Mastering the Devil (Rush Series Book 4) (19 page)

Alex stopped so Tip could retrieve it, but the man said, “I’ll come back for it, Sir. Let’s get you to the car first and off that leg.”

Alex nodded as his eyes involuntarily fixed on the light now splayed across the grass by the fallen flashlight. He followed the trail of light all the way to the base of a huge oak tree, then everything in him felt like it simultaneously froze and turned into liquid fire. He stopped so abruptly, it caused Tip to stumble slightly before regaining his footing.

“Sir?” he questioned, concerned. “Are you alright?”

Never-minding the pain shooting up his leg, Alex pulled away from Tip and stumbled quickly toward the tree. As he drew closer, he began to make out greater details of what had drawn his attention to begin with. It was Devon! He hadn’t been certain at first as her body looked ‘compact’ or something. But now that he was closer, he could see that she’d bundled her legs under her T-shirt. She was lying mindlessly in the mud at the base of the tree. He fell once more to his knees, disregarded the fire in his leg, and shook her as he called her name frantically trying to see what had happened to her. He quickly ran his hands over her body, looking for any injury, didn’t find any. Panic clawed at him and he scooped her much too still body up to his chest.

His heart stopped for an instant when he didn’t immediately feel a pulse. But was somewhat reassured when he felt her breath against his cheek. It was slight, but it was there. He pulled back from her and
patted her cheek firmly, but it just caused her head to fall back over his forearm. Panicked, he turned and said urgently to Tip who was standing behind him, “Call for an ambulance!”

“Sir, I think it’d be faster if I drove you both to the hospital myself. The ambulances here can sometimes be unreliable,” Tip said, as he moved to take Devon from Alex.

Without rational thought, Alex clutched her to himself all the more tighter and turned her away from the other man instinctively to shield her and protect her.

“Sir, please allow me to carry her to the car. You are in no condition,” Tip said reasonably. “I’ll put her in the back with you.”

Alex knew he was right, but hated giving her over. But finally, and although reluctantly, he did place her limp form into the other man’s outstretched arms. He’d placed a hand on the ground to push himself up when it encountered a hard object. He picked it up and studied it in the beam of light from the flashlight. The brown medicine bottle was empty, its lid missing. Alex glanced at the label and saw it’d been prescribed to Devon just that morning. There’d been twenty pills prescribed and the bottle was empty.

Alex froze as the full weight of what she’d done hit him. She’d tried to kill herself! Anger warred with guilt within him. Maybe if he’d been able to talk with her earlier she’d now be okay. She was one of the strongest women he’d ever known. She’d had to endure su
ch tragedies, but still she’d pushed forward.

In that moment, he knew who’d died in the explosion. It had to have been her mother. She’d never have done this while her mother was still living. But where was Cash?
He should have been taking care of her. His anger and frustration at the other man slowly melted away. No, this was his responsibility. He should have been the one to protect her.

Rising wearily to his feet, he hobbled to the car where Tip waited with
Devon in his arms. Alex opened the door and slid in first and accepted the precious cargo from Tip.

He gathered her once more against
his chest and rubbed against her freezing skin trying to instill some warmth. “Oh, Little Devil! What have you done to yourself?” he murmured to her, silently begging her to open her eyes. But she never did.

While still holding her close, he struggled out of his blue hoodie and draped it over her cold body. He brushed her soaked hair from her face and wiped at the mud
which clung to her skin. In the light from the dash, her face was an awful greenish, ashen color. He placed his face up against her lips once more to reassure himself he could still feel her breath. He could almost swear it was even fainter than the first time.

He battled to contain a sob of panic from breaking from his lips. Anguish coursed through him. What if they didn’t get to the hospital in time? What would he do if anything happened to her? He’d thought if he’d separated himself from her and from her life, that if her foolishness ended in her death, he’d be spared the pain. But he’d been so wrong. He felt the pain… and the guilt. He should have been there for her. He should have saved her… helped her… demanded that she explain herself and that foolish letter she’d written him. But he’d been determined to have his way. And look what it had gotten him.

He pulled her limp body even tighter against his chest and began to rock her for no more reason than to comfort himself. In her ear, he whispered frantically over and over, “Don’t you die on me, please, baby, don’t you die on me!”

Tip drove through the streets quickly and
efficiently, reaching the hospital in record time. He’d barely thrown the car into park, before jumping out and snatching the back passenger door open.

“Here, sir, give her to me,” he said to Alex.

“Watch her head,” Alex commanded, as Tip scooped her from his arms once again.

Tip turned and moved quickly towards the
ER’s entrance, Alex followed as quickly as his injuries would allow, his heart heavy at the thought of how desperate she must have been to do something like this. So much for her coming out of this unscathed.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, because she’d recently been in the hospital, they already had all her pertinent information. Hospital staff quickly took her and placed her on a gurney before rolling her away. Alex stood shifting from foot to foot, wanting desperately to follow the gurney, but held himself back.

Once he realized he’d be there a while, Alex sent Tip back to the hotel, promising to call when he needed a ride, no matter the time. He then made his way to the waiting room and buried his face in his hands. He tried not to compare what Devon had done to what his first wife, Allison, someone else he cared about, had done. Irrationally, it infuriated him that not only was he placed in that kind of situation, but that it was exactly like that of his late wife. How could this be happening to him again?

