Fuck.
“Dude,” I mutter. That’s fucking huge. “What—”
“I don’t want to talk about it!” he snaps, shutting it all down. I should know better by now honestly. Cole is as closed off about his past like a fucking padlocked book. He doesn’t reveal anything, ever. Like he didn’t just say that, he continues. “Your girl made me help and I did. What else could I do? Anyway, the baby was born but there wasn’t any cry.”
“I know.” I remember the way the girl screamed at Mia about the baby not crying. “What did Mia do?”
An amazed look crosses his face as he looks at me. “She did what she’s done for you. She saved a life.”
Those words gut me to the core. I hold his stare, waiting.
“Fuck, the fear of those few seconds. Actually, it felt more like fucking hours but Mia was focused, with a look on her face I think I’ve never seen before. It was like…”
“She was in a trans,” I mutter, looking away. “Like her entire world was centered on that one moment, that one task, where nothing else matters.”
“Uh, yeah,” Cole mutters after a while. “It seems you know that look well.”
A ball the size of a fucking baseball lodges itself in my throat. I have to clear my throat just to speak. “Mia cares with her entire soul, Cole.”
“I know that.”
“She cares with her soul and I… I’m an unfeeling jerk.”
“I know that too.”
“So how the fuck is she ever going to forgive me for this?” I demand, looking at him. “How the fuck are we going to get past this? I can’t even see her.”
“She’s not a wake yet.”
“I should be with her either way!”
“Patience, J. I think she’d appreciate it if you give her time to come through.”
“That fucking bastard Nathan is hovering around her like the fucking parasite he is.”
“He’s being watched. Mr. Fitz is taking care of it.”
“And fucking Shane Matthews is out there, with a hunger to kill my brother.”
“Wait, what?”
Looking up, I see Liam standing in the doorway, watching me. Obviously, he heard everything.
“You know the thing about eavesdropping is you never know what you might hear, Little Liam,” Cole says silently.
“Whatever man,” Liam says, still looking at me. “What did you just say? About that imbecile, fucking Shane?”
“You obviously heard everything,” I mumble.
“He wants to kill me, huh?” Liam says with a hard smile on his face as he steps into the room with bags of food that he places at the sitting area of my room. It looks like a fucking presidential suite instead a hospital room.
“You don’t look particularly surprised about that,” Cole says, watching Liam who doesn’t say anything. He just nods to himself as if making a silent vow to himself. I don’t lie it.
“Well, he’s time is coming,” he says instead.
“Unless he comes makes sure your fucking time comes first,” I say. “What happened between the two of you?” He just looks at me, tight-lipped. “Liam?”
“That’s none of your concern since you and dad haven’t done anything to deal with the whole marriage contract thing!”
“Because that’s all you fucking care about, isn’t it?” I mutter.
“We can’t be marrying our enemies and thinking fucking pieces of paper are okay.”
“The Bishops are not my enemies.”
“They seem to be your enemies though, Little Liam, what happened? You know you can tell me,” Cole says softly like he’s talking to a little child. “Where is the booboo? Did the twins turn out to be the meanest kids at the playground?”
Cole and I laugh at that. A thing in my chest loosens some but with that pinch of humor, a whole other part of me tightens in agony. Mia should be here too.
“Both of you are dicks, you know that?” Liam mutters, looking annoyed. “Anyway, Courtney is still hovering in the lobby, demanding to see you.”
I groan.
That woman. can go douse herself in gasoline and set herself on fire for all I care.
“Are you going to see her?”
“No.”
“I thought you might say that, so I guess this is a bad time to tell you that I caught her talking to Nathan Montague,” a new voice says firmly.
My head snaps up to look at Dad who’s breathing hard and fast in the doorway. Talk about dramatic entrances.
“What?”
“But that’s not all. Nathan has called the police and giving them a statement.”
“A statement?”
“Against you.”
Ah fuck.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mia
When I come to this time around, I immediately tune in to the raised voices around me.
“So, what about that nasty head bash she has, doctor? It doesn’t look like it’s healing. Is that the reason she’s still not awake yet?” a shrill, urgent and shaky voice is saying from somewhere close. “Or is it the bullet wound?”
“Ma’am…”
“It’s been two weeks!”
I’ve been out for two whole weeks?
When did I hear the things they said before? Did I dream it all?
I remember I was just in Julian’s arms… Oh God, Julian!
I remember the gun shots. The blood spraying everywhere. The screams and I remember my father’s threat on Julian and Liam’s life.
Oh God, where are they? Are they all right? What happened?
“I understand this is frustrating and emotional for you after everything that happened, but Mia—”
“My daughter!”
That catches my attention. I force myself to lie still and listen to the voices speaking.
“Yes, my apologies,” the calm voice continues. “Your daughter is currently in a self-induced coma, which to be honest with you, is a good sign.”
“A good sign?”
“Yes. It means her own body is fighting to heal.”
“You said that before, but she still hasn’t woken up! What’s going on?”
“Ma’am, your daughter suffered an upsetting traumatic experience. She was drugged, shot in the abdomen and not to mention the blunt force trauma blow to the head.”
“Oh God.”
“Mia suffered severe blood loss, a concussion but the extent of it is yet to be determined. So, with all of that, there really is no telling when she’ll decide to wake up.”
I hear Nicky, gasp, then I hear sniffles. She’s definitely crying all over again. Sadness washes over me.
“So, what now?” she mutters brokenly.
“Now, we wait and monitor her recovery,” the doctor says soothingly. “I have to say though, I’m pleased with her vitals for the past twenty-four hours. Her heart is beating strong. We took out the tube that was helping her breathe and now, she’s breathing on her own. She beat the infection in her lungs which effectively shut down the threat of pneumonia.”
“Yes, about that,” Nicky starts, her voice hard now. “Why is that? How could she get pneumonia? The place they found her at was burning down when the emergency services go there.”