Twenty-Two
Parker
I've never been under general anesthesia. I've also never been shot before. The searing pain in my thigh is nothing compared to the dread in the pit of my stomach, worrying if my dad is okay. They rushed him into surgery to get the bullets out and repair any damage. My mom has been relaying updates to Tora as she gets them. My mom tried to go into the operating room, but they wouldn't let her.
Tora hasn't left my side as they get ready to take me into surgery. She squeezes my hand one last time, and tells me she loves me, before they wheel me into a very bright, very cold room.
I'm positioned on a table, IV already in my arm, and a mask is lowered over my face. I'm out within seconds.
****
Slowly, I wake. I’m groggy and a bit disoriented. The moment I move, the burning pain in my thigh reminds me why I’m here, bringing bits of what happened back to me. I blink a few times, trying to bring the room into focus. Tora is sitting next to the bed. There's a smear of blood on her face. The pounding of my heart quickens as I reach for her. My arm is heavy, but I graze my finger over her cheek. She takes my hand in hers and holds it gently.
"Why are you bleeding?" I ask through a scratchy throat. I want to take her in my arms, but between the leftover effects of being knocked out and the pain medication, I can barely move.
"I'm not," she says, as a tear escapes her eye. "It's your blood."
I nod, thankful she's okay. My mind is foggy, details still slowly coming back. Tora wasn't hurt. She wasn't shot. She's okay.
"My dad?" I ask.
"He's critical, but stable. They had to work hard, but the doctors are optimistic. Your mom is with him in recovery. She came down to check on you while you were still in surgery. Your leg is going to be fine, by the way. You'll need some physical therapy, but I figure you and Cy can carpool." Her lips tip up in a smile.
"Making jokes at my expense, sweetheart?"
"It's either that or I'm going to cry all over your hospital gown. Your choice."
"Jokes. Jokes are better." She doesn't let go of my hand until a nurse comes in to check my vitals.
I drift in and out of sleep for what feels like hours. The pain medication causing me to be sleepy, unable to stay awake and talk for long. I finally tell them to ease up on it, so I can stay alert longer.
The next time I come to, Blair is sitting by my bed where Tora was. This time everything is clearer—more in focus.
A smile appears, though I can tell she’s forcing it. "Felling a little better?"
"Define better?" I mumble and adjust myself on the bed. It hurts to move my leg but not like it did when I first woke from surgery. The pain medication must be taking the edge off. It doesn’t completely numb it, however. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Maybe twelve hours on and off since surgery."
"Where's Tora?"
"She's visiting your dad. Whenever someone is here to see you, she slips out to check on him and offer your mom any support she can."
"How are you?" There's a bruise forming on her cheek from where Brant slapped her, plus the bump on her head is still visible from the first encounter.
"Emotionally or physically?" she asks.
"Both. Either. Whatever you want to tell me."
Fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, her gaze drifts around the room. "My once fiancé is dead. You're in a hospital bed. Your dad is critical. Police officers are dead."
"You're here. That matters. He didn't take you with him. And he can't hurt you ever again." I’m trying to keep her attention on the positive and not all the negative that’s happened.
"You were shot because of me," she states meekly.
"I was shot because my stepbrother wanted to shoot me. This isn't on you, B. It's solely on him." She looks down at the bed, unable to meet my eyes. "B, look at me." She slowly lifts her head. "It's not your fault."
"Your house is probably haunted now," she jokes, trying to lighten the mood. I let her. I can't imagine how she's coping with everything and will gladly do what I can to get her to smile.
"Meh, what's a ghost or two. Besides, Revere will probably scare them away with his mood."
"True." She pauses. "He saved us."
I nod. "That he did."
"Well, him and Eve."
"What do you mean?"
"They didn't tell you before you left for the hospital?" I shake my head. "Cy was afraid of Eve being found with him so he split them up. He told her to get into her car in your garage, cover herself with one of the blankets in the back seat, and stay down. He went and hid in the closet, knowing that would be an obvious spot for someone to look.
"Brant’s accomplice opened the door of the closet first. Cy leaped out at him, startling him, causing him to drop the gun. They got into a fistfight and ended up rolling around in between your Rover and Eve's Jetta." Eve and that damned Jetta. She has the money yet refuses to give it up. She loves that car.
"Eve had one of those long, heavy flashlights in her car. When the guy had Cy pinned to the ground next to her car, she reached out of the already open window and wailed him on the head with the flashlight. He stumbled off of Cy long enough for Cy to grab the dropped rifle and kill him." I visualize Cy rolling around with this guy and only using one arm to fight him thanks to being shot previously.
"I knew Eve had it in her. She's one tough woman." Pride beams in my chest for her.
"That she is."
The door opens and in steps Eve, herself. "Hey," she says softly. "Glad to see you’re finally awake and alert."
"Me, too."
