“Whoa, buddy. You need to lie back down,” Doc said.
“The hell I do. I need to get up there.”
“You can’t see her yet,” Cowboy said sternly. “They’re still running tests.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. “I need to be where she is, to be with her family and make sure they’re okay, and to see the doctor’s face when he comes out, so either help me or get out of my fucking way.”
“A’right, settle down,” his father said sternly. “Rebel, go get him a wheelchair.”
As Rebel left the room, Doc said, “This is not a good idea. You can’t do anything up there. The best thing you can do is rest until we know something, and then we’ll bring you to see her.”
“You have three seconds to put those fucking side bars down or I’m gonna start swinging.”
Doc looked at their father imploringly.
“You heard the man,” his father said, and his brothers cursed as they lowered the protective metal bars.
Dare grimaced through the pain as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
“Oh, honey. Are you sure about this?” his mother asked.
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“No, you’re not, but I know better than to argue with you,” she said. “I’m going with you.”
A few minutes later, Rebel pushed a wheelchair into the room. “Are you sure this is a good idea? The nurse gave me shit when I said it was for you.”
“I’m wondering the same thing,” Sasha said as his brothers helped him into the wheelchair. “You suffered a major trauma, and your body needs rest to heal.”
“Geez,” Birdie said exasperatedly. “He wants to be there for Billie. He loves her. Don’t you want a guy who will drag his broken body to you regardless of the consequences?”
“Yes, but—”
Dare started rolling the wheelchair toward the door with his good arm, gritting his teeth against the pain.
“Honey, let me do that.” His mother wheeled him out.
Dare heard his brothers bitching at his father about what ifs, and a minute later the rest of his family and Rebel caught up to them near the elevator.
“I’m not changing my mind,” Dare warned.
“No shit, you stubborn ass,” Cowboy said. “We’re going with you.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Dare snapped.
“Shut up before I knock that chip off your shoulder,” Cowboy warned. “We’re going to be there for you, not to hold you back. We just didn’t want you getting all worked up and hurting yourself when you should be resting.”
Dare swallowed hard, appreciating the support.
“When they’re done running tests, if Billie hasn’t woken up and they keep her in the ICU, they’ll only let two people in to see her,” Doc said.
“Her parents,” Dare relented. He needed to see them. To apologize.
Doc nodded. “I know an ICU nurse. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate that. I’m not trying to be a dick. I just need to see her.”
“We get it,” Doc said. “But while you’re worrying about Billie, someone’s got to worry about you.”
Doc went to the nursing station as the rest of them filed into the ICU waiting room. Billie’s family looked as devastated as Dare felt, bringing back that awful afternoon when they’d lost Eddie and all their parents had shown up at the same time as the ambulance, frantic and shattered, gutting him anew. Bobbie’s eyes teared up as his sisters went to her, the three of them embracing.
Alice’s gaze moved over him in the wheelchair, and she covered her mouth, tears spilling from her eyes. “Oh, honey.”
“I’m fine. Have you heard anything about Billie?”
“Not yet, but they said the tests would take a while,” Manny said, putting his arm around Alice. He looked like he’d aged ten years in the past few hours. “Billie’s strong. She’ll pull through this.”
“The strongest.” Dare bit back the fear gnawing away at him. “I am so sorry. I tried to avoid the car. If I’d only gone—”
“Don’t you dare take responsibility for this,” Manny insisted. “The guy who hit you was high as a kite. They arrested him, and this is his fault, not yours.”
“I know, I just…We can’t lose her. That should be me in there, not her.” Struggling against the emotions swamping him, he clenched his jaw and turned his face to wipe a stray tear. Her parents didn’t need to see him break down.
“Don’t say that,” Alice said. “It wouldn’t be any better for anyone if it were you. We just have to believe she’ll be all right.”
“She will be. She has to be.” Dare couldn’t sit still while the love of his life was lying unconscious. He needed to get up and move, but when he tried, his father put a heavy hand on his shoulder, not so gently shoving him back down. Dare glowered at him.
“I let you come up here, but you’re going to keep your ass in that chair,” his father said as Doc returned and headed for Dare.
A short, stout, balding man in a white lab coat came through the double doors and headed for the waiting room. Dare’s pulse raced, and it felt like everyone in the room held their breath as the man said, “Mr. and Mrs. Mancini?”
“Right here,” Manny called out, and the crowd parted as they went to him.
Dare tried to get up, but his father shoved him down again. When his father didn’t push the wheelchair to follow them, Dare glared at him. “What the—”
“Stay put out of respect for her parents” was all his father said.
Dare cursed under his breath, even though he knew his father was right.
Doc put a hand on his other shoulder and said, “I pulled some strings. You’ll get a chance to see her, and so will Bobbie.”
“Thanks, man.” Dare tried to read the doctor’s expression, but he didn’t like what it said as he motioned toward the hallway.
As Manny and Alice followed him out of the waiting room. Manny stopped and looked at Dare. “Come on, son. You should hear this, too.”
Thank fucking Christ.
His father pushed his wheelchair over to them. Cowboy and Doc stayed behind.
The doctor went over the litany of injuries that had already been reported, and then he said, “She’s still unconscious, but we didn’t find any swelling, bleeding, or bruising on her brain, which is good news.”
Thank God. He was cautiously relieved.
“She’s breathing fine on her own, and we’re watching her closely,” the doctor said. “We opted not to put her on a ventilator so we don’t have to sedate her.”
“Why hasn’t she woken up?” Manny asked.
“When will she wake up?” Alice asked.
“Unfortunately, there’s no road map for this. Everyone’s brain reacts differently to trauma. I can’t tell you when, or if, she’ll wake up, but we’ll know more in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
Dare gripped the arms of the wheelchair to keep from growling, She’ll wake up. She fucking has to! His father’s hand landed on his shoulder again. Twenty-four to forty-eight hours? What happens after that? Is that the minuscule window of hope? He didn’t ask. He didn’t want to know the answer.