Page 48 of Spitfire

"Fuck it, it's temporary." He slides the pants up my legs, careful of the glass in my feet, with gritted teeth. He looks at the sweatshirt Xavier threw on the bed and back at my injury, and before I can argue with him, he strips off his own silver button-down shirt and helps me put it on, leaving the last couple of buttons open, so that the shard sticks out of the shirt, which is quickly turning red. His exposed chest meets my glance as I raise a questioning eyebrow toward him, but don't bother pointing out the obvious. "Asshole," he mumbles as he throws the large sweatshirt on, and tries to adjust the fit on his arms, where it's way too tight.

"Let's fucking go! What are we waiting for? This is not a fashion show!" Xavier exclaims as he reaches for me on the bed, and lifts me into his arms again, now fully dressed in a pair of black sweats and a dark blue T-shirt that makes him look even paler, if possible, his white hair sticking up in every direction.

Jasper shakes his head and bares his teeth. "Nope, you're not fucking coming! You've already done enough!"

"Umm, Jasper... you broke in and smashed the shower door." I point out the obvious through gritted teeth, as Xavier shifts me in his grasp and causes another bolt of pain.

"Yeah, what she said. Get the fucking door, cunt." Once again, they work as a team to get me out of Xavier's loft, and down to Jasper's car. Xavier places me in the back seat and climbs in with me to Jasper's loud, furious roar. We watch as he kicks the passenger door of Xavier's car hard enough to cave it in, before he gets in his own vehicle and pulls us out of the parking spot at breakneck speed. "So mature, Agent Garnier. Are you sure the FBI lets you play with real weapons with your anger issues?"

I grab onto Xavier's arm and tighten, shaking my head in disapproval. "Don't, please." His hand instantly cradles my face, as he leans down and presses his forehead against mine, and Jasper swerves the car, forcing us apart. It feels like mere seconds as Jasper races down streets, dodging vehicles and traffic, everything a blur outside of the windows with our speed. It's making me wish we had called the ambulance instead, 'cause now I feel like I'm going to throw up on top of all the pain. He pulls up to the emergency exit and puts the car in park, before racing around to my door.

"I’ve got her," he growls, daring Xavier to contradict him, before slipping his arms under me with tenderness, and lifting me into his arms, bridal style. He races to the hospital door, his long steps eating up the distance, as my head spins and spots form before my eyes. "OFFICER DOWN! OFFICER DOWN! HELP!"

Emergency personnel come running from every direction, as I'm placed on a stretcher and taken straight into a sick bay. Jasper and Xavier follow quickly, and refuse to heed the nurses' instructions to stay out while they assess the damage. I meet one of the nurses' gazes, and she winks at me. "Which one's your hunny?"

Embarrassment fills me, and I feel my face turning red, despite the pain from the prodding at my feet and fingers, as my glance skims over both the hulking men staring malice down at anyone touching me. "Oh, it's like that. Get it, girl, good for you. There are both prime pieces." Oh my god, hole in the ground, please open up and swallow me whole.

I could just stab them, sweet darling. It would fix all our problems.

Fuck no! I let out a scream as the doctor, whose name I didn't get, rips the shirt, exposing me and prodding around the shard of glass none too gently. Xavier has him by the throat before I can even blink away the tears that fill my eyes. "Are you even a real fucking doctor? You hurt her again, I'll cut you open and leave your intestines spilling out of you." Jesus.

"Get... the OR on the phone, she's got to go up, now!" The doctor croaks as Jasper pulls Xavier off of him, almost reluctantly.

The nurse, who's now grinning from ear to ear, grabs one of each of Xavier and Jasper's arms and turns them towards the curtain, with a sharp, no-nonsense look that would give a war general envy. "Both of you out, now. She's in good hands. You can wait in the hall." I can hear them both attempting to argue with her, but she's not having it and quickly returns without them, even though I'll bet neither of them has gone far. "Lord, the amount of testosterone in those two." She fans herself as she wags her dark brows at me. "Are they always like that?"

