Page 85 of Wanted

Knox sniffed and nodded, and to Liv’s relief, even his heartbeat slowed down a little. “You won’t let me d-die there? I know it’s pathetic, but—”

“It’s not. I might have died if it wasn’t for you,” Liv insisted, sliding his arms around Knox’s chest and pressing closer, ready to keep him warm until someone brought a car over.

Cyborg’s voice was like a saw ripping into their little cocoon. “No one’s dying, but you lost a lot of blood, we need to get moving.”

Someone tapped the back of Liv’s shoulder. “Let’s get him in the car,” Frank said. “You two did real well. Shane needs to see a doctor too, but he’s fine enough.”

Knox turned his eyes to Frank. “I don’t… have money.”

“My uncle’s the doctor where we’re going, you’ll be fine,” Cyborg said, but when he tried to help Knox up, Knox clutched at Liv, as if the trust Liv shattered earlier tonight could still be rebuilt.

“See? It’s all gonna be fine. Cy knows people. You don’t have to worry about a thing,” Liv said, dragging himself up to help Cyborg get Knox to his feet.

Chapter 28

Liv

Liv had broken hispromise to stay at Knox’s side less than an hour after making it. He insisted. Then begged, but the doctor refused to let him be there for the surgery. In the end, it was Knox who needed to give him permission to exit, but leaving him behind, even in the care of people who knew what they were doing, felt like yet another betrayal.

Seconds felt like minutes as he sat in the waiting area of the local hospital, with Cy’s jacket draped over his bare skin. Not that he needed it with raw emotions warring inside him and producing uncomfortable levels of heat.

He was afraid the surgery might fail.

He was grateful Knox had saved him.

He felt sympathy for Knox’s fear.

But most of all, he was flooded by never-ending guilt over his past actions.

What did someone as pure-hearted as Knox see in a dumb, impulsive dude like him? He couldn’t hold a candle to Knox’sattractiveness, honesty, or loyalty. But Knox always believed in him and even tonight had seen Liv as his rock.

Watching him fall apart and be so very vulnerable had been a shock. Knox was a guy with a strong personality and more pride than people in his position could afford, yet he shook in Liv’s arms, cried, and begged not to be taken to a doctor.

Liv itched to storm the fucking operating room, to make sure they weren’t fucking something up, but that would have achieved nothing, so he stayed put, tormented by the last touch they’d shared.

“How long can it take?” Liv mumbled.

He got up, only to pace the small corridor where he sat with Frank and Cyborg. He’d found out that Dex and Hammer had also taken part in the raid on Shane’s house and were now dealing with the bodies. Cy stayed to talk to his uncle after Knox’s surgery, but Frank… why was he here? As moral support? Maybe he just didn’t want to leave his car to Liv.

Frank sighed. “They need to check for shattered bones, make sure the nerves are okay. You have to be patient.”

“But Knox wanted me there with him, and it’s taking too long,” Liv rasped, massaging his aching throat.

“It needs to take as long as it needs to. This is not helping him. Calm the fuck down,” Cy said in a cool voice, seeming a bit less like an actual cyborg now that he’d dropped the mask and the bulletproof vest and sat there in a tight black long-sleeve.

With air burning in his chest, Liv stepped closer. “I will calm down when I see with my own eyes that he’s fine!”

Frank got up and approached the vending machine. “I’ve seen bullet wounds, and recovery is a bitch, but he’ll be okay. You can go downstairs and donate blood if it gives you a sense of purpose. It could help pass the time.”

Liv’s fists burned, but despite the impulse to be a monkey attacking a gorilla just because he felt bad, he knew Frank wasn’t at fault for any of this.

“You don’t fucking get it. He literally stepped in front of me to take that bullet.”

Even Cyborg didn’t have a snarky comment, and the only sound following his words came from the vending machine.

Frank went back to his seat and pushed a Twix into Liv’s hand. “Eat something.”

But when Liv glanced at the chocolate treat, all he could think of was that there were two pieces to a Twix. They were only a Twixtogether. Like him and Knox. That somehow spiraled into him not wanting to eat one at a time. He’d just have to bite into both at once.