Page 66 of Reckless Storm (San Francisco End Game #3)

Hayley

S omeone touches my hand and I startle awake, my gaze bouncing around the space.

For the few seconds before my mind registers the hospital room and Keeley’s broken expression, I let myself believe it was a dream.

“I’m sorry,” Keeley rushes out, squatting down until we’re eye level, grabbing my hand. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“That’s okay, I—” My voice cracks until I clear my throat and try again. “I’m okay. Just a little jumpy.”

“Understandably.” Her eyes flash to Reed lying unconscious on the bed, and my chest tightens as emotion wells in my throat.

Why won’t he wake up?

He’s been back from surgery for hours and he’s still out of it. He still needs to be intubated to help him breathe.

“Have the doctors been in?” Keeley asks, pulling my gaze back to hers as I bite my cheek to stave off the tears.

“They have. A few times but all they keep saying is that he needs time to heal. And that he’s lucky to be alive. As if that’s not something I already freaking know.”

A nurse walks in and my face reddens. I know the doctors are helping and can’t tell me much. I should be grateful he’s okay. But I need more.

I need him to be awake.

“Sorry to interrupt.” The nurse smiles warmly and I force a grin. “I’m Blair. I’ll be Reed’s nurse today and tomorrow. I just wanted to pop in and say hi.” She wanders over to his machines and checks his charts, assessing God knows what, and when she’s done, she heads back to the door.

“Do those machines tell you when he’s going to wake up?” I ask, all my hope riding on her answer.

“I’m afraid not.” She smiles sympathetically and my hope fades. “But his vitals are good. I’ll be back to check in again soon.”

“Thank you.”

She walks away and I release a slow breath, glancing back at Keeley.

“Do you know what happened?” she asks, her eyes still on Reed.

I nod even though she’s not looking my way, my eyes filling with tears once more, and it’s barely a second before the first one falls.

“He went into shock from a stab wound to his spleen. They were able to repair the damage, but his body is still recovering. Of course they used more technical terms than that—hypo-something. But you get the gist.”

“Hypovolemic shock. Jesus .”

“Yep. That’s it. All that muscle and it didn’t help.” It sounds like I’m joking but I’ve run that fact through my mind over and over. If Reed hadn’t lunged for Landon at the same time Landon raised the knife, it never would have happened.

“At least you know he’s in good hands,” Keeley tries to reassure me, but it doesn’t work. “He’s had surgery. The doctors have helped him. We just have to wait.”

“I know. But I’m done waiting. I waited too long to let myself feel and now—”

“Don’t finish that sentence. Reed’s going to wake up and you’re going to have a great life together.”

Keeley and I are friends, but I’ve never really spoken to her about my past. Only Amelia and Reed know the true depth of my hesitancy toward putting my heart on the line, and yet something about the look in Keeley’s eyes suggests that she understands.

And if that’s because she feels the same, I hate that for her. But I can’t think about that now.

“What if—”

“No what-ifs,” she cuts me off. “I’ve never seen either of you as happy as when you’re together, and I have no doubt in my mind that there’s more to your story.”

I force a smile and it actually helps. “Thanks, Keeley. I needed that. I appreciate you coming in. Did you miss your flight home?”

“I did but it doesn’t matter. I’m here. For as long as you need me.”

“I appreciate that too, but I’ll be okay. I promise. I’m sure you’re busy and—”

Keeley laughs quietly but there’s a sadness to it. “I’m staying. You’re my friend, and Reed and Zane are part of the team so that makes them like family. I’m exactly where I need to be.”

Zane? Shit . I hadn’t even thought about him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Keeley questions before I can ask about Zane.

“Ah… Oh… I don’t know. A little part of me wishes I was in denial.”

“That’s not healthy for either of you, but I’ll go along with anything you want. Take your time.”

“No, you’re right. It might be better to talk. I think I’m still processing what happened.”

“I’m happy to wait. I’m here to listen whenever you’re ready.”

My mind drifts back to last night, and a shiver runs through me.

With a racing heart, I rush to tell the operator what happened, giving her all the information I can while trying not to panic.

“I’ve dispatched the police and an ambulance,” she reassures me. “The ambulance is a couple of minutes away and—”

I stop listening and turn to Reed, grabbing his hand to fill him in. “An ambulance is coming. Just—” He flops forward and my heart stops as I drop the phone, a whimper escaping as I catch him in my arms, his dead weight forcing me to lower him to the ground.

A sharp pain registers in my arm but I push through it.

“Reed.” I shake him, but he doesn’t move. “ Reed ,” I cry out, louder this time, and my voice quivers. “Reed, baby. Wake up. Help is coming. You have to wake up. Reed!” I scream his name and grab his face, all rational thoughts leaving my mind. “Please. Please.”

Searching his body, I’m careful not to move him, when I notice the sheer amount of blood he’s lost and my body convulses as I sob uncontrollably. “Reed. I need you. You have to wake up.”

I’m not sure how much time passes before someone pulls me away, and I try to fight but the grip is too strong. “Let go of me,” I scream. “He needs me. Let go .”

The grip on me tightens as I thrash against my captor, and on a deeper level, I know I should be scared, but I can’t bring myself to care. I just need to know Reed’s okay.

