“Pull yourself out of whatever delusion you’re in and put pressure on the wound so she doesn’t bleed out,” Adam shouts at me. Then he picks up his cell from the cupholder and dials up a number with his bloody fingers.
A phone rings through the speakers of his truck. “What?” a familiar voice barks.
“Saint—”
“What the fuck, Adam? What is going on? I’ve been calling Bill since you hung up on me last time.”
“I’m on my way to Carnage. We’re not far,” Adam tells him.
Saint pauses for a second before he says. “We?”
“I’ve got Eve…and Kash.”
Adam brings the truck to a screeching halt in the circle drive at Carnage. My door is ripped open, and Saint helps me out.
“She’s been out for about twenty minutes,” Adam rattles off to Devin as he greets us inside the double doors.
Haidyn stands to his right with Charlotte, who looks like she’s seen a ghost. Hooke is also present and appears shocked, staring at not only my wife, but at Adam as well.
Devin glances from her bloody body to mine and then to Adam. His eyes wide and his mouth opens. He seems as confused as I feel.
“Devin,” Adam barks at him.
He flinches and blinks rapidly. “Let’s get her to surgery,” Devin orders and I follow him.
“She had a gunshot wound to her axillary. One in the right thigh. A third to her left arm. Three weeks ago.” Adam starts to explain her condition to Devin. “She required a blood transfusion. She was walking and talking just fine today. At first, I thought she maybe just tore the stitches open, but I think it’s more than that.”
“We’ll take a look,” Devin assures him.
I kick open a revolving door and place her on a gurney. Grabbing her hand, I run next to it as they quickly wheel her into an operating room. Gavin is already getting things set up and starts an IV immediately as others start running around.
“Ka-sh?”
I look down at her heavy eyes fluttering open. “She’s awake,” I holler at anyone who’ll listen to me and bend down, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “I’m right here, Eve. I’ll be here when you wake up,” I promise her.
She opens her mouth to say something, but Devin places an anesthesia mask over her nose and mouth. “Deep breaths, Eve,” he commands, and she shakes her head.
Her tear-filled eyes meet mine, and I can see how scared she is. I understand because I’m fucking terrified. “They’re going to help you, Eve. Let them help.” I try to assure her even though I don’t know what the fuck is going on.
Taking in a long breath, her heavy eyes remain on mine.
“That’s it,” Devin tells her. “Another.”
She shakes her head and lifts her right arm to try and remove the mask, but I grab it in mine. “I’m not leaving, angel. I’m right here with you.”
Taking in another deep breath, her eyes fall closed, and I begin to count to myself. One…two…three…
When they don’t open and her hand relaxes in mine, I let go, placing it down by her side.
“Out, Kash,” Devin demands.
“But I told her?—”
He shoves me out the revolving door, and I stand with my bloody hands on my head, facing the operating room. I’m still trying to process what I’m seeing. What has happened in the last few hours. I’m so confused and fucking pissed.
Gavin removes the mask, tilts her head back, and slides a glidescope down her throat to help thread the breathing tube. Devin places her left arm out so it’s perpendicular to her body and starts to suction the blood from her upper chest and shoulder area to find the source as it drips down the side of the table to puddle on the floor. It’s like the night she died all over again. I’m stuck in some kind of loop. It’s not a hallucination or a nightmare, just a living hell. This is my punishment for everything I’ve done bad in my life. Gavin gets my attention as he starts using gauze to help with the bleeding.
Turning, I see Haidyn and Saint gathered with Adam in the small waiting room. Charlotte sits in a chair, nibbling on a saltine cracker.
