Chapter 53 #2
Trent’s eyes fill with concern as he watches her. He’s raised Hazel since their dad died. Keeping her safe has been his number-one priority for so long. I can only imagine finding her here has him more than a little shaken.
“Okay, okay, watch out,” he tells her, slipping into cop mode. Rick and Spencer head toward them to help him, which leaves Jake and me.
“Let’s go check on Mr. Big Brother,” I tell him, slapping him on the back as I make my way to Dom. Jake doesn’t respond, but I hear him follow behind me.
Dom sits, propped against the rubble. It could have been a bed or maybe even a couch once upon a time, but now it’s unrecognizable, much like everything else down here. He watches us as we approach, but makes no move to get up, and that’s my first sign that something’s wrong.
I crouch before him with a smile. “Hey, bro, she did it,” I tell him, unable to hide my pride in my girl.
Dom nods, smiling up at me, but it’s only there for a moment before his face twists.
His hand rests against his chest as he hunches forward with a groan of pain.
He slams his head back, hitting it hard against whatever it is he’s leaning on, before he pries his eyes open, looking past me and over to where Kratos holds Jade by the exit.
“She…”
Dom’s voice is hoarse, as if he hasn’t spoken in years, or maybe like he’s smoked a pack a day for the last ninety. He only manages that one word before he’s coughing, but even in the low light, I can see the blood that stains his hand when he pulls it away and wipes it on his pants.
“Whoa! Let’s get you out of here, and we can get you looked at, man,” I tell him, inching closer and nodding to Jake to get his other side. The trip back won’t be easy with all three of them down, but we’ll figure it out.
The second I touch him, he slaps my hand away, glaring at me.
“Listen, man, you don’t have to like it. I’m not too thrilled about lugging your ass back either, but we need to get out of here. So just let us help you,” I say, moving forward again.
Again, he slaps my hand away, and I swear to God I’m gonna deck him. I don’t care if he’s coughing up blood or not. It might be easier to carry him out unconscious at this point.
“Listen to me,” he wheezes, his voice hardly more than a rasp.
Fine; clearly, whatever he has to say is important to him. I raise a brow in challenge, throwing my hands up, and wait for him to tell me his oh-so-important information.
He meets my eyes, and man, he looks like shit.
I don’t know what they went through down here, but I can tell just by looking at him that it wasn’t easy.
Not that any of us thought taking Ivan out would be.
We all knew what we were getting into, and considering that we’re all here and in one piece, I’d say it’s a win.
I look to my left and watch as Trent and Spencer lift Leo, draping him over Rick's back. Looks like even Leo made it, though I can’t be positive.
“Jade was hit.”
The world around me narrows, my eyes unfocusing as the world quiets. Dom has my full attention as I turn back to him, desperate to have him repeat himself.
I had to have heard him wrong.
“What?” Jake’s voice breaks through my thoughts, asking the question I desperately need the answer to but can’t seem to manage.
“Ivan shot her,” Dom says, breathing heavily, and I watch as his hand goes back up to his chest, pressing firmly against it.
That’s the second time he’s done that now, and even through my panic, my brain starts to piece together what’s going on. Leaning forward, I wrap my hand around his wrist and pull his hand back. He tries to resist, but he doesn’t seem to have the energy to put up any kind of real fight.
His hand comes away red, and I squint in the low light. It’s hard to tell in the shit light, but I’m pretty sure his shirt wasn’t that dark.
“Fuck, Dom!” I shout. Reaching out, I rip his shirt open, popping the buttons all over the damn place.
“Fuck!”
This is bad. He’s lost a lot of blood already, and we still have to get him out of here.
Gunshot wounds are nothing to play with, and who knows what might have been hit.
Tugging my own shirt off, I wad it up and press it hard against the wound.
He grunts in pain, but I couldn’t care less right now.
The bastard knew he got hit. Why the fuck wouldn’t he have started with that?
Jade.
Shit, he said Jade was hit, too.
“Hold this here. Don’t let up. We need to slow the bleeding,” I tell Jake in a rush, snatching his hands to press against my shirt before he can respond. I wait long enough to make sure he’s going to listen before I’m on my feet, running over to where Kratos has Jade.
“All good?” Trent asks as they reach Kratos just a moment before I do.
Ignoring him, I go right to Kratos, pushing through the others in a panic.
“Put her down,” I tell him as I look her over from head to toe. From what I can see, she’s fine, but so much of her isn’t visible, tucked away in his arms. She looks slightly pale and fucking exhausted, but that could just be from fighting Ivan.
Please let that be from fighting Ivan.
“Zan, what’s going on?” Rick asks, and I hear the suspicion in his words. He knows something’s going on.
“Why are you covered in blood?” Spencer asks, stepping up and grabbing my hand, pulling it toward him to get a better look.
“It’s not mine,” I explain in a rush. “Dom was hit, Jake’s—”
“What?” Jade’s shrill voice rings out, sure and strong as she pushes out of Kratos’ arms.
