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CHAPTER TWENTY

SAINT

M y eyes fluttered open to darkness, the smell of disinfectant, and so much warmth that my skin tingled with it.

There was no confusion, no muddled brain, and no doubt about what happened. I knew it hadn’t all been a dream, and I was one hundred percent aware that I was in a hospital bed after Sam—who’d been stalking me for months—shot me and Jacob.

The only thing I didn’t know was how long I’d been here; though, going by my stiff muscles and aching limbs, it had been a while.

I turned my head to the side and saw blue eyes.

But they weren’t the icy ones I desperately loved. These eyes were a pretty shade of cornflower blue.

“You’re warm now,” Kady announced gently.

“Hey,” I croaked, my voice husky from lack of use. I tried stretching my lips over my teeth to smile at her, but I just ended up grimacing as my mouth was so parched.

Slowly, Kady sat up, and that was when I sensed movement from the corner of the room. I turned my head a little further to see Diablo leaning forward and Breaker leaning back in his chair, almost lounging .

“How long was I out for?” I asked.

“Two days,” Diablo replied softly.

I opened my mouth to ask the next question, but the words burned my throat because what if the answer wasn’t what I wanted to hear?

Diablo gave me a closed-mouthed smile. “Iceman’s still alive, but he’s in critical condition.

Hendrix called his mom and dad up from New Orleans.

They’re in with him. He got hit twice. Once in the side of his stomach, the other time in his chest. The chest shot nicked his lung and went straight through him and hit your shoulder.

You lost a lot of blood; had to have three blood transfusions. He’s still out of it.”

The wave of sorrow that hit me was debilitating. I closed my eyes, the pain in my heart almost too much to bear. “I’m glad he’s not alone,” I whispered.

“Neither of you is alone,” Diablo corrected me, then said pointedly, “You’ve both got family with you.”

The door clicked open softly. “Evening!” a deep, sexy voice called out as one of the most handsome men I’d ever seen walked into the room.

He approached my bed holding an iPad and wearing a white doctor’s coat and a sexy grin.

“Good to see you awake, Saint. I’m Doctor Locke, but the brothers call me Bones.

” He dipped his chin to study my face. “How you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been shot in the chest,” I murmured.

The doctor choked out a laugh.

He got me.

“Not too soon then?” I asked.

Bones took the chair beside the bed and helped Kady down from beside me. “Just wanna check your blood pressure.” He leaned over me, lifting my arm so he could hook a cuff onto it before clicking a button on the small white machine attached.

“When can I get up?” I asked. “I need to see Jacob. ”

He checked the reading on the machine and removed the cuff from my arm. “Now.”

My heart leaped, and I breathed, “Really? I expected an argument.”

“Nope,” he said, popping the P. “If Diablo or Breaker don’t mind carrying you in, you can go see him now. Word of warning, though. You’ll be meeting the parents. His folks are in with him, too.”

“Can I stay with him?” I asked. “He may wake up if I’m there, and I want to stay close in case he needs me.”

“Yep,” Bones told me. “He’s hooked up to tubes and monitors, so you gotta be careful, but you can stay in there with him.”

“Help me up?” I asked.

Bones took my elbow and gently pulled me until I was in a seated position. Once I’d had a drink of water and used the bathroom, somebody produced my short robe, and I slipped it over my PJs.

Breaker and Kady went to get Kennedy, and my stare fell on Diablo, who stood sentry at the door.

His face was stoic, and his stubble was a few days more than overgrown.

I could tell he’d been in the same clothes for days because of the blood stains on them, but he was still one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen.

“How do I thank you?” I croaked, blinking away the moisture welling in my eyes. “There aren’t words.”

“Guitar lessons,” he replied.

I went to chuckle, but the movement pulled at the stitches in my shoulder, so it came out more like a choke. “You’re on.” I smiled when I’d recovered. “I owe you everything.”

He hitched an eyebrow and lowered his chin. “You don’t owe me shit. We’re family, and family sticks together. ”

“You’re gonna make me cry,” I whispered. “You beautiful, beautiful man.”

His cheeks flushed red, and for a second, he looked almost embarrassed by my compliment.

“Don’t get all schmaltzy on me, Saint. For fuck’s sake, last time I looked, I don’t gotta vagina, so stop with the slushy shit.

