CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT #2
He reaches out weakly, gripping my fingers. “I couldn’t allow Liam to get hurt again. He’s in this feud because we brought him into it. I acted quickly. I didn’t think, and I wasn’t meant to fall. It... it happened so fast.”
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you are okay,” I assure him. I step closer to the bed, my voice lowering. “You really fucking scared me.”
“Same,” Luke whispers. “Don’t ever try to be the fucking hero again. I love Liam like a brother, but he isn’t you.”
Isaac’s eyes flutter closed. “I heard you yelling at me to wake up,” he mumbles.
I gulp. “Because you were out of it. I thought you were dead.”
“Sorry. Wasn’t thinking clearly. I... I was thinking about...”
“Get some rest,” I rasp, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You are going to need it. Everyone is waiting to see you. Summer said she hopes you get better soon.”
“She’s been a rock,” Luke admits, briefly glancing at me. I can see the concern, and I know it’s not over me. He’s worried about Summer. He doesn’t need to be. I’ll never hurt her.
“M-mum? S-she okay?”
“She’ll be here next.”
“N-need her. Tell. I’m sorry.”
Luke clenches his hand into a fist. “You don’t need to be sorry. We’ll get her. I promise.”
Isaac’s eyelids barely flutter open when he says, “Did you get a picture?”
God, he really is fucking okay.
Still... “No, I fucking didn’t. Please don’t make comments like that.”
He drifts off, and this time, I think he’ll be out for a while when a soft snore slips past his lips. Luke glances at me, his eyes watering. “New rule: no pictures when the injury is this serious.”
“It was serious when I got stabbed,” I growl.
Luke scoffs. “Barely.”
“I have a scar,” I argue.
He side-eyes me like the wound wasn’t serious. “Okay.”
A nurse walks in, interrupting the argument we were about to have, and smiles at the sight of us. “Oh, woah, triplets?”
Luke nods. “Yes. I’m the better looking one.”
I arch an eyebrow and roll my eyes. “Okay.”
She grabs Isaac’s papers from the folder at the end of the bed, watching as Luke moves out of her way. “You don’t need to leave. I’m just checking his vitals.”
“We need to let other family members come in. We got first dibs since we shared a womb,” Luke mutters, staring at our brother. “If he wakes up, tell him I won’t be far.”
“I will,” she promises him.
We are barely out of the room, when I stop, looking back at him in the bed.
My heart begins to race once more. We’ve had near death experiences before, but never like this.
Never where we have been trapped in limbo, not knowing whether or not a family member survived.
Never where I’ve watched the colour drain from their face, or felt their blood seeping into my clothes or staining my skin.
“Hey. Hey!” Luke calls, slapping his hand on my shoulder. “He’s okay. He’s good, Reid.”
“Fuck, Luke. It can never get this close again. He cheated death today. It was... I need...” God, my flesh is burning. I suck in a sharp breath. I can finally breathe without this weight compressing on my chest, yet I still feel tightness in my chest. Fuck, I need—
My gaze meets Summer’s down the hall. She’s standing next to the nurse’s station watching us, her hands clinging together. I need her. I rush down the hallway toward her. She pushes off from the counter, worrying her bottom lip.
I take her hand when I reach her, hearing my brother’s footsteps behind us. “Is everything okay?” she asks, keeping in stride.
We’re off the ward and walking down the corridor when I spot them. I turn to my brother. “Don’t move, and keep a look out.”
He nods. I glance down at Summer, who is confused as I push her into the disabled toilet.
“Reid?”
I try to calm my breathing, to calm my actions, so I don’t hurt her as I press her against the door. “I need you to trust me that this isn’t—” I gulp as I pull at the drawstring on my shorts. Her eyes widen a fraction as she looks down. “I need you. I need...”
Understanding lights up her face and her eyes soften.
She unclips the button on her shorts and lets them slide down her legs.
She doesn’t demand an answer, doesn’t refuse to submit; she just gives.
This is more than giving me her trust or letting me protect the vulnerability she’s offering.
It’s Summer seeing more than my exterior when she looks at me.
She sees something in me that not even I see in myself. She sees a worth I’ve not truly felt.
My dick is already hard in my hand as I reach for her. “Jump up,” I rasp, gripping the back of her thigh with one hand. She wraps her arms around my neck and lifts up. “Stop me if it hurts.”
She brushes my cheeks with the tips of her fingers, her eyes never once leaving mine. “I’ve got you, Reid. I won’t break.”
I might.
I enter her with a hard thrust, her entire body jolting as a grunt slips through her lips. I press my forehead against the door behind her as I fuck her. Hard. Fast. Lethal.
