Chapter 5 #2
There was a shuffle behind me, and some of the tenseness dissipated now that I had PD at my back where he belonged. He’d always been there to defend me, and I trusted him with my life.
Dirty blond glared and pointed a finger at me. “You’re scum. You pollute this city.”
“Strong thoughts for a man with a little brain and an even littler prick.” I grinned wider, a sense of pleasure slithering through me at the knowledge I was irritating at least one of them. The brunet clearly had more control because his smugness didn’t dwindle.
Dirty blond laughed, and I glanced down at his name tag. Hooker. Usually, the cops in New Gothenburg only wore their badge numbers. I wasn’t sure if he was new or just overly confident. Oh, the jokes made themselves.
“Is your last name Hooker because your mom was one?” I pressed my tongue to the inside of my cheek.
PD chuckled. “Or his mom needed to find a rent boy to knock her up because nobody else wanted to get on top of her.”
“Oooh.” I laughed and turned to PD, and we fist-bumped.
Hooker mock chuckled and turned to the other cop. Lawrence, his name tag said. Huh, this one was confident, too.
“The dirty bikers have jokes,” Hooker said.
Lawrence shrugged. “Maybe we should remind them who’s in charge of this city.”
“Who, you?” I snorted. “Kid, you aren’t even in charge of changing your own diapers. What are you? Three years old?”
PD laughed harder. “I’d say they’re still sucking on their mommy’s titties.”
“Probably the only tits they’ve seen,” I replied.
We glanced at each other and grinned.
“You think you’re funny?” Hooker shot forward and slammed an arm into my chest, shoving me.
I gasped, the attack hitting me in my already agony-filled ribs. The yell I let out would’ve been embarrassing if I wasn’t in so much pain. I crashed into the wall, one of Hooker’s arms pressed against my windpipe while his other hand drove into my chest.
“Let him go! He’s injured. You’re fucking hurting him.” PD’s angry voice filled my ears, but all I could focus on was the fiery torture that lit up my insides. “You fucking assholes! Let me go, you bastard!”
“Still funny?” Hooker snarled. “Let’s see how much you laugh now.
” He shoved me harder, and my entire body screamed in pain, but maybe I was doing the screaming, too.
I wasn’t entirely sure. Everything grew hazy and no amount of pain meds could help with how I was feeling.
I’d never felt such excruciating pain in my life.
“Motherfucker!”
Through half-lidded eyes, I watched as PD struggled against Lawrence’s hold—at some point he’d managed to get PD’s arm behind his back—and he spun to drive his fist into Lawrence’s jaw.
Lawrence fell backward onto the ground, releasing PD, who grasped Hooker by the back of the shirt and yanked him away.
I grunted at the sudden freedom, sliding down the wall as the ability to breathe was nothing more than fire in my lungs.
When my ass met the floor, I watched as PD slammed Hooker against the door and punched him across the jaw.
I wanted to tell PD to stop because I couldn’t handle him going to prison, but I was in too much agony to do more than let out harsh gasps.
My vision blurred and my world tipped upside down, but I managed to stay conscious despite my body fighting to lose it. I reached out for PD, but the two cops forced him on the floor with his arms behind his back.
“St—op,” I tried to say, but it came out garbled.
“You’re pathetic.” Hooker spat at me, the glob of saliva landing on my arm as they dragged PD back to his feet.
PD struggled but sent me an apologetic glance, his eyes wet as if he felt my pain.
“You’re not even worth the arrest, but your buddy is.
See how far he gets for assaulting a police officer.
” Hooker laughed, and together they hauled PD out the door.
I couldn’t argue, couldn’t chase them, because moving wasn’t an option.
I needed pain meds, and bad, but there was no one here right now but me and the amount of agony that had rendered me useless.
Instead, all I could do was clutch my ribs and screw my eyes closed, sobbing. Fuck, it hurt. Why did it hurt so much?
I didn’t know how long I sat there before the door opened and there were voices. I managed to open my eyes, but it felt like the lids had been glued together. I groaned as King’s face became visible in my line of sight.
“Shit. Will, what happened?”
Beside him, Dallas crouched, his face full of concern. “Maybe we need to call an ambulance.”
“No . . . .” I forced the air through my nose. “No ambulance. Pain meds, I need . . . .”
The sound of footsteps met my ears, and Dallas was gone, probably to run up the stairs to my room to get the meds I’d asked for.
“Rook, talk to me. Did you fall over?” King’s gaze was alight with worry, and for the first time since the accident, I didn’t care about it. PD needed me to grow some balls.
“Need River. Cops came.” I exhaled and groaned as another bout of pain hit me. I cradled an arm around my ribs and held in the urge to sob from the intensity of the fire licking my rib cage. “For the commissioner. They attacked me. PD hit them. Arrested.”
“Fuck.” King jumped to his feet and yanked out his phone from his jeans. I focused on his black boots, caked in old mud and dirt, as he called River. They spoke, but I was in and out of it.
Then, Dallas was back, a glass of water in one hand and pills in another. He placed the meds at my mouth, and I opened my lips to let him slip them inside before he held the rim of the glass there so I could take a sip. I swallowed greedily until I’d be sick if I drank any more.
“It’s okay, you’re going to be okay,” Dallas murmured, and I wished I could believe him. What little progress I’d made with my weak body was for nothing after today. I craved death, to end it all, but the only thing that stopped me from entertaining the idea was PD’s earlier words.
I could forget a lot of things, but not that.
The world would be a sad place without PD in it, and if me dying meant he would, too, then I’d stay on this godforsaken plane.
King kneeled in front of me again. “River’s going to the Downtown Station now. There’s a new DA who doesn’t put up with rogue cops, and River’s going to talk with him. PD’s going to be fine. River will make sure they let him go. Let’s get you into bed.”
I whimpered when they each took an arm and helped me stand. Pain slammed me and my vision grayed out.