Page 38 of Hunted

I move to another rack and a bright pink shirt grabs my attention. Pulling it out, I readI'm a limited edition — handle with care.

Perfect.

I shove it in my basket along with the others, then move to the fridges lining the back wall. Fuck, I haven’t had a cold drink in so long. I grab a bunch of bottles of water, not bothering to count them as I make my way to the cashier. I grab some granola bars, so we have something to snack on while we wait. I doubt any of us will want to eat a meal until we know Darla’s out of surgery and awake.

The last thing I grab is a backpack with the hospital logo on it, so we have something to put our stuff in.

I hold my breath when I insert my visa card, praying it wasn’t cancelled, and am relieved when it pings in approval. I take my bags and quickly head back upstairs, going back to the bathroom and changing into my new clothes. I wish they had underwear in the gift shop, but new pants and a shirt will have to do for now.

When I get to the waiting room, the other three are there. Reece is pacing and the other two jump up when they see me.

“She’s in surgery,” I tell them before they start asking questions.

I drop the bags on two chairs and pull out water bottles, handing them each one. They all take them and greedily drink as I do the same.

“Granola bars.” I point to one bag. “Shirts and pants,” I tell them, pointing to the other. “There’s a bathroom just around the corner on your right.”

Bower reaches into the bag and pulls out a shirt, holding it up as he reads, "You are someone's reason to smile."

King grabs one for himself. "Believe in miracles.” He looks up at me as he asks, “What are these?”

“There wasn’t much selection of clothing in the gift shop, so I picked ones I thought could be messages for Darla.”

He glances at my shirt, reading it before a smile pulls at his lips. “Good idea.” He grabs a pair of pants, looks at the size, then tosses them at Bower before reaching back in for a smaller size. The two of them take their clothes and head to the washroom as Reece reaches in and pulls out the pink shirt.

“That one’s for Darla,” I tell him.

He takes a moment to read the front of it, his hands tightening on the fabric as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“She’s gonna be okay, Reece.” I take a seat and another sip of water.

His eyes narrow on me as he replies. “You don’t know that.”

“Her pulse was strong the whole way here. It didn’t weaken at all. Besides, you know she’s strong. After everything she’s survived, you know she can survive this, too.”

He watches me for a moment, like he’s trying to figure out if he believes me. But he stays silent, the tension only breaking when he turns away, putting Darla’s shirt back in the bag and pulling out his own clothes.

He doesn’t bother reading it as he heads to the bathroom. I lean back and close my eyes, wondering how long it’s going to take them to fix Darla.

I grab a granola bar and start munching on it slowly, but it tastes like cardboard. The others come back one at a time, wearing their new clothes, and I show them the backpack where they can stash their old ones. Although I’m not sure why none of us are just throwing them out. They aren’t salvageable at this point.

Everyone takes a seat around the room as we wait in silence, all of us lost in our own heads. And when someone in a white lab coat steps into the room, we all jump to our feet on alert.

“Is she okay?” Bower asks as we all watch the man nervously.

“Did you all come in on the helicopter with the blonde woman?”

“Darla, and yes, that was us,” Reece tells him.

“Darla…” the man says slowly as he writes that down on the clipboard he’s holding. “Right. I’m Dr. Rahar. I was Darla’s surgeon. She’s out of surgery now and is stable.”

We release a collective breath as Reece starts in with the questions. “What were the injuries? Were there any complications? When will she wake up?”

Dr. Rahar looks around at the four of us, assessing our appearance as he narrows his eyes at Reece and asks, “And how do you know Miss… Darla?”

“We’re her family,” Reece says through clenched teeth.

“Brothers?” he asks, his eyes bouncing between us all.