Chapter 74 Chapter Seventy-three
ARA
My hands shook so badly I almost dropped the phone.
“Mollie, stay with me,” I begged, my voice cracking as I pressed her small body to the floor, trying to keep her still even as she convulsed. “Stay with me. Please.”
Her chest hitched again, a horrible, whistling sound tearing out of her throat.
I hit emergency services with trembling fingers.
“Ambulance,” I gasped the moment the line connected. “My sister, she’s having a severe allergic reaction. Peanut allergy. She’s not breathing properly.”
Millie was crying so hard she could barely stand. “I didn’t know,” she kept repeating. “I swear I didn’t know.”
“I know,” I said tightly, not taking my eyes off Mollie. “I know.”
I scanned the room wildly.
The nightstand, the dresser, the bathroom counter.
“Millie,” I said sharply, forcing calm into my voice. “Where’s the EpiPen?”
She froze.
Her face drained of color.
“I….I don’t know,” she whispered. “It was always in the drawer.”
Cold terror sliced through me.
Madison. Of course.
I pressed my ear to Mollie’s chest. Her heartbeat was frantic, uneven, like it might give up at any second.
Her skin was burning beneath my palms, the angry red boils spreading faster now, crawling up her neck.
“Help is coming,” I whispered to her, even as panic screamed inside me. “Just hold on. Please hold on.”
Her lips were turning a frightening shade of blue.
I ripped off my cardigan and used it to prop her airway open the way I’d once been taught, praying I was remembering correctly.
My mind felt split in two, one half operating on instinct, the other screaming that I was losing her.
Millie dropped to her knees beside us, sobbing. “She’s not waking up.”
“Mollie,” I said louder now, my voice breaking. “Mollie, look at me.”
Nothing.
My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.
Footsteps thundered down the hall.
I barely had time to look up before Thayne was there.
He took in the scene in one second, Mollie convulsing, Millie sobbing, my hands covered in red blotches and fear, and something in his face snapped.
“What happened?” he demanded.
“She’s allergic,” I said, my voice shaking despite myself. “Peanut butter. Someone swapped the labels.”
His gaze cut to Mollie, then to me.
“Where’s the EpiPen?”
“Gone,” I said. “It’s gone. I couldn't find it.”
The air around him turned lethal.
He was already pulling out his phone. “Get a medical team here now,” he barked into it. “Now.”
He knelt beside Mollie, his hands steady where mine weren’t, checking her pulse, her breathing. “Come on, sweetheart,” he muttered under his breath. “Don’t you dare give up.”
Millie clutched his sleeve. “It’s my fault.”
“No,” Thayne said sharply, not even looking at her. “It isn’t.”
His eyes flicked to me then.
Dark. Furious. Focused.
“You stay with her,” he ordered. “Don’t let her airway close.”
I nodded, swallowing hard.
As he stood, his phone still pressed to his ear, his gaze lifted, slowly, deliberately. To the doorway.
Madison stood there. Watching.
I wanted to throw myself at her and squeeze her neck until she dropped to the floor.
Her face was carefully arranged into concern, but it didn’t reach her eyes. It never did.
Thayne followed my stare.
The silence between them crackled.
If looks could kill, Madison would have been dead already.
“This,” he said quietly, dangerously, “ends tonight.”
Madison’s lips parted, as if she might protest.
But Mollie convulsed again, violently, and I screamed her name.
Thayne turned back instantly.
“Hold on,” he said firmly, gripping Mollie’s small hand. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Sirens wailed faintly in the distance.
I clung to that sound like a lifeline.
Because if Mollie didn’t make it—
Madison wouldn’t be the only one capable of destroying everything in her path.
The ride to the hospital was chaos wrapped in flashing lights.
Mollie lay strapped to the stretcher between Millie and me, oxygen mask fogging with each shallow breath she managed to pull in.
Paramedics worked fast, efficient, barking terms I barely understood, while my heart hammered so violently I thought it might burst straight through my ribs.
Thayne didn’t leave her side.
Not even for a second.
One hand stayed on Mollie’s small arm like an anchor, the other clenched tight at his side.
His jaw was locked, his eyes dark and burning, tracking every movement, every needle, every monitor beep like he dared the universe to try him again.
Madison was forced into the ambulance too.
Forced.
Thayne didn’t ask. He didn’t suggest.
He simply turned to her, eyes glacial, and said, “You’re coming.”
Her lips parted in protest, but whatever she saw on his face made her swallow it whole.
At the hospital, everything moved too fast and not fast enough.
Mollie was rushed through double doors, Millie sobbing into my side as nurses fired questions.
“Any known allergies?”
“Peanuts,” I croaked. “Severe.”
“Parent or guardian?”
“I—”
“She’s mine,” Thayne said immediately.
I froze. And so did Madison.
I turned to look at him, disbelief crashing into me. Mine? His?
Madison’s head snapped toward him, fury flashing so brightly it was almost blinding.
“That’s ridiculous,” she hissed under her breath.
Thayne didn’t even look at her.
“I’m her father,” he repeated coolly, decisively. “Whatever you need, I’ll authorize it.”
What?!
The nurse nodded without question and disappeared through the doors.
Madison stared at him like she wanted to tear his throat out with her teeth.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.
As soon as Mollie was gone from sight, the strength drained out of me all at once.
“I need air,” I whispered, already backing away.
No one stopped me. The hallway was cold and painfully bright. I pressed my palms against the wall and slid down until I was crouching, my breath coming out in broken sobs.
This was my fault. All of it.
If Neil hadn’t stolen from Thayne, if he hadn’t been greedy and delusional and cruel, if I hadn’t been dragged into this mess—
I scrubbed at my face, tears blurring everything.
I hated him. I hated my stepfather for putting a target on our backs.
I hated Madison for her venom. And I hated myself most of all, for being powerless, for not striking back, for letting my sisters pay the price for my silence.
On top of it all, I was pregnant with Thayne's baby, and he didn't even remember me.
I pushed up shakily, my vision swimming, and walked straight into a wall of muscle.
I staggered, gasping, and would’ve fallen if strong hands hadn’t caught me instantly.
Thayne. His grip was firm, steady, one arm around my waist, the other bracing my back.
For a heartbeat, we were too close.
His breath brushed my temple. My hands were fisted in his shirt without realizing it.
My heart slammed against my ribs like it recognized him even when I tried not to.
I tilted my head up. He looked down at me.
For one terrifying second, I thought he was going to kiss me.
Then—
“Ara.”
The doctor’s voice cut cleanly through the moment.
“She’s stable,” she said gently. “The reaction was severe, but we got to her in time. Mollie will be okay.”
My knees nearly buckled with relief.
“She’ll need to stay a few more days for observation,” the doctor continued. “We want to monitor her closely.”
“Yes,” I said immediately. “Of course. Whatever you need.”
“I’ll stay too.”
The words didn’t come from me.
They came from Thayne.
I turned to him, shock crashing over me in heavy waves.
“You—what?”
He didn’t look at me. His eyes stayed on the doctor, his expression unreadable.
“I’ll stay,” he repeated calmly. “With her.”
The doctor nodded and walked away.
I stared at him, my heart pounding, questions spiraling faster than I could catch them.
Was it responsibility? Pity? Control?
Or something far more dangerous that neither of us was ready to name?
Because I hadn’t seen this coming.
Not at all.