His Always: Book 1 Rhodes Character Series

Chapter 9: Tate

"Dude, who are you talking to?" I question as I walk back into my living room. I look up from my phone just in time to see Eric catching Natalie as she falls forward. I stand motionless as Eric lifts her into his arms. The motion was enough to zap Natalie back awake, moaning in pain. The unnerving noise that comes from deep in her throat brings me out of my trance and I step into action.

"Eric, bring her in here. Natalie, what the hell happened?" The tone of my voice seems to startle her as her breathing picks up even more. Her eyes are darting every which direction. Eric lays her down on the couch, which causes Nat to yell out in pain. Her breathing is rapid now. I kneel beside her face and gently push her hair out of her eyes. "Nat, hey, it's me. You're safe. You're in my apartment." Her eyes lock with mine, but her breathing doesn't slow. I try to brush my hand through her hair to soothe her, but my hand gets caught. Her hair is full of blood. I look at my hand and her head before turning to show Eric without alarming Natalie. "Honey, what happened to you? Can you talk to me?" I try to whisper to her. Natalie opens her mouth to speak, but Eric beats her to it.

"Natalie, I've got to see where this blood is coming from. Can I lift your shirt?" Natalie squirms, and I press my hand down on her shoulder to keep her still. "No hospital," she whispers. It comes out as more of a cry. "Please, I don't want to go to the hospital." Her breathing picks up again in panic. I nod at Eric to lift her shirt. As he shifts the fabric, Natalie immediately hisses in pain. "Talk to me Natalie. Where is it coming from?"

"My stomach," she grits out. "Shit, is it bleeding bad? It happened so fast. You promised no hospital, Tate," she continues. I cut her rambling off. "Woah, slow down. Look at me Nat. Can you focus on me?" I don't look away from her but continue to hear Eric cutting away her shirt. I hold out both my hands to Natalie. "Can you grab my fingers and squeeze them as hard as you can?"

"I am not going to the hospital, Tate. You can't make me. It's fine. I just got tossed around a little. I am a grown woman. A freaking doctor. I can access myself." She tries to get up and I gently push her shoulders back down. She hisses again but tries to hide her face in the side of the cushion. I feel lost in the moment. Seeing her like this. Blood everywhere. Distraught. I am used to blood. I see it every day. But I am not used to Nats blood. I snap out of it when I hear Eric raise his voice slightly.

"Natalie, can you please focus on what Tate is asking you? I know you want to avoid the hospital. I can't promise you that unless you are following Tates' directions. Okay? Please squeeze his fingers." Eric, gently but firmly, urges. The tone of his voice makes the hairs stick up on the back of my neck. Natalie follows my phone light slowly with her eyes and squeezes my fingers. We both hear Eric suck in a huge breath. Natalie squirms to sit up but yelps out. "Shit just lay down for me, baby." I turn towards Eric and position myself to where Natalie can't see him. I follow his eyes and see two glass shards poking through her delicate skin. One around her hip, the other closer to her belly-button. I lean my arm over Natalies top half careful not to put any of my weight on her but I don't want her to see down here.

"Okay honey, I'm going to feel around you abdomen to see if I can get a better idea of what's going on here." Eric adds as he tries to gently push around the shards of glass to see how deep they are. I look over my shoulder at Nat. Silent tears stream down her face. The shock of whatever happened to her might be wearing off. "Keep taking deep breaths for me, babe. You are doing so good. I am so proud of you." She doesn't look my way. I look back at Eric, who mutters, "Two shards of glass. One protruding out around her hip, which isn't very deep, but the one in her stomach is much deeper. I am not taking that out without a scan. Tate, I've got blood everywhere down here. I need to get her to a hospital so I can see what I am working with. I don't know where all this blood is coming from on her legs." When Eric says the word hospital and I don't hear an uproar from Natalie my head quickly spins around.

