Chapter 72
Rachel
Dante kept me awake most of the night, taking me in positions I didn’t think my body was capable of contorting into. Every time I thought we were done, he had another burst of energy, and who was I to say no?
I winced as I shuffled in my chair, muscles I hadn’t used in years—if ever—screaming in protest. Vienna noticed and smirked at me, but he didn’t say a word. We had barely spoken since the incident. Which is how I was now referring to our… thing.
The incident.
Ordinarily, Vienna would have made some snarky, inappropriate comment, and strangely enough, that’s the part I missed the most. Vienna was comic relief. He was a beacon of light in this place that was often dark and miserable. And it hurt to know I had lost that.
What made it worse, was I remembered how I had once argued with Dante and had mentioned Vienna.
It was way back when he had first kidnapped me, and I told Dante that he could find me in Vienna’s bed.
That he was a fine-looking man, who surely knew how to ravage a woman to within an inch of her life.
Something Dante had been incapable of doing.
I’m almost certain we both knew I was lying, however I had woken up from a dead sleep, clutching at my chest on the verge of a panic attack as that memory filtered into my dreams.
If I was remembering it, Dante sure as hell would remember if he was to ever find out. And then I’d be doubly fucked.
Shark coughed, bringing my attention back to the room. The noise sounded wet and painful, and I sat up, alarm bells ringing as I watched him struggle. I was choosing to ignore the way my inner thighs begged for me to sit still. “Are you okay, big guy?” I asked, and he nodded in return.
Something wasn’t right. The last time I had been here, they were both in much higher spirits than this. I realised that recovery wasn’t linear, and there would be ups and downs to come, but to have them both this down, at the same time, this quickly? It set my nerves on edge.
Jenna was due to arrive in the next hour or so, and hopefully she would be able to shed some light on their condition, because it was making me on edge.
I didn’t enjoy being on watch duty. Dante has instructed that there were always men guarding the room outside, and always one member of the club sat with them at all times. And I would have done it with or without his command… but I didn’t like being here on my own.
I knew logically that if anything was to happen, all I had to do was sound the alarm and nurses and doctors would come running.
But my anxiety was screaming at me that I’d be nursing them solo.
I had visions of me in a war zone, trying to staple Shark’s arm back on whilst using Vienna’s beard to plug a hole in his chest.
Lack of sleep was giving me a very vivid, if not unrealistic, and wild imagination.
“Do either of you need anything?” I asked, feeling utterly useless. They both stayed quiet.
I picked up Vienna’s chart from the end of the bed and flicked through it.
Oh, yeah, Rachel, as if you’re going to be able to do anything with this information.
It didn’t hurt to look though, did it?
If the bombs came flying, I could easily staple an arm back on with this nice little file as a guide.
At least I was making myself laugh.
But I was right. It was just a blur of letters and numbers, none of which made sense to me. Even the words I recognised seemed weird and out of place. I put the chart back with much more force than necessary and sat back in my seat, my eyes flicking to the monitors.
Was that a normal heart rate? How was I even supposed to know?
The last time I’d had mine checked had been when I was pregnant.
The doctors told me everything was fine, so I hadn’t bothered paying attention to the numbers.
But were these numbers fine? Even if I had paid attention to my own numbers, surely men were different from women?
Surely pregnancy made blood pressure different? Surely a gun wound did?
I was in way over my head.
I could see Shark’s blood pressure climbing slightly. That was normal, right? It was normal to have spikes now and then, surely?
I was making myself paranoid. The room was too quiet, filled with nothing but the sounds of their laboured breathing and the odd wheeze of pain.
It was setting me on edge. That was all. I just needed to relax a little and focus on something else.
I picked up the magazine from the table and flicked through it, but my attention kept wandering back to the two men in front of me.
Did Vienna look paler than he had before? And I’m almost certain Shark hadn’t struggled to keep his eyes open as much.
“You’re annoying me,” Vienna murmured, opening one eye and pinning me to my chair with just a half look.
“I’m not doing anything,” I protested.
“Your presence is doing enough. I can smell the anxiety pouring out of you. When is your shift over?”
