Page 102 of Mafioso's Muse

She blinked and more tears ran down her glittered cheeks.

‘Can you move your toes?’ he asked.

She concentrated hard and felt them move.

‘See? You’re okay.’ He looked around. ‘Now, let’s get you out of here.’ Perspiration ran down his brow. His once-white shirt clung to his body. ‘I’m going to pick you up, and I need you to hold on tight. Can you do that?’

If he wanted her to hang on, she would hang on. She nodded.

Vaughn carefully gathered her up in his arms, then rose. With the extra height, she was able to get a better view of the destruction and chaos. They were right in the centre of it, and she wondered how Vaughn had even found her.

‘Oh my God,’ she whispered, seeing all the broken wood. The entire stage now lay in pieces in the trap room.Shehad fallen into the trap room.

‘It’s okay,’ Vaughn said to her. ‘Just look at me. We’ll be out of here before you know it.’

She did her best to only look at him, because every time she looked away, she saw familiar items poking out of the rubble or caught sight of an emergency responder looking hopelessly around.

‘Willow!’

That was Lili’s voice again.

‘I’m all right,’ Willow replied, but her voice barely carried.

Vaughn moved carefully through the wreckage, holding her close the whole way. They were almost to the edge of the mess when a dangling beam broke free from a joist hanger above them. Vaughn dropped into a crouch, covering Willow with his body as best he could. The beam jammed on something mere inches from his head. He ducked beneath it and continued.

‘You okay?’ he asked, his voice so gentle with her.

Her face was buried in his neck. ‘Yeah. You?’

‘Don’t worry about me.’

As they were emerging from the destruction, Lili and Harrison ran up to them, visibly distressed.

‘There are paramedics with stretchers this way,’ Harrison said, gesturing for Vaughn to follow him. His face was so pale.

Lili took Willow’s hand as they hurried towards the waiting paramedics. ‘I couldn’t see you.’ Her face contorted, and she began to cry.

Willow knew she would also be a mess if the roles were reversed. ‘I’m okay.’ She had no idea if that was true, only that it was the right thing to say.

Lili glanced at Willow’s leg, and her expression confirmed that she wasn’t as okay as she’d hoped.

A female paramedic gestured to an empty stretcher when she spotted them. ‘Over here.’

Vaughn hurried towards the stretcher, laying her gently atop it. ‘It’s okay,’ he whispered when she refused to let go of him.

She released him, but her eyes held tightly to him as he stepped out of the way, looking like he’d just gone to war for her. In a way, he had.

‘Anything broken?’ Harrison asked the paramedic, raking both hands through his hair.

‘She’ll need some X-rays before we can confirm that,’ she replied while giving Willow a reassuring smile. ‘I’m going to patch you up and take your vitals, and then we’ll transfer you to the hospital.’

Lili kept a firm hold of her hand while the woman worked and asked questions. Finally, Willow was covered with a blanket, and someone was waved over to load her into the ambulance. Both Vaughn and Harrison followed the stretcher through the foyer, maintaining plenty of space between them. When they reached the vehicle, Lili climbed into the ambulance, taking hold of her hand once more. Willow’s eyes locked with Vaughn’s before the ambulance doors swung shut.

‘Is he coming to the hospital?’ Willow asked Lili.

‘Who?’

‘Vaughn.’