She looks paler and weaker. I put my head next to hers when Eric goes and gets more towels and my extra first aid kit that I keep on hand. "Natalie, I need you to think like a doctor for a second for me. We need to get you to a hospital. You are losing too much blood. I can't help you here. I need more information. Hell, I don't even know what happened." She doesn't look at me. Much weaker this time, she mutters, "No hospital. Figure it out here. I am safe here." I stare at her, willing her to look at me. To see in my eyes that I wouldn't let anything happen to her, even if we went to the emergency room. Eric brings me out of my head. "Natalie, I need to take off your pants." That snaps Natalie out of her trance. Both she and I look at Eric, extremely confused. He continues, "You're losing more blood and I think it's coming from your legs. You might have another shard of glass stuck somewhere I can't see and you can't feel because of your shock. Your black leggings are making this impossible." She surprises us both by stating, "Do whatever you need to do. Just no hospital."
"Okay, Tate, can you help me? I don't want to jar her stomach too much." I kiss Natalie's forehead and shift down towards Natalie's legs to help him ease her leggings off. Both Eric and I suck in a gasp. Blood is everywhere. Covering her leggings, legs, and underwear. Natalie hears our reaction and is sitting up before I can get my hands on her to hold her down. "Oh god, is it bad? Shit, it's bad."

I close my eyes and swallow the bile rising in my throat. "Natalie, baby, what happened to you? You have to start talking now. I don't know how to help if I don't know what is going on. Her eyes spring wide. She knows what I mean. "What? Nothing like that happened. I wasn't hurt like that. Nothing like that happened." She pleads. I don't know how to feel as I ask the next question I have for her. Eric beats me to it.

"Natalie, sweetie, how far along are you?" My eyes close the moment he asks. We always are on the same wavelength. Natalie starts shaking her head. "What? What are you talking about? Can someone explain?" She tries to sit up again - catching me off guard. The pain must be getting worse. She immediately flies back down and turns over to vomit. Fuck. I grab another clean wash cloth and wipe her face. "Natalie. Shit. Were you - are you pregnant?" I correct myself. I should know better. We've left Eric's field of expertise and have now swung into mind. I am calling the shots now.

Eric hands me another warm washcloth to try and wipe more of the blood off her face. "Pregnant? I have an IUD Tate. I can't be pregnant." Eric stands up. "Listen, dude, we have to get her to an ER. She's got vaginal bleeding. We need machines. Nurses. Support here." I hold up my hand to signal him to stop talking for a second.

I take a deep breath and turn to Nat, who is quietly sobbing now. "Baby, listen to me. We don't have a choice anymore. We have to go. I won't leave you for a second, okay? I have got to get you to an ER." She sobs louder and continues to suck in harsh breaths as her hold body shakes. In the tiniest whisper, she mutters, "Tate, I'm scared. Please don't leave me." Eric grabs a blanket from the couch and throws it over Natalie. I try to gently scoop her up. She moans from the movement. "Shhh, keep breathing. I'm not leaving you. I'm right here." All three of us are out the door before she can protest anymore. "My head is throbbing, T. I don't know if I can keep my eyes open anymore."

"Nope. Keep talking to me. We're almost there, okay? One more block. Stay awake." I urge. I start to hear the sirens of incoming ambulances as we get closer to the hospital. Natalie wiggles around in my grasp. Causing her to moan loudly from the shift in position. "It all happened so fast, Tate. Don't leave me."

I am sprinting now. The double doors open and Eric yells before I can get the words out. "INCOMING. I need a gurney. We need help over here. Two stab wounds to the abdominal area. Laceration to the right temple. Patient is experiencing unknown vaginal bleeding. I need an ultrasound in bay three now. Someone get a line in her." I feel as if I am in a trance as I follow Eric around to the bay. How did we get here? How did this happen? What happened to her? I lay her down. She barely stirs. I hear a sob come from someone behind me, I think. I look up before I realize it came from me.