MARION

The ambulance screeched to a halt outside Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The back doors swung open, and paramedics rushed her out. I followed close behind, my heart pounding so violently I could feel it in my throat.

“Sir, you’ll need to wait outside the trauma unit,” one of the nurses said firmly, but I barely heard her. I caught one last glimpse of Demetria’s face as they wheeled her through the sliding doors, pale, fragile, but still so heartbreakingly beautiful beneath the ...