Chapter 11 Part 2

Drake felt like he was watching events unfold in slow motion from the moment the masked men barged into the ballroom. He saw the gun pointed at Madeleine he was too far away to do anything not that he would have had he been closer. Suddenly to his great horror he saw Brooks rush towards Madeleine and literally crash into the woman before shoving her into the security detail that had only just reached them.

Drake cursed his luck for where he was crouched down he couldn't see if Brooks had been hurt or not. Drake had gotten injured helping Bastien giving him the opportunity to get Liam out of the palace and someplace safe. He had to find a way to her Liam will kill him if anything happened to her in his absence. Not to mention it would literally destroy Liam if he lost Brooks which in turn would destroy the country.

Drake finally saw an opening to move so he could get a better view of the ballroom. He quickly took it quickly hiding under one of the tables. He carefully peered out into the ballroom just in time to see Riley disappear under a table across the way. He looked in the direction she was going and saw some of the men headed in the same direction she was.

Drake cursed his luck either Books had a death wish or she saw someone else in trouble and was heading to help them out. Drake gathered it was someone needing help Brooks seemed to level headed to be throwing her life away. Sudden noise drew his attention as well as the men that had staged the attack.

The next time Drake saw Brooks she was with Kiara and had taken both a sword and a shield from one of the display knights in the ballroom. Brooks was finally making her way out of the ballroom and in the opposite direction of the terrorists. Relief washed over Drake as she reached him and said his name in a hushed whisper.

Drake checked to be sure it was safe to come out of hiding before joining Kiara and Brooks. The three of them snuck out of the ballroom to the front of the palace. There were some palace guards there who quickly got a car to take them to the hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital, Kiara had been scared so Brooks offered to stay with her.

Eventually, Brooks returned to Drake's side he asked, "Where's Kiara?" Riley grimaced saying, "Her parents are here so I left her in their care. I had to check on you and make sure you're all right." Drake smirked at her before replying, "It'll take more than a knife to get rid of me Brooks. I'm made of tougher stuff than that. The doc has already patched me up. The doctor said with a little time I should be good as new."

"Good," was all she said before her world went black. Drake screamed out, "Riley," then hit the call button before yelling again, "Someone help!" Drake so wanted to get out of the bed to check on her himself but he couldn't. The had given him a local anesthetic in his leg to stitch the wound closed. Unfortunately, the intern that had numbed his leg used too much and he currently couldn't feel it. He couldn't risk falling on top of her.

He had never felt so helpless in his whole life. He did the only thing he could and screamed for help as loud as he could. Within moments a doctor rushed in and noticed the woman on the floor. He yelled out the door, " Backboard and crash cart stat. I have an unconscious woman on the floor."

Drake watched as Riley was suddenly surrounded by medical staff. Backboard now in hand the team moved Riley to her side as a unit. They put the backboard on the floor behind her before laying her down on it. They strapped her to the board before lifting her and moving her to the empty bed next to him.

She was unstrapped and the board was removed quickly. The doctor checked her pulse and listened to both her heart and lungs with his stethoscope before hooking her up to electric monitors. The doctor looked at him asking, "What happened?"

Drake shrugged, "Heck if I know one minute she was fine and the next she was on the floor. We did just come from the shooting so that could have something to do with it." He had felt like it was all his fault. He hadn't made sure she had gotten checked out as well but, she had seemed fine.

He watched as a nurse poked Riley's foot causing it to twitch in response. The nurse then repeated the act in several other locations before saying, "All pain responses are normal, doctor." Someone else was using a portable x-ray machine to take x-ray's of her bones to make sure she hadn't broken anything.

The doctor that was calling all the shots flashed a light into Riley's eyes "Pupils are reacting normally. We need a visual on the rest of her body. If we find nothing I'd say the shock from the attack just wore off and her body crashed. The pitfall of an adrenalin rush." Drake scoffed Brooks was tougher than that there had to be something else wrong he just knew it."

The dress had been unzipped during the initial move on the Backboard. The doctors and nurses tugged the dress off quickly covering her chest once it was exposed. Drake looked the other way not wanting to violate Riley's privacy. With the dress now gone, they found that she had wrapped her ribs with a table cloth.

The doctor barked out, "This looks like a pressure bandage I need you to be ready to apply pressure should it be needed." He unties the knot holding the material around her ribcage. Slowly lifting it off of her body. He comes to some cloth napkins stopping yelling, "Keep these securely against her while I remove the outer layer."

The doctor moved closer to the napkins taking one while the nurse firmly held the other against Riley's body. Slowly the napkin was removed from her side. The doctor could see part of the wound motioning for the nurse to remove the other napkin. Soon the wound was revealed the doctor gently opened the skin seeing something inside. He grabs the forceps and carefully pushes them inside the opening. He grabs the object and slowly pulls it out. Once the wound was clear he stitched it closed and put a bandage on the area.

He then looked to the nurse saying, "Get an IV going I want to get some fluids into her. Maybe even some plasma." He felt a hand touch his he turned his attention to his hand and found Riley's eyes looking into his before she said, "No needles I don't like them."

He smiled softly saying, "You gave us quite the scare. Do you know where you are?" Riley replied, "I'm in a hospital do you know where you are?" The doctor asked, "What is your name. Riley sighed in annoyance replying, "I'm Riley, Drake calls me Brooks, I live in a palace and you don't need to know anything else. However, I need to know where my clothes are I'd like to get dressed now please."

The doctor glared at her stating, "You were just unconscious and I took a bullet out of you. You shouldn't be going anywhere, Miss Brooks." "It's Mrs. Rhys! I am now conscious and you removed the bullet. I am getting dressed and going home. I will see my doctor tomorrow to follow up. Should I need your services I can always come back but I refuse to stay here."

The doctor threw his hands up saying, "Fine but, the nurse will monitor you until your friend here can walk on both legs." The doctor left in a huff along with most of the staff but one nurse who placed Riley's dress on the bed. She smiled saying, "Take it slowly moving might be uncomfortable and painful. The doctor didn't give you anything for the pain. Let me know if you need something."

"You had me worried there Brooks," Drake said sheepishly. "I'm not going to let a little thing like a bullet keep me from my happily ever after," Riley exclaimed. Drake looked at her saying, "If we're going to leave we will have to go to my old home since the palace will be on lockdown until it's been cleared by security. We will also have to deal with the media. There probably camped outside the hospital waiting for news on everyone."