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“Blood pressure’s crashing,” Jenna warned.
“Get fluids running now,” Dr. Harris ordered.
Everything blurred after that into blood, pressure dressings and shouted instructions.
The knife had missed the artery by less than an inch.
Less than an inch. The thought kept repeating itself in my head while Dr. Harris worked to stop the bleeding and repair the muscle damage. Riot drifted in and out through most of it, barely conscious by the time the sedation finally hit him properly.
I stayed moving because stopping meant thinking and thinking meant panic. By the time the worst of it was over, blood streaked my scrubs and exhaustion sat heavy behind my eyes.
Ghost still had blood spattered across one side of his face while Reaper leaned against the wall, holding his ribs again.
Shadow somehow looked the worst. I could see the fear that sat beneath the anger in his expression while he stared at Riot lying unconscious in the bed.
Reaper cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh . . . mine’s mostly dried blood.”
I took a deep breath before looking at him properly. “Sit down before I make you.”
Ghost let out a tired laugh. “There she is.”
That finally broke the tension enough for everybody to start moving again.
The next hour passed in a blur of cleaning cuts, checking bruised ribs and stitching injuries the brothers tried pretending weren’t serious.
“You’re all idiots,” I muttered while wrapping fresh bandages around his torso.
“Occupational hazard,” Reaper replied.
Eventually only Shadow remained. He sat heavily in one of the treatment chairs while I cleaned dried blood from a cut near his temple. For once he didn’t complain, bark orders or glare at anybody. He just looked tired.
“He’s stable,” I said quietly. “The bleeding’s under control.”
Shadow nodded once but kept staring toward Riot’s room. “Thank you,” he muttered.
The words surprised me enough that I looked up.
Shadow noticed immediately and grunted. “Don’t look so fuckin’ shocked.”
Despite everything, the corner of my mouth lifted slightly.
Silence settled between us again while I taped fresh dressing over the cut.
Then Shadow spoke without looking at me. “He ain’t been right since you left.”
My hands paused briefly. “So I’ve heard.”
Shadow raised his eyebrows but didn’t comment. He leaned back slightly in the chair, eyes still fixed toward the hallway. “Boy’s been half outta his damn mind for weeks.”
Coming from anybody else, the words might’ve sounded manipulative. From Shadow, they just sounded honest.
I swallowed carefully before forcing myself to keep working. “He made his choices.”
“Yeah,” Shadow muttered. “Turns out he’s real fuckin’ bad at ‘em.”
A tired laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
Shadow looked at me for a second before standing slowly from the chair. “You kept the police away and kept him alive,” he said. “Means somethin’ to me.” He walked back toward the waiting room before I could answer.
