“Mr. Abbott? Are you ready to meet with us now?” A man puts his head around the door. He’s neatly dressed in a shirt and trousers. A cop if ever I saw one.
West looks at me and I nod.
“Yeah. Let my client get dressed and we’ll answer all the questions you have,” he says, giving me the softest of smiles.
“And then I’ll be able to see Zach?” I ask him, my chest tight.
“As soon as possible,” West agrees.
“Okay.” I take a deep breath. “Then let’s do this.”
ZACH
Bright lights pierce my closed eyelids, making my head throb. My teeth hurt too, for some bizarre reason. Letting out a groan, I open my eyes to complain about the moon,only to find that I’m not still lying on the deck of a boat moored up at the ferry port.
Instead, Hudson is staring down at me.
“He’s awake,” he announces. That’s when I realize that the rest of my family is here. Or at least most of them. Wyatt lets out a “Thank fuck” from the other side of my bed, Autumn leans forward to squeeze my hand. And Eden lets out a soft sigh, like relief has gotten the better of her.
I’m in the hospital. That much is clear. The rest is still a haze. But I can think clearly enough for the panic to rise through me.
“Where’s Sadie?” I ask. And it all comes flooding back. Darien. The gunshot. Then nothing. I sit straight up, pulling the IV they’ve put into my hand with me, and then let out a low oath because shit, my head is pounding.
“Hey,” Hudson puts a calming hand on my shoulder. “Sadie’s fine. She’s been checked over, and now she’s answering some questions for the police.”
I blink. “Why are they interviewing her? Does she have a lawyer?”
“She has the best,” Eden says proudly. “West is with her.”
“She’s not in trouble,” Hudson adds. “They’ve arrested Darien. They just need to tie up some loose ends before they send him back to where he belongs.”
A nurse walks in, muttering about there being too many people in here, and starts to take my vitals. Autumn makes a phone call – I’m assuming to Parker, and then Eden calls somebody else.
“Wait, where’s Asher?” I ask, realizing he’s the only one of my siblings not in the room. The gunshot.Shit. “Is he okay?” I ask fast.
If he isn’t, it’s my fault. Like the rest of this is. I lie back,nausea pushing up from my stomach. Why the hell didn’t I stay back? I insisted on being there on the boat. I couldn’t let her go without a fight.
And of course, Asher was in the line of fire.
“He’s fine. He’s also talking to the cops. Autumn’s letting him know you’ve woken up.”
I gingerly reach for my temple. There’s a bandage there.
“Try not to touch it,” the nurse says to me. “We just stitched that up.”
Hudson’s mouth twitches. “Only you could manage to injure the same side of your head twice. The first time was the bruise, the second time you cracked it as you collapsed. Managed to get a three inch gash.”
“No wonder it hurts,” I mutter.
“I’ll get the doctor,” the nurse says. “He can determine if you’re ready for more pain medication.”
“Wait, no.” I shake my head. I need to be able to think straight. I look over at Autumn, who’s finished her phone call. “What happened to the gala?” I ask her. “Did you raise enough money?”
She stares at me as though I’m asking her if the sky is green. Then her face crumples and she starts to cry. “You idiot,” she says, her breath ragged. “I don’t give a damn about the gala. We almost lost you.”
“It’s just a flesh wound,” I murmur, trying to figure out why they’re all staring at me like I’m on the edge of death.
“You’ve been unconscious forhours,” Autumn sobs. “Do you know what it’s been like waiting to see if you’ll wake up? All the stupid tests they ran, all the talk about brain bleeds and swelling and neurosurgery. And all you can do is ask me about the stupid gala?”
