Rees had fled the scene moments before the cops arrived, by another car, or on foot, no one knew. The one place I knew he wouldn’t go was the bungalow, though, because no one knew we were there. That had given me some sort of solace as I’d navigated my own nightmare.
Darby had been rushed to the hospital and was taken into surgery immediately. When I learned Darby’s only next of kin lived across the country, I knew someone needed to be there for him. Someone needed to be there if he pulled through.
It was the least I could do.
I looked at the clock again, then back to the tiles, then up at the clock one more time.
Sunny.
Over the last hour, I’d learned two things: There was nothing like total silence to force you to examine the thoughts in your own head, and two, not even Sunny’s betrayal could make me stop thinking about her. I was a trainwreck of emotions ranging from extreme hatred for the woman, to extreme hatred for how I’d treated her after I found out she was the Bandit. I called her a bitch, spat at her face.
Spat. At her.Face.
I disgusted myself.
After I’d hung up the call with Colson, I’d taken one last look at Sunny and then left without another word, knowing I’d just destroyed everything between us.
A shadow on the wall caught my attention and I turned to see Dr. Buckley step into the room. He gave a quickglance around to ensure we were alone before refocusing on me.
“The surgeon is just finished up.”
“Is he going to make it?”
“Barely, Jagg, I’m not gonna lie. Just barely.” Buckley’s eyes were puffy, shaded, stressed. Whatever happened in that surgery room hadn’t been good, or easy.
“How did it go?”
“As I’m sure you know, Darby was shot three times. Twice in the shoulder, and once in the chest. His shoulder is badly damaged and is going to need months of physical therapy, but the chest wound is what’s critical. The bullet missed his heart and aorta by a millimeter. His lung was punctured, but he’s lucky. Beyond lucky. He’s running on machines and will stay in ICU for the foreseeable future. The next twenty-four hours are critical.”
I scrubbed my hand over my mouth.
“They catch the bastard?” Buckley asked.
“Not yet.”
“I hope you do. Poor kid. Too young to experience something like this.”
Too young.
“Y’all contact next of kin?” He asked.
I nodded. “It will be tomorrow until they get here. I’m it for now. Can I see him?”
“No, I’m sorry. They’re getting him situated now. No one will be allowed in the room for quite a while, and even then, he’ll be knocked out for hours.”
“I want you to call me with anything, any time. I want an update on his status every thirty minutes.”
Buckley nodded. “I’ll tell the nurse.” His thick, calloused hand clamped over my shoulder. “You alright, Jagg?”
I stepped out of his hold. “Every thirty minutes. Got it?”
Buckley nodded, again, then glanced around the waiting room again. “I’ll be here. We’ve already got our first overdose from the damn Moon Magic Festival. It’s going to be a long night.”
My gaze flickered out the window.
“Thanks, Buck. I’ll talk to you in thirty minutes.”
I didn’t wait for a response as I strode out of the room. I might have been restricted from the crime scene, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t go hunting.
