Chapter 8 Keon
KEON
My eyes fly open when I hear my door open, and I take a deep breath when I realize it’s just the nurse.
I’ve been on edge since being admitted to the hospital, just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I feel like a sitting duck. I slept a little better after Tyler came to tell me about Ari and Jason, but I can’t be here anymore.
I feel itchy, and like everyone that comes in my room is here to kill me.
Plus, I want to be by Kira’s side. I explained all this to Tyler, and he understood my reasoning, so he went to go get me some clothes.
“How’s your pain?” she asks with a smile.
“It’s fine.” I gave into the numbness of the pain meds right after surgery, but I need a clear head now. I’ve dealt with much worse.
“I’m just going to check your bandage, and I’ll let you go back to sleep.” With a nod, I lay back on the bed and pull my gown to the side. She peels the bandage back, and I notice that the stitches look good. Rolling over on my side, I let her check the one on my back. “Looks good. Get some rest.”
“I’d rather leave. I can heal at home.”
“That was a serious injury. Going home could result in infection, complications, and—”
“In death,” I finish for her. “Yeah, I know.” So could my job.
“The doctor isn’t going to discharge you. You’ll have to sign out against medical advice.”
“I’ll do that then.”
The nurse opens her mouth, most likely to argue, but thinks better of it. She opens the door and passes Tyler on her way out. He watches her walk by, and then turns to me, holding up a duffel. “I got you everything you asked for, but I have conditions before I give it to you.”
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, pull my IV out, and try to control the wince. It still hurts like a motherfucker, but it could have been worse. “And what are those?”
“If anything pops off, you can’t get involved. We have so many Saviors running around that I can’t see straight, so there’s no need for you to fuck yourself up even worse. You can be here for Kira, Jason, and Ari.”
Tyler is many things, but serious isn’t usually one of them.
Right now though? He’s dead serious, but I also see the worry lining his eyes.
As much as I want to argue, I know he’s right.
“Okay.” I hold my hand out for the bag, and he gives me a skeptical look.
“What do you want? A blood oath? I’m out of commission right now.
I get it. Now give me my fucking clothes. ”
“I put some Ibuprofen in there for you because you’re going to need it. You can hide your reaction, but you can’t hide the pain in your eyes.”
Sometimes I forget how observant that little asshole is. With a roll of my eyes, I grab the bag from him and start pulling out clothes. Tyler takes a seat in the corner to wait while I get dressed. I quickly put my clothes on and am just pulling my shirt over my head when the nurse walks in.
“Since you’re signing out against medical advice, the doctor won’t give you anything for pain.” She hands me a stack of bandages and tape. “But I can give you these. Make sure to keep the wounds clean and dry. If you notice any redness or swelling, please come back to the emergency room.”
I take the clipboard and pen when she holds it out, scribbling my name on the line she indicated. She walks out without another word, leaving me with Tyler, who’s burning a hole into the side of my head with his eyes. “If you have something to say, say it.”
“We almost lost you.”
“But you didn’t,” I argue, shoving the bandages into my bag. Sliding my phone into my back pocket and slinging the bag over my shoulder, I turn to Tyler. “We’ve all been on death’s door more than once. Why is it so different now?”
“Because we have people to stay alive for.” That answer makes me pause, and Tyler stands up.
“We’ve always had each other to live for, but it’s different now because of Jason and Kira.
They’re innocent in all of this, and don’t deserve to watch one of us die because we’re hard headed.
Jason barely made it out of that place and Ari’s on a ventilator, man. We don’t know if he’ll ever wake up.”
Tears well in Tyler’s eyes, and I’m over to him in a flash, pulling him into my arms. Tyler’s hands clutch my shirt at my waist, holding on for dear life.
“Ari will wake up, and Jason will be fine. You got to him in time.” Hearing what was going on through comms and not being able to do anything almost killed me.
I knew something was very wrong when someone cut comms completely, which I’m sure was for mine and Kira’s benefit.
I could hear the panic in Gavin’s voice when he was carrying Jason from that shithole, and then Tyler’s panic when he said that Ari wasn’t moving.
It took everything in me not to run from this room to try to help them, but they were already on their way here.
“You don’t know that,” Tyler whispers. “For all the shit that I give Ari, I can’t live without him.”
None of us can. Ari is the one who pulled our asses into the Saviors to save us.
For me, I was on a fast track to prison for boosting cars.
The guys I was working with would have flipped on me in a heartbeat.
Then in walks Ari, scaring them all to death and telling me he can use my talents.
