True Perfection [Aspire 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Allyson Young Read Free Book Online Page A

Chalmers has just been taken into surgery. If you like, you can go up to the fourth floor and wait there. The surgeon will come out and talk to you when, well, when the surgery is finished.”
    Gordon didn’t like that hesitation. Clearly Warren’s injury was serious and there was the possibility he wouldn’t survive the surgery. Gordon fought the terrible feelings that news invoked and turned his attention to Haley, who was now staring at the nurse with absolutely no expression on her lovely face. It chilled him to the bone.
    “This is Haley Snider, Mr. Chalmers’s fiancée,” he said. “She witnessed the stabbing, and I’m worried for her.”
    The nurse was already taking Haley’s pulse and straightened from her crouch to gesture to Gordon. “Take her into number three. I’ll have the emerg doctor have a look at her. She’s clearly having a bad reaction to the situation.”

Chapter Six
     
    Haley winced when the needle pierced her hip, followed by another cool pass of the alcohol wipe. She literally felt the medication take effect, and she miraculously reentered a world that was full of sound and colour, if devoid of Warren. Warren. She needed to find him. Gordon was looking at her anxiously, rubbing her hand between both of his, and Haley managed to look at him, if only for a moment. She loved Gordon, too, and didn’t know how she was going to deal with the double loss.
    “Little one, are you feeling better?” Oh, his voice was so kind and so full of compassion that it hurt to hear him. How that would change when he realized what her attitude had cost Warren. Haley nodded, not trusting her voice, but she tried to ask the question with her eyes. Gordon immediately knew what she was wanted.
    “Warren is still in surgery, Haley. When you’re feeling up to it, we will head up to that floor and wait there.”
    Haley pushed up into a sitting position and closed her eyes against the dizziness. Gordon held her arms to steady her, and she relished his warmth and strength, stealing it while it lasted. She swung her legs over the edge of the gurney and let him help her stand. The nurse bustled forward and looked her in the face with warmth and concern. She obviously didn’t know that she was looking at someone who had caused someone else’s death, or she wouldn’t be so kind. Haley managed not to flinch.
    “You need to take it easy, Ms. Snider,” the nurse advised. “Take this water with you and have Mr. Sinclair get you some sweet tea and something to eat. You’ll probably be waiting for some time, and you don’t want to get into that state again.”
    Haley nodded again and managed a polite murmur. The nurse stepped back, and Gordon escorted her out of the little cubicle. They made their way down the corridor and to the elevator without incident, and Haley allowed herself the tiniest flicker of hope. Not for herself. No, she hoped that Warren would survive her and she would spend the rest of her life doing whatever it took to satisfy whoever granted her wish. The elevator doors whooshed open, and they stepped inside.
    “Haley.”
    Haley made herself look at Gordon.
    “It will work out, little one. I’ll take care of you. Please, Haley, talk to me.”
    Nothing came to mind, no words that would encompass this thing. Haley heard the pain in Gordon’s voice, but it was like she was mute. She tried to say something for his sake and finally managed it.
    “I’m sorry.”
    Those two words fell like stones between them. Haley wanted to reach out and touch Gordon, seek the comfort he so obviously wanted to offer her, but she couldn’t. She didn’t deserve it, and he would look back on this and resent her even more for taking it. Both he and Warren had tried to make her see that she was theirs, that she belonged with them, to them, and they to her. They had been so patient, even Warren had been patient, and they had worked so hard at accommodating her. And she had selfishly wanted to spread her wings a little.