Chapter Twenty-Five #2
“I’m not a doctor,” he agreed. “But the people at Hailstorm are. Anything they got at a hospital, they have there. And then some. Because the people Hailstorm employs are used to gnarly-ass battle type wounds. They got this. I trust them, or I wouldn’t let them take my kid there.”
“Okay,” I agreed, nodding and sniffling.
“It looked like it was more on the outside of his stomach,” Vas said. “Shouldn’t have hit anything vital.”
His father stood, reaching out and wrapping an arm around Vas, pulling him in for a quick hug. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Why did you do it?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Do what?” his dad asked.
Vas glanced over at Jack’s body.
His dad followed his gaze, then looked back at his son, something a little sad and resigned in his face. “Didn’t want it on her,” he said with a shrug.
“Dezi, Cain, and Perish on this,” Fallon said, waving at Jack. “Voss, Sully, and Nave on this,” he said, waving to the other body.
“Everyone else is on cleaning. Where is—” he said, scanning the room until he found me. He exhaled hard as he approached, then crouched down. Using a softer voice, he said, “You all right, babe?”
“I’m all bloody,” I said, looking down at my hand and my shirt.
“And maybe a little in shock,” Fallon said. “We can get you cleaned up.”
“I need to see Rune.”
“Yep. We’ll make that happen,” he agreed. “Is there anything else that happened here that I need to know?”
“I wasn’t here for the beginning of it,” I admitted. “I think… I think Rune shot him,” I said, glancing over toward where three of the men were putting my cousin into a bag. “And then Jack shot him… and that’s where I came in. He was asking where I was. Then… then just… Vas…”
“Okay. Got it. Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
He took me into the kitchen where he poured soap over my hand and started scrubbing it with his before drying it with paper towels.
“Are you okay going with Roderick to Hailstorm?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Then why don’t you get going. You don’t need to see any more of this.”
With that, Roderick shuffled me out into a car, and we drove through the dark streets of Navesink Bank toward this big, gated storage container mansion on the hill. With its floodlights and barbed wire. And men walking around with guns.
“It looks scary on purpose. But you’re welcome here, so don’t freak out about the guns.”
We had to go through a security checkpoint before we were allowed to drive through, park, and make our way into the building.
It was labyrinthine, just endless windowless rectangular halls and rooms. I was disoriented within two turns, but Roderick seemed to know exactly where he was going.
Then, eventually, we walked into an actual hospital ward: white walls and floors, dozens of little beds with white linen.
“Baby,” Roderick said, rushing forward toward a tall, gorgeous woman in her baggy T-shirt and shorts, her long, dark hair falling out of a high pony.
This was Liv, Rune’s mom.
I couldn’t think of a worse situation to be meeting her during.
“Carm,” a voice said, making me turn to find Croft a few feet away.
My gaze tracked down his body, taking in the blood still covering his hands and his shirt. A choked whimper escaped me.
“Hey, he’s okay,” he assured me. “I talked to the doctors. They’re optimistic. They’ve got to get the bullet out and stitch him up, but it’s looking positive.”
“Was he still conscious when you got here?”
“Yep. Conscious and demanding we check to make sure you’re okay. Are you okay?”
“No.”
“Me either,” he agreed, exhaling hard. “Come on, let’s sit. You look ready to pass out.”
The floor did feel unsteady under my feet. And my head was racing so fast that I was getting dizzy.
So when Croft grabbed my elbow, I let him lead me toward the set of seats near his parents.
“Livvy, this is Carmen,” Roderick introduced. “She saved our son tonight.”
Liv reached out, grabbing my hand. “I hate having to meet you this way, but I love you for making sure I didn’t lose my firstborn tonight.”
We fell into silence then, all of us lost in our thoughts as we waited for news from the doctors.
I stared down at my hands, hyperfixating at picking the blood from under my nails and around my cuticles that Fallon missed.
I was so distracted by it that I missed the doctor moving into the room until Rune’s family was jumping to their feet.
I couldn’t bring myself to rise. If it was bad news, I didn’t trust my legs to hold me.
“He’s in recovery,” the doctor launched right into it. “Everything went as expected. Rune is conscious and his vitals are good. I have every reason to expect a full recovery. Of course, we do have to consider the possibility of infection, but we will be watching very closely.”
“Can we see him?” Liv asked.
The doctor shifted his feet. “He actually requested…”
“Go ahead, Carmen,” Roderick said, understanding. “We’ll see him once you’ve checked in.”
I offered them a small smile. “Thanks.”
The doctor led me to a small room with an open door. Even from outside, I could hear the monitors beeping. They seemed slow and steady. Which was comforting as I hesitated in the doorway.
“Go on in. He’s been asking about you nonstop since he got up,” a nurse said at my side. “He’s not going to calm down until he sees you.”
That bolstered me up enough to step inside.
“Baby.” Rune’s voice was rough as he tried to sit up, but fell back with a hiss of pain. The machine beeped faster and faster.
“Don’t move,” I said, rushing forward. “You’re going to pull your stitches.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not the one in a hospital bed with a hole in their stomach.”
“Carm…”
That damn soft voice nearly did me in.
I fought back the sob and moved to the side of the bed, reaching for his hand. “I’m fine.”
“You’re as white as the sheets.”
“You look in serious need of some iron yourself.”