 We ll be right down.
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As he headed for the door, he heard Dave and Andy start to argue with Jaime.
Apparently they wanted to see she got home safely. Mark ignored them. No one was arguing
with him and he needed to get Raven to the hospital. That s all that mattered to him right
now.
* * * *
Raven lay back on the thin, uncomfortable emergency room gurney and tried not to
think. Just for a few seconds, he promised himself. Then he d get it together again.
For the first time in several long hours, he had a moment of quiet to himself. Someone
had called in Nick MacKinray, the lawyer he d met with yesterday his lawyer now and
from there the procession of doctors, police officers, nurses, medical technicians and
goodness knew who else had just kept coming. Now he was waiting for them to find him a
bed somewhere so they could observe him going slowly out of his mind with worry. All he
wanted to do was get back to Ryan. But someone in a white coat had insisted he needed to
stay, and Nick had convinced him it was a good idea, strategically speaking. Just in case.
Raven found himself exhausted, both mentally and physically. He absently ran a finger
over the plaster covering his left arm from knuckles to elbow. It probably wouldn t have
been so bad if he wasn t left-handed. Looking after Ryan like this was going to be difficult.
The stab of pain as several cracked ribs reminded him sharply that his wrist wasn t the only
casualty of the day underlined the conclusion. Still, as one of the white coats had pointed out,
he d been lucky. Plenty of people broke their necks falling down stairs.
He shivered just thinking about it. Ryan would have been left all alone. He really
needed to think about how he was going to deal with that possibility.
At the end of the day, Ryan was the one and only reason he had agreed to talk to the
police. In the past, more than one police officer had been the enemy. No one ever believed
the man was the victim. Maria would only have to turn sad brown eyes on most of them and
instantly they d be looking at him like he was the scum of the earth. It wasn t fair, but then
few things were. But he was so scared not for himself, but for his little boy that he really
hadn t been given a choice. It seemed to be his best and only chance to record why she
should never be given custody of Ryan, no matter what happened to him.
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And in a way, he was glad Maria had finally been backed into a corner. Not glad she d
pushed him down the stairs, obviously. But in the ranting and raving she d done, he d
realised one thing. She d discovered she didn t have any legal recourse just like Nick had
said she wouldn t. That s why she d come to the apartment. To bully him. If it had only been
him, maybe it would have worked. But with Ryan to protect not happening. And she d
been mad enough to spit fire& or push someone down the stairs, as it turned out.
 Knock, knock. Jaime poked her head around the edge of the curtain.  Hey, little
brother, how you doing?
 Okay.
 Can I come in? Raven nodded, but his confusion at her greeting must have shown,
because as Jaime leaned in to kiss his cheek, she whispered,  I told them I was your sister.
Just in case anyone wanted to stop me coming in to see you.
 Where s M-Mark?
 Here.
Raven focused in on Mark as he slid into the cubicle beside Jaime.
 My husband, Jaime said with a smile as she looped her arm through Mark s.  Aren t I
a lucky girl?
The grin slowly faded as she looked between Raven and Mark.
He had no idea what to say to Mark. So many things were going on right now, he [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]