Страница 72 из 107
Chapter Twenty-One
“Let’s runaway with freedom in our eyes,
to a place measured in rapture,
and clocks a sign of the times.
We could chase the moon, outrun the sun.
No cages to keep us hostage, only bound by love.
Let’s catch fire and dance in the wind.
Forget this fucking place,
let’s just …
r u n a w a y ...”
—Oliver Masters
ollie.
MY HEART HIT ROCK BOTTOM, and my chest caved. A shattered cry ripped through my throat as I fought against the two who held me back from her.
Jerry and Jinx finally released me as the ambulance rolled away, and I charged toward Lynch whose stance faced the descending bus with Mia inside.
“Lynch!” I shoved him from behind with both hands. “You have to let me go!” Lynch stumbled forward but refused to turn around and face me. Seconds later, Jerry and Jinx’s hands wrapped around my biceps to keep me back. “Look at me, you sorry fuck!”
Lynch turned around slowly, his face pale and eyes reeked of guilt.
We stared at one another.
My vision clouded and my chest heaved. A scorching ache lived inside my chest, making it difficult to breathe. “You have to let me go to her,” I pleaded, and snatched my arms from the two blokes. Taking a step forward, a blast of November morning wind swirled around us, and I should be cold—no shirt, no shoes—only the joggers with Mia’s blood soaked through and smeared over my skin. “Please,” I begged. “She’s my fiancé.”
My blood-covered hands shook at my sides as I stood there waiting. Every second felt like an eternity in these tears. If I had to wait any longer for a response, I was scared of what I could be capable of doing to him, to all of them, to get to her. Demented thoughts tangled its dirty web inside me, wanting to break me.
But Lynch was afraid to speak. He was too afraid to do anything, hadn’t bloody moved at all. Paralyzed. “You care about her,” I managed to get out. “You fucking care about her!”
Lynch’s wide brown eyes locked on mine, and all I saw in them was Mia.
Suddenly, it hit me.
All at once, everything became clear, and I shook my head. “No, that can’t be right … ” I mumbled to myself, pushing my fingers through my hair and down my face. I had to be losing it.
“Not another word,” Lynch said through gritted teeth. “Go get dressed. Five minutes. You’re coming with me.”
I turned to Jerry. He was about the same build, only a few inches taller. “Give me your shirt and shoes.”
Jerry laughed and took a step back. “Bugger off.”
“Here,” Jinx said as he worked on the buttons of his uniform. “I’m a big guy, but I don’t think you care.” His uniform dropped to the ground, and he peeled off his under shirt and tossed it over to me. Next went his shoes.
“Thanks, mate. You’re a good man, I owe you one,” I slid the second one on, “You can grab mine from my dorm.” I turned to Lynch. “Let’s go.”
Lynch never cuffed me, and the ride to the hospital was tormenting. Visions of Mia lying on the floor covered in glass and blood filtered through my mind on non-stop replay.
She hadn’t left longer than ten minutes before a sickness crept inside me, and I’d known something wasn’t right. Oxygen had been sucked from the space around me, and walking to the community bathroom turned into a struggle in itself. All my senses had known the worst, but my heart hung on to the glimmer of hope as I’d pushed that door open.
And there she had been, my little explosion of hope.
It was as if a part of me left my body, ru
Still, I couldn’t feel the glass in my feet.
The only thing I felt was the ache in my chest.
I looked out before me in a daze as the city passed us by. Closing my eyes became impossible when it was all I wanted to do. The fog of fear trapped me.
“Oliver?” Lynch’s tone came out harsh and loud, pulling me out of the daze. I didn’t bother meeting his gaze as he whipped through winding roads to the hospital. “How did you know?”
It didn’t matter.
Lynch exhaled and rubbed his palm over his balding head before returning it over the wheel, and his thumb tapped to whatever mantra repeated in his head. “She can’t know. You can’t tell her,” he continued.
I remained silent for a moment, neither confirming or denying I’d keep his secret. I’d do whatever was best for Mia.
“Your eyes,” my voice came out low and quiet, “She has your eyes.”
My lips sucked in, and I was finally able to close my own eyes.
Mia had to be okay. She had to be okay.
“We’re here,” Lynch stated and the car whipped into a space in the car park. Before the gear moved to park, I was already out and ru
“Mia Rose Jett,” my bloody hands trembled over the desk as the receptionist looked up in horror. “What room?”
“Sir, you need to si—
My fist slammed against the desk. “What room?”
People walked all around me. The energy from the crowd ricocheted off me, not able to touch me. Nothing could touch me.
“Are you family?” she asked with a raise of her testing brow.
The sudden hand on my shoulder was Lynch’s as he took over the conversation. “Jett is a patient of mine. I need an update on her status.”
My jaw tensed, and I shrugged his arm off me and broke out into a run through the double swinging doors. My eyes hit every inch of the place as I walked in circles, gripping my hair and my eyes burning from trying to keep it together for Mia. She had to be okay.
“Mia Jett?” I asked as a nurse passed by with her head down, and I stepped out in front of her. “Please, what room?”
Her attention landed on me. Her gaze roamed over me, studying me and judging me, then turned to her clipboard in her hands. “Umm … Jett? Uh … Mia, Mia, Mia … Ah there,” she looked back at me. She’s in the OR. You can wait with the officer in the waiting area until she’s released.”
Her tiny pale finger pointed behind me, and I turned my head back to see Scott behind a glass wall in a closed-off room down the hall, pacing in circles.
I looked back in front of me, and the girl disappeared.
“Bloody hell,” Scott’s words rushed out as soon as I made my way inside the far too tiny room, not nearly big enough to hold the tension and worry spilling out from the both of us. “How the fuck did you get here?”
Ignoring him, I took a seat and pushed my elbows into my knees to control the bouncing, rubbing my palms up and down my face. “How was she? In the ambulance? Have you heard anything?” I asked, lifting my head to meet his eyes just as Lynch walked through.
Everyone’s gaze made the journey around the room before falling back on me. I jumped to my feet and gripped the ends of my hair to avoid finding their way to flesh, drywall, or glass. “How the fuck is she?”
Scott looked to Lynch again. “She passed out in the bus, lost too much blood,” Scott shook his head with a tremor in his voice, “It’s not looking good.”