“Good boy,” Gio murmured, his vision still hazy. He blinked to clear the grogginess as much as he could.Where am I?Everything was so fuzzy. His body ached, and he felt lightheaded. Wait. Was he in the hospital?
Sacha.
The memories flooded back, and he sat up. Gio needed to see him. A wave of dizziness and nausea hit him, but he forced himself to move. He had to know Sacha was okay, see him, touch him, know he was...Please, please, baby, don’t leave me.
Gio sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed the IV pole, growling at the dizziness that hit him when he stood. Closing his eyes, he steadied himself. Next to him, Cookie whined. Gio petted his head, then realized he was hooked up to the heart monitor. He pulled off the electrodes and rolled the IV pole with him as he left the room, the world spinning around him. He was more frustrated with his condition than ever before.
“Mr. Galanos!” a nurse hurried over. “What are you doing? You need to get back in bed.”
“I need to see him,” Gio said, his voice trembling like the rest of him. “Please. I need to see him.”
“See who?”
“Sacha Wilder. My boyfriend. He was injured. His birthday is March 23, 1981.”
The nurse turned to face one of her colleagues at their station. “Can you check his status?”
A heartbeat later, he nodded and looked up. “He’s in the OR right now.”
Gio froze. “Surgery?” Of course, he was in surgery. He’d been hurt. Shot. Gio dropped his gaze to his hands. They’d been covered in Sacha’s blood. “He was protecting me.”
“We need to get you back to bed,” she said gently as movement caught his eye; Laz was running down the corridor toward him.
“Gio! What are you doing?” Laz asked, taking hold of his arm. “I’m sorry. He was still asleep when I went to the bathroom.”
“It’s okay, but we need to get him back to bed. He’s still a fall risk,” she said, helping Laz escort him back to his room and get into bed. She placed the electrodes back on his chest so he was once again hooked up to the heart monitor. “Let me know if you need anything.” She closed the door behind her when she left.
What Gio wanted was Sacha in his arms.
“Has anyone updated you on Sacha’s condition?” Gio asked his brother.
Laz shook his head, worry and heartache in his eyes. “Not since he went into surgery. We…we saw the footage. Saw you and Joker.”
“What?” Gio stared at his brother. “What do you mean, you saw it?”
“There were a lot of video cameras and cell phones at the red carpet. Someone caught what happened on video, and Jack managed to get a copy and enhance it. He said the guy had a ghost gun. He was able to hide the pieces with his camera equipment. Somehow, he’d gotten a press pass, but they still don’t know who the target was. It looked like he was shooting at random, but we don’t know for sure. When he turned and aimed at you, Joker pulled you behind him. He was shot, and then you both got knocked over by the crowd. He, um, he shielded your head, and…”
Tears welled in Gio’s eyes. “Tell me.”
Laz sighed, his voice shaky when he spoke. “When he fell, someone kicked him in the head.”
Gio would have been sick, but whatever they’d given him for nausea kept him from vomiting. The monitor started beeping loudly. “Where are they?” His words were barely a whisper. He didn’t need to specify who. Laz knew. Wherever Sacha was, his brothers wouldn’t be far, especially Jack.
“In the waiting room. Colton and Ace should be here any minute. They drove up and dropped off the dogs with Bibi and Nash. I think they sensed something was wrong when Chip got agitated and started frantically pacing. They weren’t able to calm him down and he kept howling. He made it very clear that he didn’t want to stay behind.”
A tear ran down Gio’s cheek, and he wiped it away, but he couldn’t hold back anymore. He broke down, and Laz rushed over, wrapping his arms around Gio.How could this have happened?Gio sat in a daze, briefly aware of the nurse coming in. She told him to lie back down, and he must have been unresponsive because she started talking to Laz instead, mentioning that they needed his heart rate and blood pressure to be stable.Like that was going to happen. Gio was so out ofit that he hadn’t even noticed when Laz left and Colton took his place beside the bed.
“How long have you been here?” Gio murmured.
“A little over two hours,” Colton replied quietly. “You’ve been in and out of it. Considering the circumstances, it makes sense they’d want to keep you longer. Your heart rate keeps spiking, and your blood pressure keeps dropping.” He stood and placed a hand on Gio’s shoulder. “You’re coming home with me and Ace when they release you.”
Gio frowned. “I’m not going anywhere without him. When can I see him?” The look Colton gave him made Gio shake his head. “I need everyone to stop trying to protect me and tell me what the hell is going on with Sacha,” he growled. Cookie whined again, and Gio took a deep, steadying breath through his nose, then let it out slowly through his mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I understand the kind of terror you’re feeling right now. He made it out of surgery. It went better than expected. He was lucky.” Colton swallowed hard.
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“Gio…he’s in a coma.”
