“What is it?” Gabe asks as I stand up.


    I couldn’t think clearly. They were supposed to take care of Ava. Why then was she at the hospital? This


    is why I didn’t want her to leave thepound. I don’t know what the hell happened, but I knew she was


    safer at home.


    “Theo just told me that Ava has been rushed to the hospital” I reply through gritted teeth.


    I was pissed off and worried at the same time. I couldn’t bare it if anything happened to her. Not when I


    just got her back.


    “Come on I’ll drive you”


    I just nod my head before heading out.


    “Cancel all my meetings” I tell my secretary while walking towards the elevator.


    My look must have conveyed something because those who were in the hallways stepped out of my way.


    They parted like the red fucking sea.


    My heart pounded as Gabe and I rode the elevator all the way to the underground parking. I couldn’t stop


    the images of thest time she was rushed to the hospital from ying through my mind like a damn


    broken record.


    Fear consumed me as my mind chose to focus on everything that could go wrong. Fuck, I needed to see


    her. Needed to know that she was okay.


    We get into the car and Gabe drives out immediately.


    ver me.


    “Haven’t we been here before?” I ask as a sense of de ja vu washes over


    I still remember how pain and fear gripped my heart that day. How I felt like my soul had been smashed


    into a thousand small pieces. It’s something I want to forget, but it’s etched to me like a damn tattoo.


    “She’s going to be okay” Gabe reassures me as if sensing the turmoil inside me.


    I don’t say anything. I won’t be able to rx until I know for sure that she’s safe.


    The drive to the hospital is a blur and before I know it, we were parking in front of the hospital. The


    moment he switches off the engine, I get out and rush towards the entrance.


    get inside. A nurse sees me and motions for me to follow her. Almost everyone who worked in the


    hospital knew me. Not because I was Rowan fucking Woods, but because when Ava was in aa!


    There doctors are with her now, but her parents are in the waiting room”


    Theo


    neo and Nora stand up the moment I walk in. Theo’s face looked like it was curved from granite and


    Nora looked like she has been crying.


    Iris was in her arms and was bawling her eyes out. Without really thinking, I pull her from Nora’s arms


    and


    hold her to my chest.


    I whisper soothing words to her. Trying to calm down her hysteria. She rxes a bit but continues to


    sniffle.


    “Can I take her?” the nurse asks gesturing to Iris. “She’s probably hungry and that’s why she’s fussy”


    I nod my head and allow her to take Iris from my arms. She was probably right.


    She excuses herself and leaves just as Gabe walks into the room.


    “What the hell happened?” I turn to them and growl while trying to keep my voice low. “I trusted you to


    take care of her”


    “And we did” Theo replies. “I don’t know what the hell happened. She excused herself to go to the


    bathroom. A few minutester, we saw Emma heading in our direction looking frantic. She’s the one that


    told us that Ava copsed in the bathroom”


    Nora picks up from where her husband left off “We didn’t have time to question her about what happened


    or why she was in the bathroom with Ava. Our main concern at the time was getting Ava to the hospital”


    “And where is Emma?” Gabe asks.


    “We don’t know. We haven’t seen her since she told us about Ava”


    Fuck. My anger was rising. I really wanted to punch something or someone


    Just then, Ava’s doctor walks out.


    “When I discharged Ava, I expected you to take good care of her Rowan” he begins with admonishing


    me. What I didn’t expect was having her back in my care two weeks after she left the hospital”


    I re at her parents before facing him again.


    “How is she?”


    Stable for now, She’s still unconscious but she’ll probably wake up in a few hours” he replies.


    My heart calms down, but not by much. I won’t be able to rx until she is fully awake!


    “Did she happen to hit her head on the floor when she copsed?” he inquired.


    “I don’t think so. Why?” Nora asks.


    “Because of the wound on the back of her head. We were able to treat and stop the bleeding, but


    because of recording purposes, we need to know how she got hurt”


    “She wasying on her side when we found her. It’s impossible that she would have hit her head when


    she


    copsed” Theo rifies.


    My anger bes a fucking inferno at the implication.


    This only means that she was hurt some other way and given how unstable Emma is, I bet my whole


    fucking fortune that she’s responsible.


    “That’s strange” the doctor murmurs to himself.


    “You said that she’s still unconscious?” I ask the doctor and he nods. “Good. I’ll be right back”


    I turn to my brother. “Give me the car keys”


    He’s hesitant but finally does.


    “Where are you going?” he asks me worriedly, but I don’t answer.


    I don’t give them another look as I walk out of the waiting room, my anger zing hotter than the fires of


    hell.


    It was time I paid Emma a little visit. No one hurts Ava and gets away with it.