“Go to All Saints!” I yelled from the back seat. Morning was driving like a bat out of hell, and right now I needed that shit. Destyn was losing a lot of fucking blood, and the longer it took to get him into surgery, the less likely he was going to survive. Little man was barely breathing but was fighting like hell. “Morning!”
“I heard you!” Morning said as he switched lanes. All Saints wasn’t a children’s hospital, but it would have to do for now.
“Destyn,” Diara rubbed her son’s head and kissed his forehead. “Come on, baby, talk to mommy. Tell me about Orcas.” Her voice was soft and smooth, and that shit broke my heart. I knew how Diara felt about Destyn. I’d seen her go through her pregnancy, his birth, and watched her raise him as a single mama. She didn’t complain, cry, or say how life wasn’t fair. She buckled down, pulled herself up, and squared her shoulders. Destyn was Diara’s pride, love, and joy. Nothingcompared to how much she loved him, and I couldn’t let her lose her son.
“Pulling up,” Morning announced, and I nodded.
“Ara, when Morning stop’s I need you to start moving. I’m going to be right behind you with Destyn.” I adjusted him in my arms and prepared to start moving. Diara stared at her son, and I had to get my attitude in check. She was in shock, and I knew that, but I needed her to get out of her head to do what I needed to do. The car stopped, and immediately Diara started moving. She jumped out of the car and headed to the ER entrance.
“I got a GSW to the torso!” I yelled out as the doors opened. “One-year-old boy!” People around us began moving, and a gurney was wheeled out from the back. I laid Destyn on it, and we rushed him to the back.
“Why the fuck do we keep meeting like this?” Dr. Tatum O’Neal said, shaking his head. He pulled on a pair of gloves as the nurse put on his goggles. His dark eyes took me in before turning his attention to Destyn. “Where did you find him?”
“I didn’t,” I grunted as I took off my jacket and tossed it across the room. “He’s family.”
“What the fuck happened?” Tatum asked as he approached Destyn. He glared at me before turning back to Destyn. “Call the OR and let them know what we have.” A nurse started cutting away at Destyn’s clothes while another one got on the phone. “Stone, you turned me down last time, but that shit’s not happening again.”
“I ain’t here for a job interview,” I said, shaking my head. I stood opposite of Tatum as I worked on stopping Destyn’s bleeding. The bullet had gone through his body but had done a lot of damage. “I got other shit to take care of.”
“It wasn’t an option, Stone,” he grunted as he stepped back and pulled up the railings on the bed so we could get Destyn up to surgery. “Yo people let you move recklessly this entiretime, not realizing the resources that you need were at your fingertips.” He turned to one of the nurses. “Let’s go, we got him stable.” The bed started moving, and I moved with it. When we got to the elevator, Tatum shook his head. “Nah, you stay here. Only my staff goes up. Accept my job offer, and then we can talk.” The elevator doors closed, and I thought about what he said. Tatum had been trying to get me on his team since I brought in Xaire. I hadn’t thought twice about his offer because I was focused on finding Quincy and his boss. Now I was starting to rethink shit.
For the next five hours, we sat in the surgery waiting room. Morning stood behind Diara, barking orders on the phone. Any time she made the slightest move or sound, he was off the phone and in her face, making sure she was okay. Diara was holding firm, but I knew that she was seconds away from breaking. I called my brothers to get updates on everyone else. Besides Destyn and Four, Yamari, Purpose, and Earth were hit. This wasn’t something we could sweep under the rug or pull strings to keep hidden.
“I want you to do everything that you promised me, Morning,” Diara softly said as she looked down at her blood-stained hands. We’d tried to get her to wash them, but she refused. She lifted her head to look at Morning. “I want it all.”
Morning stepped around her, then lifted her face so that she had to look at him. “When my baby boy walks out of here, I’m going to show the fuck out.”
“Not when,” Diara said, shaking her head. “I want everything you promised me now.”
Morning gave her a single nod, kissed her, then left the waiting room. The only thing that could be heard was the soft hum that followed him as he left.
“Ara, do you realize the type of nigga you just unleashed?” I asked her as I watched Morning through the glass wall, waiting for the elevator.
“Yes,” she nodded. “Which is why I did it.” She turned her attention to me once Morning was on the elevator and the doors had closed. “That’s my baby in that operating room. He didn’t deserve to get shot. He was playing, laughing, enjoying his little life, and now I don’t know if he will leave this hospital in my car or if a morgue van will take him.” She turned her attention back to her hands and let out a humorless laugh. “I need to tell you something.”
“Whatever it is can wait,” I said, shaking my head.
“No, it can’t,” Diara replied. “It’s about the night you all introduced me to Morning and why Theo had snapped.” Diara rubbed her hands over her face. “I caught him with someone. I didn’t know it then, but I do now. It was--”
“The family of Destyn LaBlanc?” A nurse walked into the waiting room and announced. Diara and I jumped up, forgetting all about what she thought she needed to tell me. We approached the nurse. “The doctor asked me to come and tell you that they are closing him up now. Everything went according to plan, and he will be out to talk to you as soon as possible.”
Diara visibly relaxed, and the tears she had been holding back fell from her eyes. At least we had one good outcome from tonight.
**
“Any word?” Citrine asked me, and I shook my head. My mind was going a mile a fucking minute as we watched the security camera footage from Hood and Legacy’s engagement party. “You’re a fucking doctor and can’t use your credentials to find out anything?”
“I don’t have pull at every fucking hospital, Citrine,” I replied as I stepped back. This shit was starting to look like a big assfucking blur. I was running on seconds of sleep, and the longer I stood on my own two feet, the more useless I became. I needed a moment to shut my eyes so I could process everything. Since leaving the hospital, I’d come straight to Citrine’s house to get an update. Cross had come through with the security footage, which is how we got it, but nobody wanted to bother her right now. Four was still touch-and-go, and the tension in their family was too high to step into that battlefield.
“Who’s fucking White Charger is that!” I yelled as I tapped at the computer screen. “Huh?”
“No fucking clue,” Citrine grunted as he shook his head. “That’s been the question everybody is asking, yet nobody has the fucking answer.” We watched for a few more seconds, then a black Honda appeared at the end of the driveway. “And the black Honda.”
“That’s gotta be Quincy.” I dropped back in my seat, wiped my hands over my face, and sighed. “Ain’t no other nigga gonna be dumb enough to do this shit.”
“That nigga ain’t gonna just step out of the dark on no fly by night shit,” Citrine said, shaking his head. “He’s been hiding for how long, and now suddenly, he pops up? That shit ain’t making no sense.”
“I had Corinthians reach out,” I answered him. The room got quiet, and I turned to look at my brothers. “Say what you gotta say.”