Alex didn’t know how long he sat in the small waiting room, but it seemed as if time had stood still. He was alternately hot and cold. He knew he was running a fever and probably needed to take something, but he didn’t want to leave Devon. He’d gotten up awkwardly on his throbbing thigh and walked to the nurses’ station four times already for word, but there was never any news. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad sign. He’d assumed they’d pump her stomach and then she’d be fine… but this didn’t feel like fine.

He’d gotten up for the fifth time and swayed when he reached the doorframe of the waiting room. Sweat broke out on his forehead and he swallowed at the nausea which rose up swiftly as the room swam around him. He leaned heavily against the frame and made himself breathe in and out deeply.

“Alex?” he heard a now too familiar voice say.

He turned his head towards Ensley’s voice as sweat dripped from his brow
. He wiped a hand across his dripping forehead. “I don’t feel so good,” he mumbled.

“You don’t
look
so good either,” she said irritably. “Why didn’t you have them page me instead of standing here waiting on me? I left my number for a reason!”

He licked his lips as he once again fought down the nausea. “Do you think I could get a glass of water?” he asked.

She sighed and mumbled something under her breath about
the stupidity of men
. “Come on, let me help you sit down before you fall down.”

Because he felt as weak as a kitten, he allowed her to lead him back into the waiting room. He fell heavily into a chair as the pressure on his leg just became too much.
He closed his eyes when he felt her cool touch on his forehead.

“God, Alex, you are burning up
!” With quick strides, she left him sitting there. He rested his elbow on the chair’s arm and leaned his face into his hand.

Ensley returned within a minute. “Here, take these. They should help reduce your fever,” she said, as she handed him two yellow tablets. When he placed them in his mouth, she lifted a paper cup to his lips. He drank every drop.

She hunched down in front of him. “How did you get here?” she asked.

“My driver,” he said as he wiped a hand over his face, his usually bright green eyes, dulled by pain and fever.
She stood and refilled his cup from the water fountain on the other side of the room. He drank it all down once more. “We… we found Devon at her house.”

“Oh, I’m so glad,” she said, as she clasped her hands together and placed them against her chest. “I was worried about her.”

He shook his head slightly. “No… you had every right to be worried. She… well, she took a bottle of pain pills. I found her on the ground. I’ve been here several hours, but they won’t tell me anything. Can you check, please?”

Her breath gushed out. “Oh, Alex! I’m so sorry. Yes, let me go see what I can find out.”
Almost before the words had left her mouth, she was gone.

Alex leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. To anyone walking by, he probably looked like a man who was calm and at ease. But on the inside, he was shredded. He kept seeing Allison’s coffin as it was lowered into that big, gaping hole in the ground, as red rose petals, loosened from their stems, fluttered through the air.

“Damn you, Little Devil,” he muttered.

He flinched when he felt a hand land on his leg. He lifted his head and opened his eyes, to see Ensley once again kneeling in front of him, concern etched into her face.

“What?” he demanded. “What’s happened?”

She quickly shook her head. “I’m worried about your leg, Alex.”

“What about Devon?” he asked again, impatience flashing hot.

“They pumped her stomach; however, she had
the pills in her system long enough for them to enter her bloodstream. They gave her something to aid her in coming back into consciousness and expected her to wake after about an hour. So far, she’s still out. If she’s not awake in another hour, they will begin to run other tests to see what’s up. I’m sorry Alex, I wish I had better news.”

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall once more. “
So… we wait and see,” he said with obvious distaste.

“I’m afraid so,” she paused as she stood and moved to sit next to him. Turning her head as a thought stuck her, “Alex, did you know her partner,
Cash Devlin, is here?” she asked.

He raised his head at that. “No, but I think it’s about time. Where is he, I’ve got some choice words
for him,” he said hotly.

Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
“No, no. He’s here, in the hospital. He was in the explosion with Devon.”

He
inhaled and wiped a hand across his lips. “No, I didn’t know. Is he okay?”

“I didn’t have time to get all the details
, but from what I could gather, they expect him to make a full recovery. He’s only recently gotten out of surgery his self.”

“Do you know which room he’s in?”

“Alex, I think you need to stay off that leg. Why don’t you let me go see him? Okay?” she implored him.

Once again, he inhaled deeply, more tired than he could ever remember. “Okay. But I do need to borrow your cellphone again. I need to check in with my boss. He probably is wondering w
here the hell I’m at. I promise to get my own phone tomorrow.”

Reaching into her pocket, she handed him her phone. “No problem.
I’m going to check on Devon once more before I go see about Mr. Devlin.”

“Hey, Ensley,” he said, getting her to turn back to him with raised eyebrows.

“I think it’d be best for now if you didn’t tell Cash that Devon and I are here… not until we know more, okay?”

Slowly she nodded her head in agreement. “Sure thing
,” she said, before turning out of the door, leaving him alone once more with his grim thoughts and anxiousness.

Rolling his stiff neck on his shoulders, he dialed Rush Drayton’s number from memory. It only had a chance to ring once before being answered
abruptly.

“Masters, about time you checked in,” Rush said, with mock ire.

“Sorry, boss. There were… certain complications,” Alex replied.

“Are you alright?”

“Umm, as well as can be expected,” Alex replied, obtusely.

“So, where are we with the problem?” Rush asked after a thought-filled moment.

“Exactly where we need to be. They took the bait as expected, so we’re still good. I’m back in Mexico City for the moment. I needed to let things… cool down for a bit. But things are being monitored as we speak.”

“Well, I’ll leave it in your capable hands. Call me when you get what I need,” Rush said before clicking the phone off.

Alex sat staring off into space for a long while.
His capable hands
, he scoffed to himself, if Rush Drayton only knew.