“Dr. Quick! How is she?”

“She’s alive but unconscious.”

“What happened?” Larry asked.

Quick looked at Hunt. “You didn’t tell them?”

“I was going to after they got here,” Hunt said.

Karen’s eyes widened in sudden fear. “Tell us what?”

“Ava was taken hostage during the fight,” Hunt said.

Quick frowned. “I told her to call the police because the families were arguing loudly, disturbing the other patients, and then I went back to my patient, unaware that one of the men took her hostage to keep her from calling.”

“But what happened to her?” Karen asked.

“I didn’t see it. I’ll let Hunt explain.”

Hunt shrugged. “I was pumping gas when I heard there was a fight in the ER. I came to check on Ava and walked into a brawl. Josh Ryman had her pinned against the wall and wouldn’t let her go. I sort of threatened him with dismemberment if he didn’t turn her loose. He dropped his hold, and then the families began arguing again, and when Ava started toward me Josh thought it was someone coming at him from behind and swung his fist as he turned. He hit her hard…really hard…in the chest. She flew back. Hit the wall and then dropped. Basically, the blow stopped her heart. By the time I got to her, she didn’t have a pulse. I did CPR. Scared the hell out of me. It was about four minutes of that before they had a defibrillator free, and then once they used it they got a heartbeat. She’s breathing on her own, but they have her on oxygen.”

Karen began to sob and threw herself into Hunt’s arms. “You saved her life. Oh my God…Oh, Hunt. You saved her life.”

“We all did,” he said.

Dr. Quick glanced back in the room and then added, “We’ll be moving her upstairs soon, but you can go in and see her now. There’s no way to know if she can hear what’s being said, so don’t say anything that might frighten her.”

They nodded in unison and went inside.

Hunt followed them into Ava’s room and, once more, stood at the foot of the bed while her parents took up posts on either side.

* * *

Karen smoothed hair away from Ava’s forehead, then leaned over and kissed her.

“Ava, darling, your dad and I are here, and so is Hunt. We just want you to know we love you, and that you’re going to be okay.”

Hunt stood without talking, listening to her parents’ words of comfort, knowing that love would become part of what would heal her. He wanted to hold her in his arms until she opened her eyes and smiled at him—to hear her sass—to hear her laugh—to feel the warmth of her breath against his face as they made love.