I thought he was full of shit, but I didn’t have any other choice.
I pull Tyler back and grab his cheeks, holding him there until he looks me in the eyes. “You aren’t going to have to find out, Ty. You know Ari’s fighting like hell right now to get back to us. We just need to fight for him just as hard.”
Tyler’s lips land on mine, and in my shock, I don’t move, making him pull away. “Fuck, sorry. I just—”
“Don’t ever apologize for acting on what you feel.” I know Tyler jokes a lot, but he doesn’t ever do anything he doesn’t mean. We’ve even joked about hooking up, but things hit the fan before any of us could really explore what this is.
I keep my eyes locked on his, letting him see my intentions before placing my lips against his.
Tyler’s hands tighten in my shirt and with a sigh, his mouth opens for me to stroke his tongue with mine.
It’s not a sexual kiss. It’s one of comfort.
That’s not to say that I’m not sexually attracted to Tyler, I’d have to be blind not to be.
But sharing a moment like this with someone doesn’t always have to lead to sex.
I deepen the kiss and when he responds, I know it deep in my bones that all of this was meant to be.
A throat clearing has us splitting apart, and I feel a moment of guilt when I see Gavin leaning in the doorway.
Then I remember what happened in Ari’s room that day.
“Don’t mind me,” Gavin says dryly, but he smiles. “I was just coming to make sure everything was okay.”
“It’s totally fine,” Tyler answers. He pecks my lips and takes my bag from my shoulder. “You shouldn’t be carrying that.”
Tyler’s walking out of the room, smacking Gavin on the ass on the way by before I can respond. “What was that?” Gavin asks, not upset at all.
I bark a laugh. “That was Tyler letting his intentions be known.”
Gavin nods. “Sounds like Tyler. You want to go see Ari?”
“Yeah.”
Gavin and I make our way to Ari’s floor in silence, and I look at Gavin in confusion when I see Tivon standing outside Ari’s door. Gavin shrugs when he catches me looking. “We’ve been taking shifts protecting Ari’s door.”
“Can we trust him?”
Gavin shrugs again. “I think so. He didn’t hesitate to throw down with those assholes at the prison, and he didn’t bat an eye when Axel said we needed to guard Ari.
He was the first to volunteer. Do I like how he handled Kira?
No. But he did what he thought he had to do to protect her, and he didn’t have to tell us where they took Ari and Jason. ”
“He did put his ass on the line confronting Axel.”
“We’ll know more when Ari wakes up. Until then, we watch our backs.
” We step further around the corner and two faces stick out above the rest holding vigil outside Ari’s room.
Kane and Blaze. Fucking great. Kane looks up and his eyes narrow when he sees me walking toward him.
“I would say his bark is bigger than his bite, but we all know that’s bullshit. ”
“Thanks, Gav. That’s really reassuring.”
“Good to see you standing,” Axel says, coming to stand with us.
I nod and look around the waiting room. “Where’s Kira?”
“With Jason,” Gavin answers. “She didn’t handle seeing Ari very well. Neither did Jason.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat. “How bad?”
Gavin rakes his fingers through his hair. “Seeing Ari look so lifeless is a shock. They did a number on his face too, so be prepared.”
I take a deep breath and walk to Ari’s room.
When Tivon sees me, he gives me a subtle nod and steps to the side.
Even though they told me what to expect, nothing could have prepared me for seeing Ari completely still with a breathing tube running down his throat.
They were able to remove the chest tube keeping his lung inflated a few hours ago, but he is still in the medically induced coma.
The soft whir of the machine is a stark reminder that it’s doing all the breathing for him.
The nurse standing at his IV pole turns around with a soft smile.
“I’ll be out of the way in just a second.” She finishes what she’s doing and turns to face me. “He’s very loved.” She motions toward the waiting area in front of his room.
“He is,” I agree, my voice cracking. “I don’t know—”
“Just talk to him,” she says softly. She gives me one last smile before leaving me with Ari.
I drop into the chair beside his bed and grab his hand in both of mine. Tears fill my eyes when his lies limply in mine. I watch his chest rise and fall from the machine for a minute until I bow my head and do something that I haven’t done since my mom was alive. I pray.
I don’t know how long I stay like that, but all of a sudden, Ari’s hand jerks in mine.
I jump to my feet, searching for any sign that he’s waking up, and that’s when one of the machines starts blaring.
Within seconds, the room is full of nurses and doctors.
They bustle me out of the room, but not before I hear what they’re saying.
We’re losing him.