Chapter 27 #2
We arrived at the hospital quickly, where a team of people were waiting for us. I jumped out as they took the gurney, and I jogged alongside her.
“You need to stay here so we can assess her.”
“Fuck!” I shouted in frustration that I couldn’t go with her.
One of the paramedics put a hand on my shoulder, and I whipped around, ready to fight him. He held up his hands, eyes wide. “She’s going to be okay. Let them take care of her. She’s in good hands.”
I nodded, running a hand through my hair as I leaned against the wall.
How the fuck did this happen?
Shouting came from the entrance, and I looked up to see River and Kingston running toward me.
“What happened? We just heard from Pinky. Nash and Hayes are on their way. I called Demi’s mom, and she was already on her way.”
Two police officers approached us, and they bent down to get eye level with me. Kingston handed me a bottle of water, and I chugged it.
“Can you tell us what happened?”
I couldn’t wrap my head around any of it.
“I’d run to my place to pack. She was in her apartment. I watched her go inside,” I said, my words frantic. I looked up to see Demi’s parents and her grandparents right behind them. I pushed to my feet, and Rose lunged at me, wrapping her arms around me.
“Is she okay?” Her words were muffled sobs.
“I don’t know. She was in a lot of pain and coming in and out of consciousness. I don’t know what the fuck just happened.”
“Romeo.” Demi’s grandfather’s voice broke through all the hysteria. He clapped an arm on my shoulder. “Take a breath and slow down. Tell us what happened.”
I nodded. River and Kingston were beside me. The two officers stood beside Demi’s parents as they all waited for me to speak.
“I was heading over to Demi’s place, and three guys jumped me.
They came out of nowhere. I had it handled.
I had it fucking handled. One guy was already down on the ground.
” My voice cracked, and I let out a breath.
“He was down, but they were coming from every side. And then I saw Demi out of my peripheral, and it was all a blur. I tried to get to her. But before I could do anything, the asshole on the ground went to swing at me and hit Demi instead. She went flying. Landed hard on the ground. She was unconscious for maybe thirty seconds, and then she was crying in pain. I don’t know how this fucking happened. ”
Demi’s mom and grandmother were crying now, and everyone else was shaking their heads in disbelief.
“Do you know who these men were?” one of the officers asked.
“They had masks on. One of them lost their mask after he hit Demi, but I didn’t get a good look at his face because I was worried about her. But they said they were sending me a message from Leo.”
“Jesus Christ,” Demi’s father hissed as he glared at me.
“What was the message?” the officer asked.
“That I was going down in the first round, and I better stay down.”
“That piece of shit,” River hissed. “If he’s so confident, why in the hell is he having you jumped?”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” I said.
“Yet you brought my daughter into your mess. You put her in a position to be hurt. Let that sink in,” Demi’s father said, and my gaze locked with his. I hated the man for what he’d done to me and River, but for the first time, I agreed with him.
He was right. I had done this.
I brought her into this bullshit mess of mine.
My life was messy. Always had been. But I’ve never had to worry about another person before now.
“Spoken like a man who knows what it’s like to bring innocent people into their mess, huh?” River growled.
“Don’t you go pointing the finger, Jack,” Demi’s grandfather said to his son-in-law. “We need to make sure our girl is all right. That’s what’s most important.”
“I don’t want you near her right now!” Jack shouted as he moved closer to me. “She has no business going to this fight when you’ve put her in this kind of danger.”
“Please stop. We need to go speak to the doctor,” Rose said, her voice trembling.
“Agreed. Let’s make sure Demi is okay. Pointing the finger at Romeo is not fair. He didn’t ask for this,” Kingston said, eyes hard as he stared at Demi’s father.
“Let’s all calm down now,” the police officer said. “This isn’t anyone’s fault but the three men out there on the loose. Let me get some more information from you, Romeo, so we can get our team out searching for these guys.”
I nodded, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders.
I followed him to a corner of the waiting room and answered everything I could to the best of my ability. I had a pretty good gauge of their height and weight, but that was about all I had to offer.
“They weren’t fighters. I easily had them handled. They were just swinging and trying to take me down. But his arm came back hard, and he was probably twice Demi’s size.” I shook my head as I buried my face in my hands.
“Why would he send three dudes who don’t know how to fight to jump you?” River asked, and I shrugged.
Nothing about tonight made sense.
All that mattered was Demi.
I saw the doctor come out to the waiting room, and I pushed to my feet and walked over.
Her family was standing there, and I moved beside Demi’s grandfather. River and Kingston were behind me, and Nash and Hayes had just shown up, as well.
“She’s going to be okay. She’s got a radial fracture, which will require surgery.
We’re going to get her in right away. She hit her head hard enough to be knocked unconscious for a few seconds, so we’ll be watching that, as well.
She’s refusing any pain meds and said she has her reasons for that.
She also couldn’t recall what happened, as she’s pretty shaken up. ”
“Thank you,” Jack said, extending his arm. “Can we see her before she goes into surgery?”
“Let’s keep it down to one or two visitors, and make it quick. They are getting the OR prepped now, so I’ll have the nurse come and get you in a few minutes. But you’ll all be able to visit tomorrow, so let’s keep tonight brief.”
The doctor excused himself, and Rose burst into tears and covered her face with her hands as her father wrapped an arm around her.
“She’s going to be just fine.”
“How about Rose and I go back and see her, and everyone else can come back in the morning?” Jack said, before turning to me. “And how about you leave for your fight and don’t come back?”
“Have you always been an asshole? Or just for the last decade?” River said, stepping into his space.
“Okay, this isn’t helping. I think we all know who Demi wants to see. Romeo can go back with me. He’s had a traumatic evening, as well, Jack. He needs to see that she’s all right.”
“How about you come back with me first,” Rose said, extending her hand to me. “You can go in when we come back,” she said to her husband.
“He’s also the reason she’s here, but I guess you’re still punishing me for mistakes I made almost a decade ago.”
“There’s been plenty of recent ones, as well,” Carson said.
I was too exhausted to engage with them because Jack Crawford was right.
I was the reason that she was here.
And I wouldn’t forget that.