“Fuck off, Vienna. You can be easily silenced with one small pillow over your head. And you’re not exactly in the position to stop me.”
“I’d be a witness,” Shark croaked.
“You can fuck off, too.”
Both men gave small, pathetic laughs, and then closed their eyes again.
I hate this.
Shark’s machine beeped once, and then twice, and I swear my own heart rate elevated to twice the speed.
And then Vienna’s beeped, causing me to give myself whiplash as I twisted my head in his direction.
“It’s fine, Rachel,” I whispered to myself as the machines stopped beeping as rapidly.
“Rachel?”
“I’m not fucking anxious, Vienna!” I snapped.
“No… Can you get the nurse? I don’t…” He didn’t finish.
His back arched in the air as his body started fitting on the bed. I flew out of my seat, seeing him stiffen to unbelievable limits, his entire body shaking as the convulsions wracked his body.
I grabbed his arms and pinned them to the bed, throwing my upper body over him to try to keep him from falling to the floor.
Spit flew from his mouth in foamy bubbles, and the veins on his neck protruded. I grabbed the control from the side of his bed and pressed the emergency button repeatedly, my eyes flicking to the door and back to Vienna.
“No,” I whispered as Shark’s heart rate began to slow. Tears spilled from my eyes as I wrestled with Vienna’s body, all the while watching as Shark’s heart rate descended.
Sixty… Forty-seven… Thirty-nine…
And then just as suddenly as it happened, Vienna’s body stopped convulsing and he slumped on the bed.
“Vienna!” I screamed, my own body beginning to shake as his monitor flatlined. His body relaxed beneath me, his head flopping to the side. His skin was grey and lifeless.
“Vienna! Don’t you fucking dare!” I sobbed, pressing the button on the remote. My head snapped back to Shark as his machine mimicked Vienna’s. The loud, flat beep of both machines sounded louder than fireworks.
And then the door came crashing open, and dozens of nurses came rushing in, shoving me out of the way as they set to work on both of the men.
I backed up to the corner, running my hands through my hair as my back hit the wall and I slumped to the floor, bringing my knees up to my chest and cradling them.
Don’t let them die. Please don’t let them die…
I could hear the nurses and doctors yelling instructions, but nothing registered in my head. All I could see was the two men, flat on their backs, their eyes lifeless, staring up at the ceiling.
“We’re losing him!”
No…
Why weren’t they doing that thing they always did in the movies? Why weren’t they using the machine to shock his heart back to life? Why weren’t they saving him?!
I didn’t know which man they were talking about. I couldn’t fathom losing either of them.
I vaguely registered the small beep as one of the men fought for his life, clinging to the last chance at hope he had. But there were so many medical staff surrounding them, I couldn’t see who it was. And I didn’t trust my legs to get up and look.
“It’s weak… Not going to make it…”
I couldn’t breathe. My hands came up to cover my ears before I even realised what I was doing. I buried my head in my knees and refused to look. Refused to admit the truth. I wouldn’t lose any of them. I couldn’t.
“Call it!”
“Keep fucking trying!”
Dante should be here. Jenna should be here. It wasn’t fair that Vienna and Shark were left with me. I was being fucking useless. I should be holding their hands. I should be doing something, anything!
I was leaving them to die alone. They should have people who would comfort them.
“Again!”
Again and again! Do whatever it was you were doing, as many times as we needed, until they were out of whatever attack had seized them. Please.
“He’s gone. Call it!”
“No! Again! ”
I could hear my own heartbeat. I could feel the blood rushing through my veins. I could smell my own fear. I had no idea how much time had passed between the beginning of this and now, but it felt like a fucking lifetime.
I had visions of Vienna finally reunited with Gabriella and raising their brood of Viennettas.
I could picture Shark with Trex and Jenna, the calming influence over the pack.
I saw Shark at the snooker table, Vienna hitting everyone with his beard.
Memories mixed with my own predictions of the future, and I prayed, I begged, and I fucking pleaded with whoever was listening to please, please let them see this through.
“Time of death…”