She comes over and bends down to hug me. Blair excuses herself to give us privacy. Once the door is shut Eve says, "She has a hard time talking about what happened. She doesn't like hearing about it either."
"She was okay with me."
"She's worried about you. She also wants to make sure you know everything that happened. But she won't repeat things to any of us, and if she's in the room where we bring up a specific detail or something, she leaves."
I pat the bed. "Lay with me."
Eve maneuvers herself so she's lying on her side next to me. "What will Tora think if she comes in?" she teases.
"What will Cy think?"
"Good point." She starts to sit up, but I pull her back down next to me and embrace her in a one-armed hug.
"Thank you," I say with my chin resting on the top of her head.
"For what?"
"Being your badass self."
"You heard about the flashlight, huh?"
I chuckle. "Yes. Way to go, Mrs. Revere."
She buffs her nails on her shirt. "All in a day's work."
"I love you, you crazy woman. But don't ever pull that shit again. If I lost you..."
"Please. Cy would find a way to bring me back. That man is never letting me leave. You're all stuck with me."
I chuckle. She's right. Cy would come for her. "We need you. Who else would keep Cy's ass in check?"
Cy opens the door to my room. He doesn't even pause as he finds Eve in my hospital bed, with her hand resting on my stomach and her head on my shoulder.
"You must be feeling better, Maxfield, if you're already putting the moves on my Evie."
"When the cat's away..." Cy flips me off and I laugh.
Eve reaches for his hand. "Come into bed with us." She pulls him down so he's sitting next to my leg. His gaze moves over the large bandage on my thigh.
"You gave me a scare, man.”
"I guess we're even, since you frightened the fuck out of me when you were shot."
"Me? I was fine. I was up and yelling at people in the ER."
"Only you, dude. Only you."
"I just saw your dad. He's doing better and awake. Your mom is fussing all over him. He keeps telling her to knock it off."
"Seems about right. Have you talked to my mom?" I wonder if she's had time to process losing her son.
"I did a little. She's holding up, or at least pretending to."
I nod. I wish I wasn’t stuck in this bed so I could go to her and offer any comfort I can. Yes, Brant was a horrible human being, but the fact remains, he was still her son. She wanted him locked away, not killed. There's no going back now. We all have to live with what happened.
I took a life—the life of my stepbrother. I feel zero remorse about it currently. Maybe one day I will. He was my brother after all. We had a good relationship growing up. I always looked up to him. Things with him didn't change until everything with Blair happened. Mom would talk to him about me when she visited him, and he would fly off into a rage. During one visit, the guards had to restrain him and haul him away. He still believed I was sleeping with his fiancée.
Blair steps into the room again and beside her is Finn. What the fuck?
"I'm heading home,” she says quietly. “Well, not home yet. I'm staying with your parents.”
"Hi, Parker," Finn says. “How are you feeling?
Eve lifts herself off the bed. She leaves with Cy. I don't miss the glare he gives Finn as he walks by. Finn doesn't pay him any attention. Eve squeezes Finn’s arm as she passes and smiles. That woman is too sweet for her own good.
Walking to the side of my bed, Finn stops and takes a seat in the chair beside me.
"I'll be outside when you're ready," Blair says to him and shuts the door behind her.
"What in the ever-loving fuck is going on here?" I ask. Has he really moved on to my best friend?
"Nothing," he quickly states. "I stopped by to visit you and ran into Blair outside your door. She was talking to Tori about going back to your parents’ to get some sleep but mentioned she didn't have a way to get there. I offered to give her a ride after I stopped to see you."
"Bradley, so fucking help me, if you hurt that woman there will be no place on this earth you can hide." I don't care that I'm currently laid up in a hospital bed, with an IV in my arm and a bullet wound in my leg. I'll kick this motherfucker's ass. The IV pole looks like it could do some real damage if I swung it hard enough.
"I came here to see how you were doing. The last thing I expected was for you to threaten me. You have anger issues." He stands and walks toward the door.
I'm a dick. The guy was being nice, and I couldn't even say thank you for visiting. What the hell is wrong with me?
"Hey, Bradley?" Finn turns. "It was nice of you to stop by. I can honestly say you’re the last person I thought I'd see."
"I'm not quite sure what to do with that."
"We were friends once. Before this shit with Eve and Tora. I wouldn't be opposed to being friends again."
"I guess that's where we differ. I never thought we stopped being friends. I'm not a bad guy, Parker. But neither you nor Cy seem to give a shit about me."
"It's not that. We just...we're really fucking protective of our women. Like cavemen, we need one of those wooden clubs type of protection."
Finn smiles. "I am glad you're okay."
"I appreciate you coming, and maybe when things settle down, we can meet for a beer or something."
"I'd like that." Finn reaches for the door.
"I meant what I said about Blair."
"I know you did," he replies without looking back.