“No!” Jerking out of his embrace, she glared up at him. “I need to see her.”
“Livvy.” James shook his head and sighed. “I’m sorry. Of course you do. We can go see her right now.”
“I’ll drive,” Bryant said. He pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Unable to speak, she jerked her head up and down. She allowed James to bundle her into the backseat, where he helped her close as they raced to the hospital.
“What happened to her, Bry?” she managed to ask halfway there.
“I don’t know, exactly. I saw it on the news this morning, but the hospital couldn’t tell me anything. The detectives were a little more forthcoming, but not much.”
“Is she going to be okay?”
“I—” He audibly swallowed. “I don’t know, sweetheart.”
“What the helldoyou know, Bryant?” she snapped, ignoring James’s attempts to calm her.
“I know she was found this morning in a house she’s listing. And she’s pretty beat up.” When he met her gaze in the rearview mirror, her stomach twisted at the grief in his eyes. “Livvy... she might not make it, sweetheart. You need to be prepared for that possibility.”
“No. You don’t know her like I do. She can’t—she won’t.” Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on her breathing. But she couldn’t seem to draw in enough air through the vise of fear gripping her lungs. “She’s strong,” she whispered.
“Livvy.” James’s gentle voice prodded her to open her eyes and turn to him. She saw her own fear mirrored in the crystal blue, but underneath she saw the strength she so often relied on him for. “Just breathe, little one. You need to breathe, and calm down so you can be strong for Shannon. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes.” She gripped his hand, centering herself with his touch. “I’m calm. I’m calm.”
“Good girl.”
While he’d been coaching her through her mini panic attack, Bryant had found a parking space. The three of them climbed out of the car and James’s hand on hers was the only thing that kept her from racing through the white, sterile halls.
Bryant had worked some kind of magic with his police contacts and gotten them cleared through. Shannon’s room was easily identified by the uniformed officer standing guard. Bryant spoke to the officer in hushed tones for a few minutes before waving Olivia forward.
But now that she was here, she couldn’t move. Fear, the deep, primal kind that came from the possibility of losing someone you love kept her rooted to the spot.
“Livvy?”
At the sound of her name, she looked up at James. Her daddy. The vise around her chest loosened and she was able to breathe again. “I can’t,” she whispered, shame heating her cheeks and bringing tears to her eyes.
James lifted a hand to her cheek. Part of her expected to see disappointment in his eyes, but she was met only with compassion. “Yes, you can, little one.” He dropped his voice so only she could hear. “Daddy’s right here. We’ll go together.”
“Okay.” Focusing on him, she matched her breaths to his. “Okay.”
Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of her best friend in a hospital bed, pale and lifeless with dozens of wires and tubes connected to her. Shannon, who had always seemed larger than life, looked like a tiny little girl in the bed. Her right eye was black and blue, a stark contrast to the white of the bandages around her neck.
“Oh, Shannon.” Olivia stepped forward, picking up her friend’s limp hand. There was so much she wanted to say, but the words all seemed to get stuck in her throat.
Bryant and James flanked her, quiet sentries guarding their princess. As grateful as she was for their silent strength, she desperately wished she could will some of it into the lifeless form in the hospital bed.
They’d only been in the room a few minutes when the sound of a throat clearing had them all turning to face the door. Detective Rogers stood just inside the room, her face a stony mask. “I’m sorry to intrude, but I need a few moments with Mrs. Monroe.”
“Can’t this wait?” Bryant snapped.
Forcing a smile, Olivia squeezed his hand. “It’s fine. Will you stay with her while I go talk to the detective?”
The muscles working in his throat told her he wanted to argue, but he eventually nodded. “Whatever you need, sweetheart.”
Hand in hand with her husband, she followed Rogers down the hall to a small, empty waiting room. The trio stepped inside and the detective closed the door behind them.
“I know this is difficult for you, but I just have a couple of questions. Would you like to sit?”