“The ambulance is here, Hayley. We need to move.” I vaguely recognise the voice and stop moving, my body going rigid. “I’ve got you. I’m here.”

“What did I do? He has to be okay. I can’t lose him.”

“You didn’t do anything. This isn’t your fault. He’s in good hands.” I register the voice and my movements still.

Zane holds me as tears cascade down my cheeks, pooling in my mouth and I watch on in silence. But when the EMTs cut through Reed’s shirt, I cry out again. “Nooo. Please, Reed. Wake up.”

The world slows as they lift Reed onto a gurney with all sounds ceasing to exist other than the faint words of comfort coming from Zane. “Shhh. It’s okay. Shhh.”

One of the EMTs walks over but I don’t register what he’s saying, my mind still on Reed. Where it should be. You have to wake up. Please. You have to.

I lightly pat the bandage on my arm where the knife struck me, and when I focus on Keeley again, she’s wiping tears from her eyes. “Have you seen Zane?” I ask, needing to get out of my head.

“Not yet. The nurse that came in before said he was sleeping. He lost a lot of blood himself and—”

“He what?” I sit up straighter, my eyes flashing to the door. How did I not know that? “Is he okay?”

“He’s okay, Hayley. Are you?”

“I’m fine. Never better.” I fake a smile and Keeley frowns. Physically, I’m fine. My wound is barely a scratch. I was so focused on Reed that I didn’t even feel it at the time.

And I hate that.

How is that fair when the two people that came to my rescue are lucky to be alive?

“You’re far from fine.” Keeley cuts into my thoughts, grabbing my hand again for attention.

“I’m going to let that one slide,” she says with a frown.

“But you’re allowed to be hurting, Hayley.

You—” I yawn and when Keeley sees it she cuts herself off.

“You need to sleep. You’ve been through so much and you need to look after yourself. ”

“I know. But I don’t want to miss Reed if he wakes. I already fell asleep before.”

“I’m sure he’ll wake you.”

“It’s Reed, not Luke. Reed’s too nice for that.”

“Very true.” Keeley’s eyes flash to the door. “How about I stay here? I’ll wake you if Reed doesn’t.”

“Thanks, but I can’t let you do that. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Okay. Well, I’m not going anywhere just yet. If you need to, take a nap.”

While I try hard to fight it, I must fall asleep because when I wake up some time later, Keeley’s no longer next to me and Reed’s still asleep.

If you removed the tube from his throat, he’d actually look peaceful. Though he’s far from it. And I’m terrified of how he’ll feel when he wakes up. But God, I hope it’s soon.

Soft voices drift in from the hall and a door creaks. “You’re awake?” Keeley gasps, pulling my gaze away from Reed. “Of course you’d wake the moment I leave the room.”

I smile, though it doesn’t reach my eyes. “It’s fine. I didn’t expect you to stay.”

A flash of dark hair appears in the doorway and I pause.

“I know I didn’t have to stay. But I wanted to and—”

“Is Luke here?” I cut Keeley off, my gaze over her shoulder.

“What?” She tries to look confused and this time I genuinely laugh.

“He is, isn’t he?”

“He’s in the hall. Probably listening in on our conversation.”

“I am not.” Luke pops his head in and I laugh again until guilt works its way into my chest. Reed’s unconscious. I shouldn’t be happy.

“How’d you know I was here?”

“Because I thought I saw you peeking, and it made me think that if Amelia couldn’t be here she’d make you stay.”

“No one left.” His lips pull into a soft smile as he steps forward. “At least none of Reed’s friends.”

“What?”

“D’Angelo put us up in a fancy hotel close by.”

“Wow. Um. What about…” I trail off, struggling to say his name.

“Landon?” Luke fills in the blank. “He’s here somewhere. But luckily he’s on police guard because if any of us saw him, we’d—”

“He’s on life support,” Keeley cuts in, her voice soft, and I gasp. “He hit his head pretty hard and—”

“What?” Luke and I speak in unison, both of us wide-eyed as we stare at Keeley.

“I quickly went to check on Zane and he told me. He was informed by the police. They stopped by here, too, but since you were sleeping, they said they’d be back.”

“I—” I swallow a lump in my throat. I don’t know what to say. He’s on life support? How? It wasn’t Reed and I didn’t… Oh, God. “Is Zane okay?”

“Not really. I mean, physically, yes. But mentally, I don’t know. His spark was gone, if you know what I mean.”

For the first time ever, Luke falls quiet. As do I. But while the guilt inside me thickens, I can’t bring myself to care. Reed’s unconscious and lucky to be alive. Zane’s lying in a hospital bed facing God knows what because he stepped in to protect me. And my world as I know it has shattered.

So yes, I may feel guilty, but I can’t allow myself to feel anything else. Landon did this. He brought this on himself. And if I saw him right now, I couldn’t be held responsible for what I’d do.

He hurt the one man that brings light into my world and extinguished his flame in the process. He deserves…

God, what if he dies?

No… what’s worse…

“What if Reed doesn’t wake up?” I sob uncontrollably just like I did when Reed first collapsed in my arms, the memory still raw. And it’s only when Luke rushes to my side that I realise I spoke the words out loud. “What if I lose him? What if he dies?”

Wake up, Reed. You have to wake up.