“It’s not your fault, Cara. It’s just how they operate,” Bastian tells her.
“Doesn’t change the fact you treated my sister like shit and then fucked some other woman while you were in the same hotel,” Dane goes on, determined to list every wrong he thinks I’ve done to Tori.
“You mean while she was fucking Maddox?” Jax throws back at him.
Dane looks like he’s just been slapped. Maddox freezes. Jax looks instantly remorseful when he realizes this wasn’t something her brother knew about.
Within seconds, Dane is on Maddox. Unlike the times Jax has went at him, Maddox doesn’t stand there and take it. He felt like he deserved it when Jax went after him. I guess this time, even if they do regret what happened, the mistake wasn’t one sided.
Jax and Bastian grab the two of them pulling them away from each other. They continue to yell and argue but I don’t hear any of it. My head isn’t out here with them. My heart is somewhere behind the double doors leading back to where doctors and nurses are working on the woman I love.
I don’t even know how long they argue. I don’t know how long I stand there. When the doctor comes out, I stop breathing.
“Rory McCabe and Tori Reese families?” he asks. I‘m already standing there but he waits until the others are gathered around me. “The bullet just missed Tori’s liver,” he tells us looking directly at me. “We removed the bullet and repaired the vessels that were damaged. She needed a blood transfusion as well. She had some internal bleeding that wasn’t related to the bullet wound.”
“She was part of a fighting match tonight,” I hear Jax explain.
“Well, that would explain it and the damage to her ribs. We were worried she might have a punctured lung but fortunately she does not.”
“Will she be okay?” I hear myself finally ask because he isn’t telling me the one thing that’s most important.
“The next twenty-four hours are the most critical, but I like her chances,” he answers. I inhale finally. My lungs burn as they try to replenish that which wouldn’t come. “When can I see her?”
“You’re not going anywhere near her,” Dane growls out.
I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough of his attitude. I’ve had enough of his self-righteous arrogance. I’ve had enough of him thinking that he has anything to do with any of this.
I turn around, moving so that we are nose-to-nose. “If you think for one goddamned second you’re stopping me, then you are a fucking dumbass. Brother or not, I will put you down right here in this fucking hospital if you don’t back the fuck off. Now sit down and shut the fuck up.”
His nostrils flare. His jaw clenches tightly. His eyes glare daggers. He swings, catching me in the jaw. Unlike last time I let him hit me, he's not drunk, and the punch is solid.
But not solid enough to knock me out. Just enough to piss me off.
Without thinking, I ram myself into his chest, knocking him to the ground. My fist flies once, twice before I feel someone dragging me off of him. I have no idea who it is and don't really give a fuck.
I turn my hip, throwing them off of me and move back to Dane. He gets another solid hit to my kidney and a jab to my face.
I feel blood pool in my mouth. I feel ice form in my veins. I feel like the world goes red.
I attack him again. Throwing punch after punch until he's back on the ground. I feel hands pulling at me trying desperately to get me off of him, but I don't stop swinging.
"No one will keep me away from her," I yell through my rage. "No one will fucking take her from me."
In a last-ditch effort, I feel two very large arms wrap around my neck and arm, preventing me from swinging or breathing. "Calm the fuck down," Jax tells me. "I know how fucking hard this is, but he's just worried about his sister like you would be for Zoey. He's her brother. You've got to breathe."
I see Dane on the floor. Blood dripping from his cheek. His eye is already closed shut. His nose is twice its normal size.
And I feel guilty. Tori would not want me doing this to her brother. I really fucking hope she understands when she finds out.
I inhale a deep breath and exhale slowly. I do it several more times until my vision clears. Maddox and Bastian help Dane to his feet.
He looks to me like with shock and surprise. And even a little respect maybe.
I turn back to the doctor, whose eyes keep darting back and forth between us nervously and repeat my question. “You can go back now,” he tells me. “She’s not awake yet, but you can sit with her until she does wake up.”
“What about my brother?” Jax asks.
I suddenly remember Tori wasn’t the only one hurt tonight. Rory was too. And he still come out swinging. If not for him, the rooftop shooter might have tried to get off another round.