I'd love to laugh about how ridiculous my predicament is at the moment, having two very aggressive and obsessed cavemen waiting anxiously for me, who despise each other, but I'm in too much pain. "Can you make sure they... don't... kill each other?" I gasp as they start wheeling me out of the room towards a large elevator, and I catch Xavier's anxious face from my peripheral vision.

"Sure, love, I'll make sure your boy-toys are in one piece when you come out."

Yup, just kill me now.

THIRTY-SEVEN

XAVIER

Let me fucking out, Xavier! This asshole thinks he's better than us? I'll show him how wrong he is. We're already at the hospital, so it'll be a quick trip to the morgue from here.

I try to ignore both X's loud demands thrashing in my brain, and the annoying man across the hall from me who's radiating fury and danger. If he thinks the death stares he's been giving me for the last two hours will get me to commit violence, and get myself kicked out of the hospital while my Spitfire is in surgery, he's more insane than I am. I have better self-restraint, or at least I would if X would shut the fuck up.

Don't tell me what to do, Xavier. We both know that never goes well.

"What the fuck was she doing at your house again, asshole?" I glance up from the floor, breaking from my tumultuous thoughts, and meet his deadly glare with one of mine. He doesn't scare me; no one does. I've lived through more pain, devastation, and abuse, than this cunt with the fairytale upbringing can ever imagine. Mine and Scarlett's childhoods are the things of nightmares. The only thing I fear is losing my Spitfire.

"You really want me to answer that question after finding us naked, with my cock deep inside her perfect pussy in the shower, when you broke into my house?" He's on his feet so quickly, and charging towards me, that it makes me chuckle. He's going to get himself kicked out of here, and then I won't have to put up with his annoying presence, and loud mouth breathing.

So easy to rattle. Here we go! Get em, Xavier!

"Unuh, hell no! I promised Ms. Lyssa that you would behave, boy-toys." Nurse Bree appears out of nowhere, hands on her dark blue scrub-covered hips, and a warning look on her stern face, like a mother at the end of her rope with her unruly children. "Sit down, Agent Garnier, or I'll have security not politely remove you."

Jasper freezes, like a naughty child caught stealing a cookie from the jar. I try and fail to hide my glee at him being chastised, and feel her gaze instantly turn in my direction. "I suggest you not continue to provoke him, Mr. Poine. The hospital is not a wrestling ring. We have sick patients here that need our attention, and don't have time to be refereeing you two. Last warning, gentlemen."

The way she just said that makes me think that's not what she wanted to call you, Xavier. She turns away, after motioning with her fingers at her eyes and then at us, that she's watching us. I kinda like her. Maybe we should kidnap her, it would be handy to have a nurse around when we get hurt.

"Absolutely fucking not," I mumble, and receive a bewildered look from Jasper.

"You're an odd duck, you know that?" He groans as he returns to his seat, shifting in the uncomfortable plastic chair, and running his hand through his thick, dark hair. I take inventory of him, trying to see what Scarlett does in him. He's kind of good-looking in a pathetic, average, hairy, close-to-forty sort of way, I guess. More boy-next-door turned cop, 'cause he always wanted to play hero rather than anything else.

"An odd duck? Who even says that? What are you, sixty?" I get up and start pacing again, the nervous energy and anxiety making me feel like I'm about to climb the walls. All my brain can focus on is the pain and fear on Scarlett's face, as they wheeled her toward the elevator. All the what-ifs run through my mind with the worst-case scenarios. An image of a cold, motionless Scarlett staring up at nothing keeps reappearing, and it's terrifying. "If she doesn't come out of this..." I glare at him, my hands fisting at my sides. I don't have to finish the threat; he knows exactly what I mean. I can see the guilt written all over his whiskered face, and the haggard lines below his eyes.