Did my job, though I’ll argue day and night that I was a bit late to the party.

Still, you and Iceman are here, and if there’s a God, he’ll wake up soon. ”

“There is a God,” I announced. “Because people like you exist.”

He flicked his hand out. “Bah. Stop with the bullshit. At this rate, you’ll make me grow a pair of tits.”

I smiled and carefully touched my fingers to my heart before touching them to my mouth and blowing a kiss his way.

He smiled, his white teeth flashing through his beard, and he shot me a wink.

“You gonna carry me to my man?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he rumbled. “But I gotta wait for Bones to give me the green light first.”

My eyes closed. “I can still see him coughing up blood, D. I can still feel the fear and the helplessness.” I opened my eyes again and they welled with tears. “If I lose him, I may as well die, too.”

Within seconds, Diablo was sitting by my side, and his arm slid around me.

“He’s gonna be okay. I’m not gonna lie and say it’s not bad ‘cause he’s got a collapsed lung.

Not gonna dress it up pretty for ya, Saint, ‘cause you need to prepare yourself. They lost him a few times in surgery, but he pulled through, and it’s because of you. He’s fighting to come to you.”

“They lost him?” I breathed.

God, I felt sick.

“Not gonna lie to you, woman,” he bit out.

“Got too much respect, but you need to get prepared before you go in that room. Once you’re in there, no tears, no whining, you be strong for him; you be the ol’ lady he needs.

You lie there, whisper in his ear, and tell him to wake the fuck up.

You tell him you’ll battle every demon in Hell to bring him back to you.

Don’t let him fall, don’t fucking allow it.

If you wanna cry, do it now and get it outta your system before we go in, ‘cause once we’re in there, it’s time to fight. ”

Diablo’s words hit me in the chest.

He was right. Jacob had fought to keep me alive; he’d taken a bullet for me and almost sacrificed everything because he loved me.

Now it was my turn to fight for him.

The door opened, and Bones appeared. “You want to see him?”

I nodded eagerly, and within seconds, I was up in Diablo’s arms, and he was carrying me out the door. Chairs were lining the corridor, filled with bikers. Men in leather cuts even sat on the floor with their backs against the wall as they waited for news of their brother.

Murmurs of greeting and well wishes went up, and I caught sight of Gambit and Trick standing together with their backs to the wall.

“Tell the lazy bastard to wake up, Saint,” Trick called out in his hybrid Irish accent.

Chuckles went up, and I tried to smile too, but my heart wasn’t in it. I just needed to see Jacob, to hold him, and tell him I was there and that I loved him.

Whatever happened, I needed him to know that.

It was weird because I thought Jacob’s room would be deathly silent with machines beeping and an atmosphere you could cut with a knife, but as Diablo carried me over the threshold, we were met with soft laughter.

My wide-eyed stare slashed toward the bed, greedy to catch sight of Jacob.

I sucked in a sharp intake of breath when I saw my guy laid out on his back with a breathing tube down his throat.

My pulse began to pound with the sudden, desperate need to get to him, to touch him and let him know I was there.

I took in the older couple sat by his bed, and then I was met by icy-blue eyes identical to Jacob’s and I almost lost my shit. Instead, I took a fortifying breath and murmured, “Hi. I’m Saint.”

“Oh my God,” the woman breathed, her hands flying to her mouth. “Look at her, Doug. She’s perfect.” She launched off her chair and rushed toward me, taking my hand and walking with me as Diablo carried me toward the bed.

“I’m Kathy, Jake’s mom, and this is his dad, Doug,” she said excitedly. “We’re so happy to meet you.”

Diablo stooped down to place me gently on the mattress beside Jake, then he straightened to his full height and folded his arms across his chest.

I turned to Kathy, taking in her pretty face and Doug’s obvious similarity to Jacob. “I wish we could’ve met under better circumstances.”

“He’s gonna pull through, darlin’,” Doug rumbled. “Jake’s a stubborn mule as well as a fighter.”

I turned back toward Jacob and gently smoothed my fingers over his temple.

His skin was surprisingly warm, but the sickly grey transparency of it made my heart ache.

Jacob’s brow was smooth in sleep, and he looked impossibly handsome.

