All the Broken Pieces: (Broken Series Book 3) Read Free Page B

and watched Lauren over his shoulder, finally wiggling from his grip and approaching her former nemesis. “How is he? Any word?”
    Lauren shook her head and blinked rapidly, fighting another wave of tears. “No word.” She breathed out a shuddering breath as Ali leaned over and hugged her. Lauren let go of my hand but quickly gripped it again with her other, tightening her grip on it so hard my knuckles cracked and turning toward Clay’s new bride with a sad smile. She embraced Ali with one hand and watched me over her shoulder, just as Ali had watched her over Clay’s a moment before.
    I could feel her brilliant blue eyes reaching for me despite our clasped hands, needing more. It was as if she recognized something in me that I hadn’t intended to reveal. Maybe she instinctively knew I empathized with her situation, had basically been there myself. Whatever it was, I found myself unable to look away, even when she let go of Ali and turned to speak to her. I just kept watching her as they softly spoke, voices hushed with concern.
    The conversation went unnoticed until Ali’s head whipped in Clay’s direction and I saw a flash of anger in her eyes. Lauren must have relayed the information Clay had gathered.
    “You mean to tell me Bonnie has put a fucking gag order on the staff to shut Lauren out? Who does something like that?” Her tone was disbelieving and enraged.
    Pissed-off Ali was a scary thing.
    She let go of Lauren’s other hand and stood, seething. “I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to let this go on. There is no excuse for doing something like that to her, not ever.” With that, she marched past Clay and out the door.
    He blew out a big breath and watched his wife stalk down the hall. “Shit.”
    “Yeah, I feel sorry for whoever she finds.” Lauren chimed in, looking nervous. “I hope she doesn’t get herself in trouble. I know Teach will want to see her when he wakes up from the anesthesia.” Her face went pale and her eyes dropped to the table. “If he wakes up.”
    “Stop it. Don’t do that to yourself. We don’t know anything yet.” Clay told her, though his voice was a bit hollow, as if he didn’t quite believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.
    Her eyes were on me again, quiet desperation on her face as she spoke so softly I had to lean in to hear. “He can’t die. He’s all I have, all I’ve ever had. I can’t be here without him, I wouldn’t know how...” Her voice trailed off but her lips still moved as she played out the horrible possibilities in her mind.
    I glanced over my shoulder at Clay, who was making his way closer, intending to comfort her. I knew he would start spewing those worn-out platitudes so I stopped him with a quick shake of my head. He paused in his approach and nodded to me. “Okay, you two stay here, I’m going to find my wife before she throttles some innocent nurse and gets tossed in jail.”
    Lauren glanced over at him, breaking our connection. “Tell her to save the throttling for Bonnie. This is her doing.” Her shoulders slumped. “Or maybe it’s my fault. It wouldn’t be like this if Bonnie didn’t hate me so much.”
    Clay halted by the door and lifted a hand, pointing at Lauren and addressing her in a firm tone. “Bullshit. This isn’t your fault. Don’t let her make you feel like you don’t belong here. You belong here more than any of us. Even Marilee. Claim your spot at his side and tell Bonnie to fuck off if she doesn’t like it. You are his family. Understand?”
    Whoa. Clay was just as pissed as Ali. I almost felt sorry for this Bonnie person. Almost.
    Lauren’s eyes shined with unshed tears and she nodded. “You’re right. Thanks, Clay.”
    He turned to address me. “If Marilee and that old crow get here before I get back, text me or Ali and let us know.”
    “You’ve got it.” I assured him. “And I won’t be letting anyone mistreat Lauren, so once you get my text, you better get your ass back here to play