She takes the coaster and tucks it into her chest. Yvette lets out a sob, and finally, I can close the door on them. I climb in the front seat this time, and Barnes gives me a knowing glance. “Thought I told you to stay in the car?”

“Did you? Must’ve missed that. Did you know human hearing is best in our twenties and decreases by nine percent with each decade of life?”

“Hmph.” He backs up, the fence making a loud screech of metal on metal that makes me wince. “Guess your hearing’s not that bad after all, is it?”

Zoey pipes up from the back seat with a light laugh. “You made that statistic up.”

“Shh, don’t tell my secrets or I’ll lose my Trivia Master title.”

Barnes chuckles at that. “Trivia Master? Why doesn’t that surprise me, kid?”

Chapter 27

Zoey

The hospital is ready for us, two stretchers and a team of staff standing outside when Jeff stops by the double doors. A nurse yanks the door open, but Blake pushes him out of the way to get to me.

“Let me help you, Zo.”

As soon as his hand touches me, I feel my heart rate slow. It’s been racing for so long, it’s become my new normal, but with Blake by my side, I feel . . . safe. It’s an odd sensation, one I haven’t felt in a long time.

Maybe since I lost my parents.

“I don’t need a stretcher,” I argue, trying to bypass it and wave them off. “Help Yvette.”

“Protocol, Zoey,” the nurse tells me. “We need to assess you both.”

Realizing that I’m up against the whole lot of them and wanting Yvette to get care quickly, I acquiesce. The nurse tries to help me, but Blake growls at him and takes hold of me himself to ease me onto the stretcher. I groan as I get settled, every ache and pain sharp now that the adrenaline is wearing off, and the sound looks like it physically hurts Blake.

Jeff steps aside and lets another nurse help Yvette from the car and onto her own stretcher. Like a morose parade, we march and roll into the emergency department. I can feel eyes on me as we go down the hallway, and I shrink into the sheets, wishing I were invisible.

Luckily, no one says a word to me. I don’t think I could handle it if they did, and with the fire in Blake’s eyes and fury rolling off him in waves, I think he’d likely end up in a full-on brawl if someone so much as uttered one of those awful nicknames.

In the exam area, they set up Yvette and me side by side, allowing Dr. Pruitt to float between the two of us. Even though I’m stuck in bed, I start demanding tests.