I yearned for his eyes to flutter open and pull me into the icy-blue depths that I’d written into a hundred songs during the years since we met.

“Has there been any sign of him waking up?” I asked.

“No,” Kathy said softly. “But that’s good.

Both Sophie and Grayson think the way forward is to keep him in a medically induced sleep to allow his body time to heal.

They’ll give him a couple of days and wean him off the medication, and if he doesn’t wake up himself, they’ll put him back under for a few more days. ”

“So, it’s a waiting game?” I asked.

“Yeah, darlin’,” Doug murmured, leaning forward to inspect my bandaged shoulder. “And how are you doin’?”

“Good, thanks to Jacob,” I responded nervously. “I’m sorry. It was all my fault. He got hurt because he was protecting me.”

Doug held up a hand to silence me. “Don’t wanna hear that bull. You never shot him, Saint, that asshole did and he was seriously whacked. Neither of you could’ve known. Plus, he was paid to protect you, and Jake’s the kind of man who takes his responsibility seriously.”

“He would’ve protected her anyway, Doug,” Kathy snapped. “He’s in love with her.” One eyebrow lifted, and her lips pursed into an angry line. “Don’t listen to him, Saint.”

“Didn’t mean it like that,” Doug grunted.

“You never do,” she clipped. “But you still always manage to put your foot in it.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “See what I have to put up with? It’s like living with a fucking Banshee.”

“I can’t believe you, Douglas Irons,” Kathy bit out. “We met Saint thirty seconds ago, and already you dropped an f-bomb. What must she think of us?”

“It’s okay, Kathy,” I assured her. “I’ve been known to drop an f-bomb here and there myself, and my manager, Talia, well, she drops one every other word.”

“See, woman?” Doug muttered. “Saint says fuck, too.”

Kathy’s eyes turned to slits. “Douglas Irons!”

His mouth stretched into a lazy grin, and he looked so much like Jacob that my heart flipped over.

The urge to touch him washed over me again, and I turned to my guy and snuggled closer, resting my hand on his blanket-covered stomach and inhaling the scent of his skin.

Light as a feather, I ran my fingers up the blanket, past the huge bandage stuck across his torso, and cupped his heart in my hands.

“Wake up, baby,” I whispered. “Please wake up.”

My eyes lifted to his, and I held my breath, waiting for a sign. But it didn’t come.

The machines kept beeping, Kathy and Doug kept bickering, and my throat filled with tears.

“Stop bustin’ my balls, woman. It ain’t the time or the place,” Doug muttered.

“I’ll bust ‘em alright,” Kathy warned. “You’ve a mouth like a sewer.”

My hand pressed lightly on Jacob’s heart, and I wished more than anything that he could wake up so I could bust his balls. I would’ve given anything to bicker with him like an old married couple. It would’ve been beautiful.

A loud screeching noise began to wail like a siren, and the beep, beep, beep of Jacob’s heart monitor rose to a shriek.

My neck twisted to see Diablo rushing out the door, shouting for Bones, who after a few seconds, came rushing into the room with Freya and Diablo at his heels.

“What’s happening?” I cried, looking on in horror as Bones pulled out his stethoscope and checked Jacob’s heart.

His stare flicked over me, and he ordered, “Get her out of here.”

“No!” I wailed, but before I could cling to Jacob, Diablo had scooped me into his arms and he carried me out into the corridor on the heels of Jacob’s parents.

My heart cracked apart. “No! Please help him!” I begge d

Diablo put me on my feet, tucked me close to his chest, and rumbled, “Let ‘em do their jobs, Saint.”

Bones glanced at Freya, jerking his chin toward the door and barking, “Privacy.”

Freya came to the door and smiled at me sadly. “We’ll take care of him, I promise,” she murmured, slowly closing the door and blocking Jacob from my sight.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I stared at the door in shock.

What the hell just happened? Jacob was fine, peaceful even, then all of a sudden he wasn’t. Suddenly, it hit me. This was serious. Jacob was in a really bad way, and with all my money, fame, and connections, there was nothing I could do about it.

I let out a small sob and dug my fingernails into the heel of my palms to stop myself from doing what I really wanted, which was to scream the waiting area down.

No, no, no.

Jacob had to be okay.

I couldn’t lose him.