She stumbles but doesn’t fall as she rushes back toward Jake and Dom, and I follow after her. My panic continues to grow as I watch her sway and stumble multiple times before she reaches him, dropping to her knees in a heap next to her brother.
I don’t make it far before I stop dead in my tracks, noticing the line on the floor.
That wasn’t there a moment ago. I hear the others’ approach behind me.
Turning around, I search for Kratos. He’s easy enough to find with how damn big he is.
Shouldering past Spencer, I find what I’m looking for on Kratos’s suit jacket with hardly any effort.
A large, dark patch of fabric.
Running two fingers over the spot, I pull back, my fingers tinted red.
“What the hell?”
Kratos pulls the jacket off, only to find a spot on his white shirt beneath it. There’s no questioning it now.
Blood, and not just a little bit.
He meets my eyes, his own full of questions, and I’m not sure if something just clicks or he reads it on my face, but I see the second he puts it all together.
Kratos shoves through us, almost knocking Rick over with the extra weight of Leo teetering on his back.
“Jade.” He says her name, and I can hear the panic as he tries to pull her away from Dom.
“Jade, you’re bleeding,” he snaps at her.
Jade stops, turning to face him as the rest of us watch, unsure what to do.
“He’s going to die, Kratos.”
Jade’s voice cracks as tears stream down her face. Seeing Jade cry always leaves a sour taste in my mouth. She doesn’t do it often, but when she does, it’s gut-wrenching. She’s always so strong and powerful, but everyone’s human, something that’s easy to forget with her.
“We need to get him out of here!” she demands, gripping Kratos’ shirt and growling in his face. “He can’t die.” She pulls in a trembling breath, and her body shakes. “He can’t die.” She repeats it more quietly this time, as if saying it again will make it true.
“We’ll get him out of here, Jade. We're all leaving, but I need to see where you were hit,” Kratos tells her, again reaching out to check on her. This time, she doesn’t fight him, turning her attention back to Dom.
Dom looks rough, even worse than he did just a few minutes ago, and I see why she’s so concerned with him.
If we don’t get him out of here soon, there’s a very real chance he might die.
“Kratos.”
He ignores my call, still trying to check Jade, but it’s useless. Not only is she not cooperating, but it’s too dark to see much of anything.
“Kratos, we have to go,” I tell him. He growls in frustration before he reaches out and scoops Jade up, much like he did earlier.
She thrashes and yells at him to put her down, but he’s either got a really good grip, or she doesn’t have enough energy to break out of his hold, because she remains in his arms.
He carries her over to Spencer and hands her off.
“I can walk!” She shouts as Spencer struggles to keep her in his arms. Kratos grips her chin, forcing her gaze up to meet his.
“Dom needs help, and the only way I can do that is to know you’re safe. So either Spencer carries you, or I do, and I’m not sure Trent, Spencer, and Jake will be enough to get him out of here in time.”
I ignore the fact that he didn’t even mention me.
Usually, I’d be all over that, insisting I can help, but honestly, Dom will probably need to be carried out of here like the others.
He’s got probably eighty pounds on me at least, and he’s at least five inches taller.
Carrying him would be difficult on a normal day.
With him half-conscious and us navigating the tunnels, it’d be damn near impossible.
Jade glares at him for a minute before she huffs, and while she doesn't agree, that’s about the best we can hope for.
Kratos knows it, too. He gives her a nod, leaning in to kiss her head before he turns and heads back to Dom. Jake has fashioned a makeshift wrap around Dom’s shoulder to keep my balled-up shirt pressed to the wound, but it doesn't look like it’s doing much.
Trent and Jake help Dom to his feet, and by help, I mean they drag him up before they drape him over Kratos's back. Dom’s groan of pain is the only indicator that he’s even still conscious as they position his limbs like a rag doll.
“Let’s go.” Kratos nods to the rest of us as he heads back toward the entrance, and we follow.
It’s slow going, even slower than it was on the way in. The tunnels still smell, but now the scent of blood mixes with it, and for once in my life, I don’t enjoy it. I’d almost rather the stink, knowing that too much blood could mean death for Dom.
We're close to the exit. We have to be.
Walking was hard on the way in, but now we're back in the smaller tunnels, carrying extra weight. We only stop for a moment so that they can switch. Trent took Leo, and Rick insisted on taking Dom so that Kratos could take Jade. Spencer might be tall, but he’s still not as beefy as the others.
Jake offered to take Jade, but Kratos refused, acting like it was no big deal that he just carried a grown man’s dead weight for over thirty minutes.
Rick and Kratos might be big, but there's no way they aren’t exhausted.
I know better than to argue with them about this, though we all do. The best thing for everyone right now is to just keep moving. Get them out of here and to the medical attention they desperately need.
Dom’s still breathing, but he’s long since passed out, and I don’t want to worry Jade, but I feel we’re really running out of time here.
“Jade?” Kratos's voice carries back to me, where I once again bring up the rear.
“Jade. Hey, open your eyes!”