9. Anson
ANSON
“Do you need anything?” I asked Ryder as he lay in his hospital bed. Seeing one of my best friends bleeding like that had really fucked me up. The cops had swarmed in with a fucking bomb squad. And of course, we made front-page news with an assassination attempt on Bishop’s life.
Needless to say, shit was not going well. Rosalie had been moved from Klaus’s. I had to phone in a favor to Dominic, who set a safe place up for us after Rosalie refused to go to Dante’s, even though he was making it pretty fucking known that’s where he wanted her and Ellis.
Ryder’s eyes were barely open since they had him on so many pain meds.
“No,” he mumbled, squeezing my hand lightly.
I reached out and pushed his hair away from his face.
The bullet had gone through his chest and exited through the top of his shoulder.
It missed his heart and had gotten a lung.
He’d spent the first few days here needing help to breathe.
He was over a week into recovery and still looked and acted like hell.
Now, he winced whenever he tried to breathe, but at least he was awake. For a moment in the beginning, I really thought I was going to lose him. In fact, the doctors even said it was a miracle he’d lived.
It hadn’t slipped past my mind his words before he passed out on us.
I love you, Red.
I blamed it on his pain, shock, and the fact that he and Rosalie were close.
It was likely just shit firing off in his head. He spent the last five years protecting her. He devoted his life to us.
He didn’t love her. Not like that. He wouldn’t. He’d never made a move on any girl I’d ever been with, and I very much doubted he’d do it with Rosalie since he knew how much I loved her.
So I pushed it away. It was nothing. I’d ask him about it, and if he said it was nothing, then it would be nothing.
And if it were something…
Just no. It wouldn’t be, so it didn’t matter.
“Ellis OK?” he continued groggily.
“She’s fine, man. She’s worried about you and wants to come see you.”
He let out a soft breath. “I’m glad she wasn’t hurt. If it had been her—”
“I know,” I said thickly. “I know.”
“Rosalie… is she OK?”
“She’s fine, man. Worried about you, too.”
A sad smile crossed his face, and he squeezed my hand gently again.
“Where is she? You guys got her out of Klaus’s right?”
“She’s safe. I called Dom. He set us up.”
“Good,” he mumbled.
“Try to rest,” I said gently, brushing his hair away from his forehead again. “I’m going to stay here with you.”
“No. Go to Rosalie and Ellis. They need you—”
“You need me, too, and LeeLee and Ellis have Klaus and Evan right now. I’m staying. I’ve been with you since they brought you in. I’m not going anywhere, brother.”
“You’re nuts,” he said tiredly.
I smiled. “So are you. Now rest.”
He didn’t fight me further on it. Instead, he drifted off to sleep, and I stayed by his side, answering emails and doing more damage control, all while silently vowing to find who was behind this shit and send them to an early grave.