Chapter 55
55
Isaac
B reathing fucking hurt.
Actually, everything fucking hurt. There was a vise gripping my head in its claws, and brick covering my face. And I clearly had been run over by a Zamboni, and then run over again for fun.
Where the fuck was I?
And more importantly—where was Tovah? My last memory was of her hand leaving mine.
Of her no longer breathing.
It was a struggle, but I finally managed to wrench my eyes open, only to spot my sister sitting on the edge of my hospital bed, a worried look on her face.
Tovah wasn’t in sight.
“Oh, thank fucking god,” Liza said, shutting her own eyes for a moment in what I assumed was relief. “I wasn’t sure if you’d make it, and there was no one left to kill.”
No one left. Which meant my father had died.
Good.
I tried to swallow, to speak, but the words were weak when I croaked, “Where the fuck is my girlfriend?”
Liza’s face fell.
So did my heart.
“Liza, where is?—”
“She’s in surgery,” she said quickly. “So were you, by the way. Marcus flew The Doctor and his team in to operate on both of you.”
Marcus was Jack’s billionaire half-brother, and The Doctor was one of his partners. No one knew his real name.
“It was touch and go with you. Luckily, the bullet didn’t lodge itself in your heart. The Doc was able to repair the rest.”
“And Tovah?”
“The bullet pierced her lung. Doc put her in a drug-induced coma, completed multiple blood transfusions, and has been trying to rebuild her lung for three days now. But he’s not ready to close, and the risk of infection is high…Isaac, you need to prepare yourself for the worst.”
No.
No.
“No,” I said. “I’m not preparing myself for shit. Doc better save her, or I’ll kill him.”
Liza looked at me. “And how are you going to do that?”
“Dad’s dead, right? I killed him. Last I checked, that made me the head of this family and the Silver organization, and I will use every goddamn bit of power we have to destroy that man if I don’t get her back, alive and whole.”
A bitter look flitted over my sister’s face, disappearing quickly like it was never even there. I ignored it. “Now, take me to wherever Tovah’s being operated on.”
“You can’t leave your bed, Isaac. You aren’t recovered. At least let the other doctors come look at?—”
“Take me to my fucking girlfriend right now,” I roared at her, not caring that she was my sister.
Her eyes widened. “You have changed.”
She was right. And even though I hated everything about who I’d had to become, and who I’d continue to become in the future as the new head of this family, if it meant protecting Tovah, it was worth it.
Sighing, she went to the corner of the room where there was a wheelchair.
“C’mon, little brother. Your ride awaits.”
* * *
The wheelchair ride down the hallway would have been disconcerting, if I’d had any attention to spare. My father’s people treated me with a newfound respect, calling me “sir” and telling me how glad they were to see me. And when I had time, there were business things to?—
“Not now,” I growled, Dr. Dimples forgotten. My sister chuckled as she wheeled me past various doors in the family hospital.
Finally, we reached a set of locked doors, guarded by one of my father’s men.
“Mr. Silver, sir,” he startled when he saw us.
“Let us through,” I told him.
“But she’s in surgery?—”
“It’s okay, Ari. You can let us through,” Liza interrupted, and with a look of utter loyalty on his face, he swiped his card, unlocking the doors for us.
Down another hallway, and we reached the operating room. I tried to stand, looking through the glass. Tovah was barely discernible on the operating table, surrounded by The Doctor and other surgeons and nurses as they worked on her. Heart in my throat, I watched, praying to any deity that existed, bargaining—no, begging—that they save her. I’d give up anything, to have her sass me. To see that bright-colored hair and that bold smile. To smell lemon and sugar again.
But as the hours ticked by, and the doctors continued to work, my hope began to dwindle, and darkness hung over me like a permanent cloud. And through it all, a voice whispered in my head: This is your fault, Isaac Silver. You knew better. You knew that loving you was signing a death warrant, but you were so selfish, you let her, anyway.
“I can’t live without her,” I told my sister in a choked voice.
She placed a hand on my shoulder. “I know, Isaac.”
“No, you don’t understand. I will burn this world down to get her back. I will make a deal with the devil himself.”
“We don’t believe in the devil,” she reminded me gently.
“I’ll do it anyway.”
The physical pain from my healing wound, my exhaustion—none of it compared to my fear of losing her, the weight that pressed down on me and made it hard to breathe. A life without her was unacceptable. I’d told her once that god himself couldn’t keep her from me, and I meant it. I’d find her and drag her back, kicking and screaming—and if I couldn’t, I’d go wherever she went.
“I don’t like the look in your eyes,” Liza murmured.
“You shouldn’t,” I admitted.
Because if Tovah died, my heart would die with her—for good.
At that moment, The Doctor glanced up, and our eyes met.
And he lifted his hand…
…and gave me a thumbs up, and the only smile I’d ever seen on his face.
And thank fucking god, suddenly, I could breathe again. I was still in charge of this goddamned family. I had to deal with a life I’d never wanted, earlier than planned. I’d have to figure out breaking off this fucking engagement and figure out how to keep Tovah safe—even if it meant not having her with me. But none of it mattered right now.
Because she was still breathing. As long as she breathed, the rest of this shit was just annoying details.