“Stay close to me,” I order, looking back at her once more. “We’ll get out of here, Avery.”
She looks at me, gaze direct, but I can tell she has her doubts. Can’t really blame her. “Let’s do this.” It’s a simple statement, but full of resolve. I nod, pleased that she’s not freaking out like most would.
I unlock the door, and I throw it open. Gun up, I step out, feeling Avery close to my back. The hallway is empty, but I can hear the yelling and screaming echoing back to us from the end of it. Orders are being barked, screams of pain and gunfire fill the air, and doors open and slamming. Looks like we’re in the heat of things.
Every step is agony, but I force myself forward. I’m running on pure adrenaline, and the desire to keep Avery safe. I hope it’s enough.
Our steps are loud in the empty hallway, but no one emerges from any of the doors lining it, and most of the chaos is still ahead of us. “Keep going, Hulk,” Cryos says tightly in my ear. I can hear the anxiety coating his voice, even as he tries to stay calm. “You’re clear until you get to the end of the next hall. I’m working on cameras to see if I can find another way out for you, but it’s looking like that’s the only way.”
“There’s a door in the med room,” Avery suddenly says quietly. “I don’t know where it leads, but the guards used to use it instead of the main door.”
“There’s no door that I can see on the cameras.”
“By the cabinet, kind of blends into the wall. The knob is behind a small rolling cabinet that gets shoved in front of it a lot.”
“Clever fuckers,” Cryos grumbles. “I can’t see any cameras in that area. You’ll be going in blind.”
“Might be the only way for us to get there without getting caught in the middle of the battle out front,” I grit out. “We’ll need someone to meet us there in case we have any trouble.”
“Already on my way,” Shadow replies. “Cryos, need directions. Hulk, you and Avery get there, and we’ll handle the rest.”
“On it,” Cryos barks, and I can vaguely make out the sound of him pounding away on his keys.
We reach the end of the hallway, and I look around, but no one seems to be around. The hall heads down straight toward the chaos. I look back at Avery. “How do we get to the med room?” I pant.
“It’s at the end of the hallway, last door on the left,” she answers. “Hulk, you going to make it?” She assesses me, but I can feel my vision wavering. The pain and exhaustion are starting to overtake the adrenaline. I stagger, landing hard against the wall. Fuck. “Shit!” Avery hisses. “One of you needs to get here to help me. He’s not going to make it out of here. I fucking told you.” I hear the clang of something on the floor, before she says, “I’m sorry, but this is going to fucking hurt, big guy. Might keep you moving.” Her arm wraps around my back, and the agony that fills me is so consuming I’m sure I’m going to pass out. The bellow of pain that falls out of my mouth is loud enough that even with all the fighting, there’s no way that someone didn’t hear us.
“Cryos, get me there fast,” Shadow orders.
Anything else said is drowned out as I feel Avery yank the gun from my hand and then wrap my arm around her shoulder.The position pulls on the open wounds of my back, and I cry out in pain again. “Keep it together,” she barks at me, and I turn my head to glare at her. “Yeah, you can be pissed at me after we get the hell out of here. Move those giant feet.”
I don’t have much of a choice, so I do as ordered, trying to breathe through the pain.
It feels like I’m slogging through quicksand with every step, my strength waning, but then the minute I try to stop, my sadistic angel digs her fingers into the side, shooting enough pain through me to keep me going a few more feet. “I thought you were an angel, not the devil,” I hiss when she does it one more time until we finally reach the door.
Avery doesn’t even bother to answer as she quickly gets the door open. “Get in, or you’ll see how much of a sadist I can be.” Shouts fill the air. “Fuck. Move, move!” she hisses, poking at me until I stagger into the room. She turns around, and the boom of a gun fills the air before she slams the door and locks it. I stagger and stumble into the wall, knocking things over so they spill on the floor until I finally just lean weakly against the wall, vomit falling from my mouth to the floor.
“Avery, Shadow is almost to the room,” Cryos barks in my ear. “Be ready to unlock that door. He’s coming in hot and we can’t afford for him to die.”
“There are men on the other side of the door trying to get in,” Avery gasps out as she makes her way around the room, opening cabinets and knocking things out of them as she searches for something. I’m too tired and weak to care. I just watch her thinking how pretty she is. Even sweaty, panicked, she’s stunning.
“I’ll handle them,” Shadow promises. “I’ll tell you when to unlock the door, and then be ready to go.”
Avery sets the gun down on top of the waist-high cabinet next to me, thankfully pointed away, and orders, “Hulk, look at me.”
I stare at her weakly, unable to do anything else. “Your eyes are so fucking beautiful,” I whisper, staring into them. “Like the ocean on a sunny day.” Huh, who knew I could be so sappy? I give her a silly smile. “But I want to see them all dark and sexy too.” Why the fuck am I saying this shit? What the hell is wrong with me? I’m not wrong, but God, I can’t seem to stop the words that keep spilling out of my mouth. “My pretty angel. My pretty blue angel. Even if you are the devil wrapped in those sexy scrubs. Love me a woman in scrubs. Always wanted a nurse to take care of me. You know?”
“Yeah, maybe another time,” she grunts, stabbing something into my arm. I groan and stare at her. Why the hell is she stabbing me now? “I’m only giving you enough to keep going. It’s going to wear out in like fifteen minutes, but it might be the only way we get the hell out of here. Where the hell are you, Shadow?”
“Almost there,” Shadow grunts, and I hear him let out another one before a loud shot and someone falls.
“Fuck, I’ve lost Vlad,” Cryos barks. “His SUV went around a bend and disappeared. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
“We don’t have time to worry about him until he shows his face,” Bullet barks, and I hear more shouting and the faint roar of bikes. “Shadow, we get Hulk and Avery out. If we have to retreat, we do, but now we know where he’s hiding, and we can handle shit from there.”
The drugs that Avery stabbed into me cleared out some of the pain and fog in my head almost instantly, but not enough to completely dull the pain or give me back my energy. I force myself into a standing position, despite the effort it’s costing me. “I’m good,” I rasp out, looking at Avery and giving her a thankful nod as I grab the gun. “Get the door out of here open, Avery. I’ll handle this door.”
“Hulk, don’t push yourself,” Avery warns me, not moving.
