Fuck! Machine!
I hung up the phone and instantly called Machine’s cell. No answer. I called three more times before he finally answered.
“Hel-” he choked out.
“Where are you?” I demanded. My palms felt clammy, and my vision began to tunnel.
“Mason Street.” He coughed weakly.
“Hang in there,compango!” I rushed to my car and navigated the traffic-filled streets of downtown New York. My GPS brought me down a narrow alleyway. I was grateful that we had our locations shared with one another on our phones. As I pulled up to the pinging GPS spot, I noticed Machine curled up in the fetal position on the ground. After sending a text, two more cars containing my men pulled in behind me and began to search for traps.
Machine remained still as I tried to wake him. Blood seeped from his right shoulder, and his face was covered with blood and bruises. I yelled at one of my guards to help me move him to the SUV. Machine groaned as we lifted him. He was heavy, dead weight in our arms.
“Fuck, man, when you're better, no more milkshakes for you.”
A brief smile crossed Machine’s lips as blood dripped from his swollen lips.
“Let’s go get you some feel- good meds. Ya?”
He could only muster a grunt in response before passing out again.
God, if you are there, please don’t take my best friend.
I rushed into the emergency department of the closest hospital, holding Machine up with one of my guards.
“Someone please help us!” I yelled toward the reception desk. Men and women in green scrubs surrounded us and worked quickly to get Machine onto a stretcher.
“What happened?” a tall man in a white coat asked.
“I think he was shot. I found him like this.” Not exactly a lie but, also not the full truth. I answered the rest of the doctor’s questions to the best of my ability before he ran to catch up with the responding nurses.
The guard who assisted me with bringing Evan in—his nametag read ‘Eric’— stood at the entry of the waiting area to keep alert. All of this was a mess. I leaned against the wall and scrubbed both hands down my face. A mix of emotions plagued my mind as I tried to come up with a game plan.
I gasped when I remembered where I was supposed to be.
I looked at my watch. 8:13 PM. I let out a curse and began to frantically pat my pockets, searching for my phone. “What the fuck?” Muttering to myself. I ran to my vehicleto search there.Fuck! No luck there. Where the fuck was my phone?
Then it dawned on me and my face fell. My phone must have fallen out of my pants pocket when I was tending to Machine in the alley.
Well, this night just went from shitty to a clusterfuck of diarrhea. The love of my life actually was giving me a second chance and now I had no way to contact her because I didn’t have her number memorized, my best friend was fighting for his life, and now I needed to find my fucking phone. Just perfect!
FIFTY-SEVEN
EVELYN
I looked at my phone for the tenth time. 8:03 pm. He wasn’t coming. The waiter came over and asked if I wanted to order any food. I shook my head no, now feeling nauseous, and gulped down my ginger ale.
I dialed Kade’s number and it rang to voicemail. When he didn’t answer, I called once more. After the second ring, a husky female voice came through the speaker. “Hello?”
“Um, yes, may I speak to Kade?”
“And who is calling?” the woman asked in an annoyed tone.
Who was I? I wasn’t his girlfriend, but who the fuck was this picking up his phone?
“This is Evelyn. Can I speak to Kade, now please?” I asked with some attitude in my tone.
The woman scoffed. “He’s not available.”Click.
