“I can’t believe we let him go,” Rick says, picking up the gun with his bloody shirt and placing it in a freezer bag.
Finally, the first responders arrive and start working on Axel and Presley. Standing back and watching all the different people come in and out of the house, my mind whirls, making sure we have the plan down pat. We can’t have any holes in the story; otherwise, we will be fucked. Dale taps my shoulder and pulls my shirt, taking me into the dining room.
“Tell me the story one more time, before the other officers arrive on the scene,” he says, and I nod.
“Home invasion. Presley called us and found Stan dead in the kitchen under the tarp. They held her hostage, and the intruders shot my brothers upon arrival, dipping out before me and Rick got here. It will work. Just stick to the story,” I say, and he nods but gives me a look that tells me he’s not completely sold on it.
“Just trust me. Once Axel and Pres are out of the woods, I will send you the money. Do you want cash or a wire transfer?” I ask as he rubs his hands down his face.
“Cash. I don’t want any paper trails of this,” he retorts, and I nod before walking over to the EMTs as they wheel my brother and our girl out of the house.
Axel and Presley are carted off to Whitestone General while the other EMTs look over Casp and Brax. They both need a few stitches so we all head out, following behind both ambulances.
“Don’t drive crazy in my baby,” Brax grunts, and I laugh.
“You, out of all people, are telling me how to fucking drive? Shut up and sit there. Try not to bleed on the seats,” I chide as he shakes his head, looking out the window. “Spill it, Brax. You’re too quiet for my liking,” I say as he takes a deep breath.
“I didn’t expect today to go this way. I’ve been so far in my head over everything–the rumors about Pres, getting suspended for protecting her, Axel distancing himself, and you flipping your shit. It’s all been too much for me, and then today... How did everything go from being shit when Mom died to amazing once we got here and started spending time with Pres, to this? How the fuck did we get here so fast?” he confesses as he digs in his pocket, taking out a joint.
“Now is not the time to get high, Brax,” I chastise, and he raises a brow at me.
“You realize our girl and brother are fucking dying right now! I was fucking shot along with Casper, the not so friendly ghost, and you want to father me right now about getting high? Get fucked, Harls,” he spits, lighting the joint and taking a deep pull.
“Okay, fine. I’ll ease up. I just don’t want the cops digging any deeper than needed,” I answer, and he nods, passing me the joint. Fuck it. He’s right. I need to calm the fuck down. Taking a deep hit, I pass it back and exhale as we pull into the hospital's parking lot.
“Everything will be fine, Brax. They are both fighters,” I assure him as we park next to Rick.
“I know, but I’m just worried. I don’t want to lose her, and I certainly don’t want to lose Ax after he just started talking again,” he says softly, and I nod. Putting the car in park and shutting off the engine, I look over at him.
“If all that shit Axel said is true, she’s a fucking warrior, and we already know Axel is, so let's go get some updates and those stitches in your shoulder. Have faith, brother,” I say, hoping my words will make him feel a little better.
Getting out of the car, the four of us head through the emergency room doors just as chaos ensues. There’s so many bodies moving so quickly around Presley and Axel as they are carted through the double doors. Pushing past the crazy amount of people, nurses, and doctors all moving around the small space, I rush up to the doctor, asking questions.
“Doc, what’s going on?” I ask frantically as he barks orders.
“Axel flatlined on the ride over but it’s touch and go. We need to get him into surgery. The girl needs a blood transfusion from what we can see. I’ll have more updates soon. Follow me into the trauma waiting area,” he says as I look at my brothers and nod them over, following the doc and Axel into the next room. Sitting down, I take a deep breath and hang my head down.Please let them be okay. I need a Hail Mary right now. Just please let them live.
“Caspian Cyprus?” a nurse calls out. He stands, placing a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze, then following the nurse out of the waiting area. Rick stands at the window, watching the doctors and nurses work on our baby brother.
“What the fuck. No!” he yells, pounding on the window. We jump as we hear Axel scream.
“They are going to end up sedating him. Fuck!” Rick shouts as we all pound on the window.
“Presley, where is my Angel Baby? Stop fucking touching me,” he screams, and there’s nothing we can do to help him. Tears stream down his face as he fights off the nurses, trying to rip the wires from his body.
“No, Axel!” I yell as he picks up a scalpel and slices down one of the nurse’s face.Fuckkkkkkkk.
“We need to do something. This is fucking bullshit!” Brax shouts, but we are literally on the other side, with no access into that room. Then suddenly, he falls back on the bed and all the chaos stops as the doctors and nurses continue to scramble as the monitors go off, and the green line that was just jumping erratically falls flat.
“No, no, no!” I shout as I watch them try to revive my baby brother, but the little green line never jumps. It never fucking jumps. Falling to my knees, tears stream down my face. That line needs to jump. Please let it fucking jump.
“Yes, fuck yes!” Rick shouts, gaining my attention.
“Hell yeah, Ax. You fucking fight, brother!” he cheers, and I take a deep breath, getting back to my feet. Looking through the window, I see the line jumping erratically as the team of doctors and nurses frantically work on him. A nurse comes over, closing the curtain, and I sigh, turning around, and going back to my seat.
“Now we wait,” I say as we all sit back in our seats and fucking wait.
“They’re going to be okay. We have to stay positive,” Rick says, and I nod and keep nodding as Caspian walks back into the room.
