“It’s okay, Kathy,” I assured her. “I’ve been known to drop an f-bomb here and there myself, and my manager, Talia, well, she drops one every other word.”
“See, woman?” Doug muttered. “Saint says fuck, too.”
Kathy’s eyes turned to slits. “Douglas Irons!”
His mouth stretched into a lazy grin, and he looked so much like Jacob that my heart flipped over. The urgeto touch him washed over me again, and I turned to my guy and snuggled closer, resting my hand on his blanket-covered stomach and inhaling the scent of his skin. Light as a feather, I ran my fingers up the blanket, past the huge bandage stuck across his torso, and cupped his heart in my hands.
“Wake up, baby,” I whispered. “Please wake up.”
My eyes lifted to his, and I held my breath, waiting for a sign. But it didn’t come.
The machines kept beeping, Kathy and Doug kept bickering, and my throat filled with tears.
“Stop bustin’ my balls, woman. It ain’t the time or the place,” Doug muttered.
“I’ll bust ‘em alright,” Kathy warned. “You’ve a mouth like a sewer.”
My hand pressed lightly on Jacob’s heart, and I wished more than anything that he could wake up so I could bust his balls. I would’ve given anything to bicker with him like an old married couple. It would’ve been beautiful.
A loud screeching noise began to wail like a siren, and thebeep, beep, beepof Jacob’s heart monitor rose to a shriek.
My neck twisted to see Diablo rushing out the door, shouting for Bones, who after a few seconds, came rushing into the room with Freya and Diablo at his heels.
“What’s happening?” I cried, looking on in horror as Bones pulled out his stethoscope and checked Jacob’s heart.
His stare flicked over me, and he ordered, “Get her out of here.”
“No!” I wailed, but before I could cling to Jacob, Diablo had scooped me into his arms and he carried me out into the corridor on the heels of Jacob’s parents.
My heart cracked apart. “No! Please help him!” I begged
Diablo put me on my feet, tucked me close to his chest, and rumbled, “Let ‘em do their jobs, Saint.”
Bones glanced at Freya, jerking his chin toward the door and barking, “Privacy.”
Freya came to the door and smiled at me sadly. “We’ll take care of him, I promise,” she murmured, slowly closing the door and blocking Jacob from my sight.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I stared at the door in shock.
What the hell just happened? Jacob was fine, peaceful even, then all of a sudden he wasn’t. Suddenly, it hit me. This was serious. Jacob was in a really bad way, and with all my money, fame, and connections, there was nothing I could do about it.
I let out a small sob and dug my fingernails into the heel of my palms to stop myself from doing what I really wanted, which was to scream the waiting area down.
No, no, no.
Jacob had to be okay.
I couldn’t lose him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
HENDRIX
“The cops turned up again this morning,” I barked, turning to Colt. “Can you not get them off my back?”
All the officers—barring Iceman, D, and Bones—were in Church. I’d called an impromptu meeting to talk about what happened with our brother, the job, and what we could’ve done differently to stop the shit from hitting the fan.
I didn’t blame my boys for what happened. We were a team, and I was in charge of it. If anything, the buck stopped with me. What we could do, however, was talk about where we went wrong and discuss ways to plug the gap so it wouldn’t happen again.
