Free The Rocker That Holds Her (The Rocker...) by Terri Anne Browning

soon as you get this!”
    My feet were moving even as the next message started playing automatically. “What is the matter with you fuckheads? Emmie is sick and you idiots are off getting laid! Some family you are.”
    “They won’t tell me what’s wrong because I’m not family. Get here. NOW!” The third message ended and the fourth started. “Alright, Armstrong. I see how it is. You don’t really care at all, huh? All those drunken confessions of loving Em were just bullshit. Well, I’m not so stupid. If you won’t step up and take care of her, I fucking will. She likes me, you know.”
    I nearly crushed my phone as I hit the end button, deleting all of the other messages without listening. Instead of letting his words get the better of me, I tried to stay focused. I had to find the guys, get to the hospital, and make sure that Emmie was okay.
    By the time I found the others and we got to the hospital, more than two hours had passed since the first phone call. Axton was standing by the entrance, his phone still to his ear as he tried to call Jesse’s number again. The relief that was on his face when we stepped out of the taxi was evident. It only made my fear and anxiety level rise.
    “ About fucking time, dickwads!” he exploded and punched me in the arm.
    “ How is she?” Jesse demanded before I could ask.
    Axton shook his head. “She was unconscious when we got here, but she’s stable now. They gave her fluids and the doctor was talking to her the last time I peeked in.”
    “Thanks for helping her. You can go now,” I told him, not caring that I was acting like a bastard. I should have been shaking my friend’s hand, thanking him on my knees for taking Emmie to the hospital when she had needed help.
    “ So you can take over? Looks like you haven’t been doing such a good job so far.” The rock god’s eyes darkened, looking almost menacing. “I think I’ll stay. Maybe finish what we started earlier tonight when she let me kiss her.”
    I could picture my fist connecting with his jaw, imagined the bone breaking. As I started to take a step toward the prick to do just that, Jesse grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door. “Thanks, Ax!”
    Shane was already asking a nurse which room Emmie was in. “Are you a family member?”
    Drake nodded his head, answering for his brother. “Yes, ma’am. Em is our sister.” The lie was something that slipped off the tip of their tongues easily. From the time Emmie had come to live with us that was what we told most people. For me, it had been a harder pill to swallow when saying those words.
    The nurse didn’t question either Shane or Drake. She just glanced down at her iPad and then gave them her room number. I kept a few paces back from my friends as we rushed toward her room. I was still seething after the encounter with Axton.
    A doctor was sitting beside Emmie’s bed when we entered her room. She was deathly pale and all thoughts of destroying Axton or being angry at Emmie evaporated. Gods, she looked so small lying in the hospital bed. She was covered with a blanket to her waist, and an IV with rapidly dripping fluids was attached to one of her arms. I could see the wires from what I could only guess was a heart monitor, and I felt like I was going to vomit.
    So close. So fucking close! I … We had nearly lost her.
    Oh, dammit all to hell. I had nearly lost her. There I had admitted it to myself.
    The guys were apologizing to Emmie. We should have gotten here sooner. We should have been the ones that had taken her to the hospital in the first place. Axton was right. We hadn’t been taking good enough care of Emmie.
    I turned my full attention on the doctor, determined to find out exactly what was going on with Emmie and how to make her better. My fear was that it was some kind of cancer, but we had the money to take care of her. I had seen the effects of it with Liam Bryant’s sister, Marissa, and knew that as sick as Emmie had been it could