nineteen
BILLIE
Tess was in surgery for fourteen hours. There were complications, bleeding they almost couldn’t get under control, and the few updates that were relayed to us had us all expecting the worst. Jace and his family were a mess, and I felt absolutely devastated and helpless in the face of their pain and grief. Pain I felt as well, but clearly on a much smaller scale since I barely knew Tess.
But from what I did know, she would be a great loss to this family and the world.
Fuck, why was it all so unfair? Why could none of us catch a damn break?
“Mr. Adams.”
Jace had been dozing against my shoulder, but he was alert immediately when the surgeon emerged and softly called for his father.
“How is she?” Greg rasped, on his feet, arm wrapped around Lydia as if they were already ready to hold each other up if needed.
The doctor, who looked absolutely exhausted, wore a serious expression that gave away nothing. “She made it through surgery.”
Jesus fuck. The suspense before he said that really hadn’t been necessary.
Greg’s face crumpled before he pulled himself together. “That’s wonderful news,” he managed to choke out.
The doctor nodded before reaching out and placing a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “It’s very good news, but she’s not out of the woods yet. Teresa lost a lot of blood on the table, and we had to make multiple unexpected repairs…” He continued on with a lot of medical jargon that went over my head and sounded scary as hell, but in the end, she was still alive. “She’s in the intensive care unit now,” he finished, “and she’ll have round-the-clock monitoring for the next twenty-four hours. Those are our most critical.”
“Can we see her?” Lydia asked.
The doctor nodded. “I recommend immediate family only. And one at a time. She’s unconscious and will be for another few hours. We have to let her body heal in more ways than one after such an attack.”
Jace was holding me tightly, and I felt the sigh of relief that his sister was, for the moment at least, still alive and fighting.
“Tessy is strong,” Greg said with a nod. “She’s dealt with more than most people should have to. She’s going to make it. I know it.”
The doctor nodded. “A patient's will to live is almost as important as the excellent medical care she’s receiving.”
He left us then, advising the nurse to allow the Adams family back one at a time. Greg went first, and I returned to my seat between Rhett and Jace. Gray and Angelo had left briefly to bring us a change of clothes, and when they’d returned, they’d sat as our new security, never taking their eyes off us, arms crossed over their chests, their badass stare firmly in place, as they kept watch.
Our new security, two men I loved, both born into bloodied families.
I’d never felt safer.
Not to mention there was a literal army out the front of this private hospital ensuring that no media or press made it inside while Bellerose was here.
“You should all go home and shower, change, and get some rest,” Lydia said with an exhausted smile. “Tess will be unconscious for a few hours.”
“I want to stay,” Jace said firmly. “I’m going to make that statement to the media today as well, and I want to do it from the hospital. This has gone too fucking far.”
“I’ll stay with you,” I said immediately, but he shook his head, leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead.
“As much as I’d love that, you’re exhausted. You should get some rest and then come back to me.”
I’d always come back to him, there was zero doubt about that. “We’ll take Billie home and bring her back later,” Gray said, already on his feet. He reached out a hand to me, and I took it without hesitation, even though I really didn’t want to leave Jace.
“Is it safe for them here?” I asked Grayson as I stood. “She’s still out there, right?”
His expression never wavered. “Perfectly safe. She was hit by a car as she fled the scene, and the police aren’t sure she’s going to make it.”
I had no idea when he’d spoken to the police, but the end result was the same. I didn’t have to worry about that bitch any longer. I didn’t give a shit what her reasons were; Tess was an innocent, and she’d hurt her just because she could. That wasn’t a person I wanted in this world.
“Okay, good,” I said firmly, before realizing that Lydia was close enough to hear this conversation. Jace’s mom no doubt thought I was straight up depraved.
