Page 94

I nod, yanking my hand from Travis’s and it seems to snap him out of his daze as he looks around the lot, noticing that our friends are gone for the first time as I rush to Blaze’s side, opposite of Emma and place my hands on the sweater, applying pressure to his wound.

“Blaze,” Emma whispers, tears streaming down her face as she grits her teeth. “Don’t you dare leave us, you hear? You do not get to die today.”

He nods weakly.

Blood pools on the ground around him and I glance up at his pale face, trying to make sure he’s still breathing as I press my shaking hands harder against his stomach. He groans and winces as he tries to move but Emma shoves his shoulders back to the ground, instructing him to stay down. When he’s still again, I lift up part of the sweater, gasping at the sight below. There is a gash all the way across his stomach and blood pours from the wound. It’s too much. The cut is too deep and he’s losing too much blood. My stomach drops and tears fill my eyes.

We’re going to lose him.

“Where is the ambulance?” Emma screams, her tears growing more frantic as she glances up at Tate. If Tate replies to her, I don’t hear her as I watch Blaze’s chest, begging him every second to take his next breath but it seems like the time between each breath keeps getting longer and my mind screams, begging for help. I know I haven’t known Blaze for very long but in the short time I’ve been here, I’ve seen the kind of man he is and I’ve felt his kindness and warmth. He’s too good, too important to every member of this club to die.

“Emma,” he whispers, his hand weakly rising off the ground. She grabs it in both of her blood stained hands as I use my whole arm to apply pressure to his abdomen, picking up her slack and praying that the paramedics get here soon. “Need you to do something for me, Darlin’.”

She shakes her head, a sob bubbling out of her lips. “Don’t you dare say your good-byes. You hear me, Malcolm. You still have too much life to live to give up right now.”

“Just in case,” he murmurs, his voice growing weaker and my heart hammers in my chest as I shake my head, the image of my mom lying on a hospital gurney filling my mind. “Tell my boy how sorry I am, will ya? Tell him I only wanted to protect him and that I love him more than anything else in the fucking world.”

“Blaze,” she wails, shaking her head but he ignores her.

“Tell him that I’m so fucking proud of the man he’s become and the family he’s built with you. This is going to hurt him but I’m not worried because I know he has you and you’re the best thing that has ever happened to him.”

She presses a hand to his face and his eyes open slightly. “We still need you, Blaze - this family and this club needs you. You can’t go leavin’ us.”

He doesn’t respond and my breath catches in my throat as I stare at his chest, willing him to breathe.

Oh, God, no.

No.

No.

No.

Emma sobs, shaking him a little and he sucks in a ragged breath, dragging his eyes open again as a ghost of a smile dances across his lips.

“I see her…”

“Who?” Emma asks him, jostling him again to keep him talking. “Who do you see, Blaze?”

His smile widens, happiness filling his eyes as he looks up at the sky. “Sarah… my Sarah. She’s waiting for me. I have to go to her.”

A sob rips through the air and I peek over my shoulder at Tate as tears streak down her face and she gasps for a breath, her phone hovering in the air next to her ear and her eyes wide. Sarah was her mom and Blaze’s one true love but for a bunch of reasons, they had been a secret for a lot of their relationship. When she died last year in a car accident, the truth came out and it brought Tate and Lincoln together but I know she’s still grieving the loss. She wobbles on her feet and spots dance in my vision as the babies pop into my head.

She needs help.

“Travis!” I yell and his head whips up, his haunted eyes meeting mine. My heart aches for him but I can’t do anything to help him right now so I nod to Tate. “Help her.”

He blinks, staring at Tate for a second before he nods and moves to her side, wrapping his arm around her to keep her from collapsing as I turn back to Blaze. Emma shakes him again and he takes another breath.

This can’t be happening.

I don’t know what to do, how to help him, and my mind spins so I do the only thing I can think of which is to press down harder on Blaze’s wound but it works. He gasps in pain and takes another ragged breath as his eyes open. Looking up at Emma, he smiles again and wipes the tears from her face.

“Don’t cry…baby girl… it’ll be okay…I’m so lucky…to call you my daughter… and I’ve lived an amazing life… don’t be sad.”

She shakes her head, sobbing loudly as she buries her face in his shoulder. “You can’t leave us, Blaze… you can’t…”

“Have to… darlin’… Sarah’s waiting for me… miss her so much…”

Her sobs get louder, joining the wail of sirens as she sits back up and shakes his hand. This time he doesn’t open his eyes again but he does take a labored breath and I will the ambulance to move faster as I stare at his chest, tears dripping down my face as pain tears through me - old and new twisting together and fueling each other as I think about everyone I’ve already lost and all of the people I could still lose. I may have only been around this club for a month but Blaze was right, we’re a family and I love all of them. Emma shakes him again, screaming at him to breathe as I continue focusing on his chest.

Come on, Blaze.

Breathe.

Fucking breathe.

Please…