"Naomi left with Ellen, and Jessie can't find her."
"Well fuck," Dad growled. "Do you want to turn around?"
I shook my head.
"No."
Though I was worried, I didn't think it necessary to leave yet. We'd made good time to Louisiana, and now that we were here, I wanted to see whatever was broken that Ghost needed fixed.
But when we arrived at the house, it was to find it entirely empty. No lights. No stuff. No car … no nothing.
The house that had been so full of life a few weeks ago was now an empty shell. There was nothing there. Not even any trash.
"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Ghost yelled.
My eyes widened, and my gaze connected with Truth's.
Something passed between us, and I now realized that I had someone beside me who was just as worried about the man as I was.
Fucking perfect.
As if I wasn't aware things could get any worse, my phone rang, pulling me back into the present.
Fishing the phone out of my pocket, I placed it to my ear and said, "Hello?"
"Fuck, man. There's blood all over your garage. I haven't been into the house yet, but it's bad. You need to come back."
It's bad. You need to come back.
Those words echoed in my head for the next six hours.
I didn't stop. Not even for gas, which I needed.
Badly.
I was running on fumes as I pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.
For expedience, I drove right up to the ambulance bay, parked my bike on the sidewalk that led to it, and sprinted inside.
I'd gotten a call about thirty minutes in that had told me that Naomi had been found inside the house with the damn dog that hated me.
Lucky for us that Naomi was aware long enough to get Butterfinger to calm the fuck down, or they would've had to tranquilize her to get her to stop protecting Naomi.
The moment I made it into the ER, I was directed to a room by two nurses who knew exactly who I was. It was odd being on this end of the spectrum rather than being the one who gave the directions and information on a patient.
"She's in three."
I nodded at Rainey, one of the nurses and then walked to the curtained off area. The only curtain that was closed in the entire ER.
The soft fabric of the curtain felt rough in my hands as I pushed it back slowly, and what I saw took my breath away.
I bent over, my hands on my knees, as I tried to breathe to stop the vomit that threatened to rise up my throat.
"Seanshine."
Her rasping voice had me straightening, and I walked on stiff legs toward the bed where Naomi was looking at me through one swollen eye.
The other was swollen shut, and she was likely unable to open it at all.
"Hey, baby," I rasped.
"I'm fired."
I blinked.
"Okay," I said. "Why?"
I was trying to follow her train of thought, but all I could think about was the way her face and every inch of skin I could see was a smattering of black, blue, and purple.
Even her fingers were bruised.
And those fingers also were missing fingernails.
The nausea grew.
"Our lovely boss called and told me that the crew that took over for us was in an accident. That either I came in or we were both fired."
My mouth thinned at her rasped words, and I wanted to kill that mother fucker. Slowly, with my bare hands.
"And you went in?" I guessed.
That had to be the reason she left.
"Yeah," she nodded, swallowing hard when the movement caused something to hurt.
Likely everything.
She was quiet for a long minute while she composed herself, and then she turned and looked at me with apologetic eyes.
"I didn't mean to do this."
I moved, placing one hand on the side of her face. My fingertips barely grazed her hair, and she moved her cheek into my palm despite it having to hurt.
"I know you didn't mean to do it, baby," I said. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"Butterfinger saved me."
I knew that.
"Guess she's allowed to stay."
A quiet laugh left Naomi's lips, and then the curtain was drawn aside.
"Sean."
I turned to find Tommy Tom, doctor's coat on over his fucking blue jeans, standing next to another doctor who was new and who I hadn't had the chance to become acquainted with.
"Yeah?" I asked.
He gestured for me to come out while a nurse took my spot.
"She's going to give Naomi some more meds to get her settled down and resting comfortably. She apparently refused anything until you arrived so she could speak to you coherently."
That made my gut knot.
It also sounded exactly like something she'd say and do.
The minute I was out of earshot, Tommy Tom gestured to the doctor at his side. "This is Dr. Mishvele."