He would sort out the reality from the hallucinations later.
Something jostled the bed and Ty forced his eyes to open. There was a man sitting on the side of the hospital bed, dressed in blue scrubs and sunglasses.
“Hello, Tyler,” he said, British accent steeped in sarcasm. “Fancy meeting you here.”
Ty jolted in bed, adrenaline racing through him when he recognized his visitor.
“Liam.”
Liam Bell’s lips curved into an evil smirk. Ty tried to sit up, but Liam put a hand on his sternum and shoved him back to the mattress.
“Don’t make a fuss, love, I won’t be long.”
Ty reached to grab at the front of his scrubs, but Liam gripped his wrist, twisting Ty’s arm away and pinning it to the hospital bed.
“You never did handle the hard stuff well,” Liam said as he peered at the little machine that registered Ty’s heart rate. “Calm down, I’m not here to hurt you. Yet.”
Ty’s other hand grasped at him. “Why are you here? How?”
“Haven’t you heard? Revenge is all the rage this season.” He leaned closer to Ty’s face, using his elbow to push into Ty’s chest. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Where have you been?”
Liam smiled crookedly and peered over the tops of his sunglasses, blue eyes shining. “The same place you have, Ty. Hell.”
Ty gasped for air. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t defend himself, why his breath was so hard to catch. “Did you leave the bag?”
“I don’t intend to kill you when you can’t fight back.” Liam leaned closer, close enough for his breath to gust across Ty’s face. “We shall meet again, Tyler. When you’re well. Until then.”
He pulled away from Ty’s grasp, which was easier than it should have been. Ty struggled to sit up, but Liam was gone.
They went a few blocks before Nick worked up the nerve to broach the subject with his companion, but he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Hey, Zane, I need to apologize to you. For the others.”
Zane glanced at him as they walked, eyebrows raised. “What for?”
“They’re ass**les.”
Zane laughed, shaking his head. “They haven’t done anything.”
“Yeah, maybe not. It’s just . . . Ty and I have always been sort of responsible for them, you know?” Nick reached out to stop Zane so he could face him as they spoke. “Look, the guys, they judge pretty harshly. They think you have something to prove.”
Zane’s smile fell. He glanced away, nodding and pressing his lips tightly together.
“They’re wrong, you know.”
Zane looked back at him sharply.
“I’ve seen how you handle yourself. Give it some time; they’ll realize Ty trusts you with his life. They’ll come around.”
He waited for Zane to say something, but the man remained silent, his dark eyes unreadable. At last, Zane licked his lips and smiled weakly. “Thanks,” he said before he started walking again.
They were stepping through the iron gate surrounding the coral-colored 8th district police station on Royal Street when Nick’s phone rang. He dug it out and called for Zane to hold up when he saw it was Kelly.
“Hey,” he answered, giving Zane a shrug when the man made an inquiring gesture with his hands.
“You guys gotta come back here,” Kelly said in a rush. “Ty’s freaking the f**k out, he’s trying to take out his IV and they’re talking about sedating him.”
“What? What happened?”
“He keeps saying he’s not hallucinating and you two can’t go to the police. I don’t know, that’s all I can get out of him.”
“What’s going on?” Zane asked.
“I have no idea,” Nick mouthed.
“Just come back here,” Kelly said on the phone. “Maybe Zane can get him calm, because I sure as hell can’t.”
“Okay, we’re on our way.” Nick ended the call and waved at Zane. “Kelly says Ty’s losing it, they need us back there.”
It was almost eight blocks from the station to Tulane Medical Center, but Zane didn’t even hesitate. He took off at a run, and Nick sprinted after him. Taxis in the French Quarter were few and far between, but by the time they crossed Rampart and got to the emergency department doors, Nick was pretty sure they could have carjacked someone and gotten there with less trouble. He had a hard time keeping up with Zane’s long strides.
When they were let into the room, they found Ty sleeping. Owen and Digger were leaning against the supply cabinet on one wall, and Kelly was sitting on Ty’s bed, arms crossed. Everything was calm, except for Nick and Zane gasping as they both tried to catch their breath.
“What the hell, man?” Nick blurted.
Kelly shrugged. “They had to sedate him.”
Nick leaned against the wall, panting.
Zane moved closer, taking Ty’s hand. “What triggered him? What happened?”
“No clue,” Kelly answered. “We barely got any sense out of him.”
“We were in the lobby when a nurse came running out begging for our help,” Owen explained. “When we got back here, three orderlies were holding him down. We tried to tell them he didn’t like being restrained, but they said he’d tried to attack a male nurse who came to take his vitals.”
Zane looked momentarily horrified, but he hid it quickly and gripped Ty’s limp hand tighter.
“When he saw us, he calmed a little, but not enough. The good news, though,” Kelly added, keeping his voice bright. “He passed the stone.”
“Great,” Nick huffed. “Now we just have to wait for him to f**king wake up. How long will that take?”
“Judging by the amount of sedative they gave him and the way Ty reacts to medications?” Kelly looked at the watch on his wrist. He shrugged. “I don’t have a f**king clue.”
Nick glared at him. “I hate you. We ran here. Sprinted.”
Kelly looked him up and down appraisingly. “Good job.”
Digger clucked his tongue and smacked a hand against Nick’s arm. “The only sense we could make out of what he was saying was to get you two the f**k away from the police.”
Nick nodded, looking from Digger to Ty, who lay peacefully now. Zane sat on the chair beside the bed, holding Ty’s hand in both of his. He was staring at Ty’s face, seemingly oblivious to the rest of them.