Chapter 6 #2
I answered as I moved off to the side, trying my best to keep some things quiet.
“Are you okay, Jennifer?” my mother asked, and I realized she was on speakerphone.
“I’m fine. I don’t know what I’m allowed to talk about, other than the fact that nobody died.” Because Gus was fine. He was alive. I would know if he wasn’t. “I’m still waiting to hear about Gus, though.”
“Gus? Oh, no. Do you want us to be there with you so you’re not alone?” my sister asked. She was infatuated with Gus. She was a decade younger than me and still a baby to me.
“He’s going to be fine. We’re just waiting to hear details.”
“If you say so,” she said.
“Are you okay? Did you get checked out?” my dad asked, his voice low.
Tears came to my eyes, and I swallowed them down.
I loved my family. They were strong, caring, and had no idea what to do with me most days.
I had been out there climbing trees and jumping off roofs as a little girl, wanting to play with the boys in the neighborhood, when my mom had only wanted me to stay safe.
She hadn’t wanted me inside playing with dolls or cleaning the house and baking cookies.
No, she’d wanted me to live my life and have fun, but I usually tried to live it to the limit.
I put my hand over my stomach, my voice shaky as I explained to them that I was fine and would update them soon.
Because I was pregnant. I was going to be a mom.
This little baby would likely grow up to be a person who jumped off roofs and put themselves in danger.
Both of their parents were like that. Gus was wild but tried to be safe.
Yet he always put himself at the forefront.
He sacrificed his body to protect me, despite the fact that I could protect myself.
He had safeguarded the child he didn’t even know existed.
I needed to tell him. And I would. I was just so damn afraid of what would happen.
I didn’t even know where we stood in our relationship. We were friends who had decided it would be too complicated to want more. Not that we didn’t want more, but because we didn’t want the complications.
Well, here was one hell of a complication. A consequence of our actions. Ones that had been some of the best of my life. But now we needed to figure out what the hell we were going to do.
“Jennifer?”
I whirled to see Sawyer, Gus’s brother, and tears sprang to my eyes. “Is he awake?”
Sawyer ran his hands through his hair. “He texted me. That’s all I know.”
I looked at my phone, looking for a message that wasn’t there. I ignored the twinge of pain at that, considering he’d texted his brother. “He’s okay? He was the one who texted? Not someone with his phone?”
“I think so. He said he was fine. You’re not in the back with him?
” he asked, before seeming to understand the answer.
“Because you’re not family. Fuck. Okay, I’ll go see what I can do.
I’ll get you back there, I promise.” He looked me up and down and frowned.
“Are you okay? Have you been checked out?”
For some reason, tears began falling then, and I just threw my hands around Gus’s brother and held on tight. “I’m fine. But your dumbass brother threw himself on top of me. Protected me from the blast.”
Sawyer held me tightly. I took a step back, just as he did, trying to catch my breath. I was shaky, but it had nothing to do with the pregnancy. It was the adrenaline rushing through my body.
“That sounds like Gus. Let me go see him. If they let me. And then I’ll go kick his ass for sacrificing himself, then hug him for doing that and protecting you, then kick his ass more for not texting you.”
“Yes, he should text us. We’re all waiting out here. And those who aren’t here are dealing with the situation and waiting for updates, too.”
“I’m on it. The whole family is on their way. Their drive’s just a little bit longer.” I remembered then that Gus’s family lived in Castle Rock, so the drive up I-25 would be terrible at this time of day.
“Just let me know. I’ll update the others with this little bit of information.”
Sawyer shook his head. “I’m sure he wants to know you’re okay too, you know.”
“Then go kick his ass so I can do it.”
“I knew I always liked you.” He walked through the doors, and I turned towards Kingston and Daisy, who stared at me, hands on their hips. They never looked more like cousins than in that moment.
“So?”
“He texted his brother. I don’t know what else.”
“Well. At least that’s something.” Kingston let out a deep breath before sinking into the chair, hands over his face. Daisy began to pace, cursing under her breath.
“Why the hell didn’t he text us? Or let them know?”
A nurse came out at that moment, looking a little harried and wide-eyed. “Is someone out here named Jennifer? There’s a very large man growling and wondering why you aren’t by his bedside.” She rolled her eyes as relief flooded my body.
“Is his name Gus?”
“I think that was thrown about in the growling.”
“Is he okay?” I blurted as Daisy and Kingston came to my sides.
“He can answer that for himself. Come on down. I’ll show you.” She looked at the other two behind me. “I’m sorry, he already has one visitor. You’ll have to take turns.”
“Just keep us updated,” Daisy ordered, and I nodded. “And get checked out yourself.”
The nurse gave me a knowing look. “You’re covered in dirt and blood. I assume that’s not yours?”
“It’s from the big man who’s currently growling.”
“That makes sense. Though you should change.”
“I’ll get you some clothes,” Daisy said, pulling out her phone.
“We have some scrubs for you, too, just in case. It’s not safe to be walking around looking like that.”
I nodded, my heart racing. “Let me just see him first, and then I’ll get cleaned up. Promise.”
The nurse gave me a dubious look, and I followed her to the back. I saw Sawyer standing outside a room, and my knees shook.
“He’s okay?”
“He’s waiting for you. He’s fine. Apparently, he couldn’t find his phone, and when he did, he could only get one text out, to the person he texted last, before it died. Crushed, apparently. Give him a break, okay?”
I narrowed my gaze, anger at the situation warring with all the other emotions running through me. I hoped it wasn’t pregnancy hormones this early. But wow, I needed to hit something.
“I’ll figure it out,” I grumbled as I moved through the door.
Gus lay there, slightly bruised, a bandage on his shoulder, and a small smile on his face.
“Hey there, babe. Good to know you’re okay.”
“You asshole. I can’t believe you sacrificed yourself for me.”
Gus’s eyes widened. “But you’re fine, right? Did you get checked out?”
There was a slight ringing in my ears, and my pulse increased. I could hear my heartbeat in my head, but I swallowed and stepped forward.
“I’m fine. Of course, I’m fine. Because nothing hurt me. You took the whole of it. Rather than doing what we trained for.”
Gus narrowed his gaze. “I did what I was trained to do. I protected both of us.”
“Yet you got hurt.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Gus,” I said, but then my tongue felt a little heavy, my eyes droopy.
“Jennifer? Jennifer! Sawyer! Call the nurse. Jen. Jen.”
He kept repeating my name. As I fell, I tried to respond to him.
Somehow, Sawyer caught me, and then nurses and doctors were there.
“Damn it. Why didn’t you get checked out?” Gus shouted over the med team.
“Ma’am? Ma’am? Can you hear me?” the nurse asked.
“Sorry. I guess my knees went weak from all the adrenaline.”
She kept her gaze steady. “When was the last time you ate?”
“This morning.”
They asked a few more questions, and I tried my best to answer, but I wasn’t tracking well. “Any chance you’re pregnant?” she asked, and it was as if she’d thrown a bomb.
I looked past her at Gus, who sat up, wincing as he did. I nodded, looking back at the nurse. “Sorry.”
Then my knees went weak and there was nothing.