I grit my teeth as I palm her arse. God, she’s so fucking tight, clenching around my dick.
“Oh fuck,” she rasps, throwing her head back against the door.
I pull back, pressing my forehead against hers as I grip her hips, fucking her vigorously, watching my dick slide in and out. She’s so fucking wet, it brings me close to the edge. I need this. I need to feel alive. I need to feel my blood pumping in my veins.
I need her.
Fuck.
“Oh fuck, Summer.”
I have to be hurting her. My fingers will leave marks, her inner thighs will be sore, and her fucking pussy...
Shit.
I take what I need, what I think she needs. This isn’t a faceless fuck like many women have been in the past. This isn’t a quickie in a downstairs bathroom or the upstairs spare bedroom.
I grip her chin, needing to see those eyes. Needing her to see mine. I need her to see this isn’t cheap. This isn’t what it had been in past with others. This is...
More.
Oh fuck!
She bites down on my shoulder, coming apart in my arms. I follow, letting out the release I desperately need. I press her against the door once more, breathing heavily as I kiss her mouth.
“Are you okay?” she whispers, cupping my jaw.
The vision of her blurs as tears fill my eyes. “He’s alive. He’s okay. He’s...” I kiss the hollow of her throat. “I’m so fucking sorry, Summer. I shouldn’t have brought you in here. I just needed you. I needed—”
“You needed a release,” she states softly. “It’s okay. I’m grossed out it’s in a hospital toilet, but it’s fine. I’m just glad you’re all okay.”
I slowly nod. “It’s been a long day. I wouldn’t have got through this without you. You are one of a kind, Summer,” I tell her, keeping my voice low. God, her eyes are so fucking beautiful. “I should never have freaked out in that pub bathroom.”
She runs her trembling hand down my cheek slowly, and her throat bobs as she swallows. “Let me clean up. We should go back to the waiting area so the others can come up.”
I reluctantly let her go. I’ve never been this guy. The guy who is so fucking needy it makes romantics nauseous.
I wipe my dick with the tissue Summer hands me, then throw it in the bin. I wait calmly by the door as she finishes cleaning up. It’s then that I notice the blood up her back. My eyes meet hers in the mirror, horror filling me. “Fuck! I’m sorry. There’s blood—”
“It’s okay,” she assures me, drying her hands on a napkin. She doesn’t even flinch or seem mad. I can only feel concern and the love she projects on everyone and everything she cares for. “You ready?”
I slowly nod, hoping I am not mistaking what I’m picking up from her, that I’m not building up a scenario in my head because it’s what I hope will happen. “Yeah.”
She takes pity on me when I don’t move and reaches for the door, pulling it open. I twist and find Luke watching me with concern. “You good now?”
I take Summer’s hand and glance down at her. “Yeah,” I reply softly.
He doesn’t move from the doorway. He’s watching Summer. “Thank you. For what you’ve done today. What you’ve done for us.”
She lets go of my hand and engulfs my brother in a hug. “You’re welcome. I’m really glad he’s okay.”
I narrow my gaze when his hands fall to the small of her back. I grasp her hips and pull her back. “Okay, that’s long enough.”
They chuckle, and I don’t remember telling a joke. “You’re so fucked,” Luke teases. “This is going to be so much fun.”
I glare at him. “Rule: don’t be a dick when our brother is in hospital.”
He holds his hands up as he turns to walk to the lift we came up in. “Okay.”
I retake Summer’s hand in mine and follow him. I’ve never felt as tired as I do right now. I’ve pulled all-nighters and have worked through the next day without even wanting a nap. If I closed my eyes now, it wouldn’t be a nap. No one would be able to wake me.
When we reach the waiting room, Teagan is there with more of her family members passing out food and drinks.
When she tries to hand me a sandwich, I refuse, but Summer doesn’t.
She takes one for herself and one for me.
I’m grateful she doesn’t force me to eat it because I don’t know whether I could keep it down.
Instead, I space out, watching as people leave and return. Some return lighter than when they left to see Isaac. Some return crying. Jaxon comes back wearing his guilt like armour. He didn’t do this. He didn’t force Isaac to go. He didn’t force any of us. So he doesn’t have a reason to feel guilty.
It’s another thing Andrew Black needs to pay for. I hate that my brother has taken so much responsibility over every bad thing that happens. I loathe the thought that he went into that hospital room and blamed himself.
Isaac isn’t the only one who idolised Jaxon growing up. We all did.
I may not be able to stop Jaxon from taking on all the blame and responsibility, but I can make sure the reason for it is gone.
It’s time Andrew Black dies.