“I hope not. But my heart has been hurting ever since she left. I feel her absence like it’s imbedded deep in my soul, Bull. I hate that I drove her away. I was so fucking stupid for touching her like I did. She wasn’t ready. Not even close. I’ll never forgive myself if she…” I let that thought fade away, too ashamed to say it out loud.
He patted me on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Cap. She was broken before you met her. You did your best to slay her demons, but sometimes demons are just too big to slay.” He took another swig of his drink then sighed. “Fuck, I should’ve at least heard Misery out before she left.”
I nodded. “Maybe you can call her?”
Before he could respond, Castor and Pollux came stumbling into the bar area, scrambling over each other until they were right next to our table.
“Turn on…” Castor said, panting.
“The TV…” Pollux finished, both of them breathing together.
Bull and I shared a look as Pollux grabbed the remote off the table and pointed it at the big TV in the room. The newswas on the screen, a huge headline scrolling across it.The members of the local band Grief’s Conviction have all been pronounced dead after their tour bus was hit by a semi and sent careening off a cliff just outside of Austin Texas. No one on the bus survived, and fans everywhere are in mourning.
I watched Bull’s hand start to tremble and shake as he brought it into a fist, crushing it on the table below until it fractured the wood and broke it in two. “NO!” he screamed. “THEY’RE LYING!”
Zodiac, Scales, and Archer came rushing into the room, watching as the mammoth man started thrashing about, picking up chairs, and throwing them around the room.
“Bull, calm the fuck down!” Zodiac ordered. “What happened?” He shot a look at Castor and Pollux, who both pointed at the TV.
“Fuck,” Archer exclaimed. “I’ll grab an arm.”
“I’ll grab the other.” I shot to my feet, curling my arm around Bull’s bicep as he went on a manic rampage. Before I could stop him, his elbow connected with my chest, and I let out a groan, my entire body seizing as my chest became unbearably tight. My ass hit the ground, and I clutched my chest, unable to take a single breath.
“Oh fuck! Cap!” Archer exclaimed, letting Bull go so he could drop down to my side. He immediately started chest compressions, but everything fucking hurt, and it was like I could feel my heart giving out on me. “Stay with me, Cap. Stay with me.”
Bull suddenly appeared by my side with unshed tears in his eyes. “Cap, I’m so sorry,” he yelled. But I could barely hear him, it was like my head was under a sea of water.
Spots dotted my vision, and I suddenly felt very weak, like the light inside of me was dying. I could hear their voices, but they were muffled and slowly becoming harder to hear.
Was this the end of me?
A beautiful face came into focus, one with hair red like a ruby and eyes so bright they should’ve been illegal. I must be dying because there’s no way in hell that she was here.
She left me… she left me for him.
I felt a small hand fit into mine, and her voice came through like thunder in a storming night sky. “Stay with me, Nicholas. Please, I need you.”
My weak fingers curled around hers, and as Archer pushed into my chest, trying to restart the heart that was breaking inside of me, darkness came… and my last vision was her tear-filled eyes begging for me to stay.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Hearing that sound meant I was still alive. But how? I could’ve sworn I felt death take me, dragging me down into the abyss of non-existence between life and the afterlife. I surfed that river of Styx, there’s no way I should still be breathing.
“I think he’s waking up,” an angelic voice shouted, making me want to pry open my eyes just to see my angel hovering above me.
Blinding light burned my retinas as my eyes fluttered open, and all I could see was a white as chalk ceiling, and the devoted face of Ruby, staring down at me with worry.
“Nicholas!” she breathed out. I could feel her heart stammering through her fingertips, that worry evident in her eyes. “Don’t move,” she pleaded. “The doctor is on his way.”
Groaning, I clutched my chest, wondering if the new heart inside of it had failed me.
“You’re lucky to be alive,” Zodiac exclaimed, coming into view. “The hit you took from Bull should’ve killed you.”
I could see Bull standing in a corner, looking miserable as hell.
