Scythe & Sparrow (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #3)(91)

“This is Rose. And I fucking love her. I will not lose her. So here’s what we’re going to do.” Oxygen. Heart rate. Blood pressure. I remove the gauze as Jessica sets up an IV with tranexamic acid. I repack the wound with fresh hemostatic dressing. The ambulance speeds through the countryside as we work together against time. And Rose is barely clinging on. Her body temperature drops. Jessica pulls blankets from the portable warmer and lays them over Rose as I take hold of her hand. “Come on, Rose. Fight it out.”

And she does. Wherever she’s gone within herself, she keeps fighting. For every breath. Every heartbeat. As we pull into the hospital and the ambulance slows to a halt, I know that making it this far was just one battle. The war is ahead. It’s in the surgical room. But I don’t know if she has enough strength left in her to endure.




The ambulance doors are thrown open. I run alongside the stretcher as Rose is wheeled through into the ER. I give the doctors on call every scrap of information I can. It’s only moments before she’s whisked away into surgery. Her hand is pulled from mine and all I can do is watch as she disappears behind the double doors and into the heart of the hospital.

I’m standing in the middle of the ER, still watching the doors as though she might get up and walk back through them. The sounds and smells of the ward start to creep into my senses. The beep of monitors. The scent of industrial cleaners. The voices of patients and nurses and doctors. But all I see is the absence of Rose.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I finally break free of my stasis and look at the screen to see a text from Leander.

Just a friendly reminder. Whether your girlfriend lives or dies, we have a non-negotiable deal. My driver will be at the main entrance of the hospital at 6PM sharp to take you back to Boston for your flight.



I blow out a deep breath and look toward the door for a long moment before I type out my reply.

I’ll be there.



I pocket my phone. I look one more time at those doors. And then I turn away.

I will do whatever it takes to save her.





OUT OF TIME


Fionn



“Hard to say goodbye, isn’t it?” a voice says, and I inhale a sharp breath as I turn toward the door. I fumble to hide a tissue but there’s no fooling the sharp, cutting gaze of Sloane Sutherland. Or, more accurately, Sloane Kane. Her eyes shift between me and the backpack next to my chair. “Heading out soon?”

“Yeah,” I say. And then I turn back to Rose to watch the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest as she sleeps. “In a minute.”

I don’t watch as Sloane enters the room. I just want to absorb every moment with Rose that I can. There isn’t a detail I’ve not tried to carve into my memory, from the swirling waves in her hair to the precise angle of her nose to the gentle curve of her dark lashes. I wonder how much she’ll change when I’m gone. How much I’ll miss. I’ll think about her every day. The absence of her will be my first conscious thought in the mornings. My memories of her will be the last thing I think about when I fall asleep. I’ll hear her voice in my dreams. Her teasing laugh. Her broken cry.

How do I know?

Because all those things are already true.

And the only thing that will keep me going through this torture is knowing that my absence will keep her safe.

I swallow as Sloane takes a seat across from me. “Where’s Rowan?”

“Going back to our car with Conor to see if the guy who took Lark really did put explosives in our vehicle like he claimed when Lachlan found him. Didn’t really want to leave it there, just in case.”

“Lachlan and Lark?”

“They just finished up at the police station. They’ll be on their way here soon. Leander’s people managed to sweep through Abe’s apartment to remove anything we wouldn’t want the cops to know. So thank you, Fionn. I know you gave Leander a head start at cleaning up this whole mess,” she says. I nod, blowing out a long breath. “Your brothers … do they know you’re leaving?”

“No.”

“Where are you going?”

I shake my head. “I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

“Why not?”

“Sloane, I can’t,” I say, brooking no argument. I pin her with eyes I know are bloodshot and framed with dark circles. “Please don’t ask. I won’t tell you.”

Her expression gives nothing away as she nods once. I’m not sure what she’s looking for when she searches my face. Maybe a hint of an answer. Maybe the secrets that live beneath my skin. I know she’s good at carving them from souls, just like I’m good at keeping them.




With a quiet sigh, she shifts her gaze to Rose, lifting a delicate hand to sweep the fringe from her brow. Rose doesn’t stir. “Is she okay?”

“I think so.” I place a kiss on Rose’s knuckles, her hand warmed between both of mine. “Infection is a risk. It’s going to take a while for her to recover. But there doesn’t seem to be any brain ischemia, thank God. She just needs time.”

Sloane nods in my periphery. “I’m sorry you won’t be here for it, Fionn,” she whispers, and the burn in the back of my throat nearly chokes me.

“Me too,” I manage.

“You got her past the hardest part.”