The Scars That Define Us (The Devil's Dust #2)(70)

“What’s wrong?” she asks warily.

“Sit down, Dani,” I order, pointing to the bed. I squint my eyes, trying to hold back the emotion, so desperate to escape.

“You’re scaring me,” she says, sitting on the bed.

“Shit happened, and things didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped,” I begin, running my hands through my hair.

“Spit it out, Shadow,” she snaps.

I look at her, furious with her tone, but when I see the glow of her skin, the ivy of her eyes, I can’t hold it against her.

“Bobby…, he, uh…” I stumble on my words, not sure how to deliver the message without the blow. In the end, there is no easy way to say it.

“Bobby was shot. He didn’t make it, Dani.”

She gasps, the sound making the hair on my arms raise.

“What? What do you mean he didn’t make it?” she cries.

“Exactly what I said: he didn’t make it. He took a bullet for me and didn’t survive the injury,” I yell, I don’t mean to come off unsympathetic, but I can’t help it. I risk a look at Dani, and she has her hands cupped across her mouth and a look of horror on her face.

“I wanted to be the one to tell you,” I whisper. “I’m going to head over to the hospital, see about arrangements and all.” I lean over and give her head a gentle kiss. I want to be there for her, to be the strong one she needs, but I’m barely hanging on myself.

“I’m coming with,” she declares, lifting her chin.

“Dani, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” The last thing I want is for her final look of Bobby to be one of death. That’s not how I want him to be remembered.

“I’m going, Shadow!” she yells. Knowing I’m not going to win this argument, I nod in agreement. When it comes time, I’ll make sure she leaves the room.

We exit the room and hear loud cries and sobbing coming from the club—Bull must have delivered the news. I grab Dani’s hand and pull her through the club. I don’t want her to break any more than she already has, and sitting around all these people will do just that.

We arrive at the hospital and I park in the usual ‘No Parking’ zone. I grab Dani’s helmet and put it beside mine, the sight of her glassy eyes and my cut on her making me second-guess letting her come in.

“Dani, are you sure you want to do this?” I ask, leaning my head against hers and pushing a stray hair behind her ear. “You’ve already been through a lot today.”

“Absolutely,” she whispers. She looks at the hospital, breaking our contact. “Besides, someone needs to tell Doc.”

I stroll through the sliding glass doors to enter the hospital and hear alarms going off, lights flickering wildly. A rush of nurses in different-colored scrubs along with doctors in white coats come running past us, nearly knocking Dani and me into the doors we just walked through.

“Code blue. We have a code blue,” ignites from the intercom.

“Holy shit,” Dani whispers.

“Seems the reaper is moving swiftly tonight,” I comment to nobody in particular.

We look down the hall to where all the doctors are running and see a blonde in pink scrubs come flying from the room all the nurses and doctors just entered.

“It’s Doc,” Dani says, taking off toward her.

I run after her, not sure what is going on.

“Oh, my God,” Doc cries, holding her face, distraught.

“What is going on?” Dani asks.

“He’s lost so much blood. I’m not sure if he’s going to make it,” she cries. Her words grabbing my attention, I grab her by the shoulders roughly.

“What the f*ck do you mean? Is he alive?” I practically interrogate her. She just sobs louder, the sound irritating me. I shove past her and go into the room to see paddles on Bobby’s chest and tubes down his throat. A flat tone begins to beep, catching everyone’s attention in the room

“We got him back but not for long. We need to get him in the OR, now.” a short, brown-haired lady insists, looking at a screen. In seconds, they pull up the bedrails and rush Bobby’s bed out of the room.

Bobby’s alive—my brother still has a fighting chance. I can’t help the rush of hope that flows through me. I once hated that feeling, not caring for its fa?ade, but I’d be a f*cking liar if I said I didn’t hope to the gods that my brother pulls through this.


Dani

I sit in the chair next to Shadow as Doc hands both of us coffee.

“You two should go home. I’ll call you if anything changes,” she urges, sitting in a chair across from us in the waiting room.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Shadow replies, taking a sip of the hot coffee.

“Is he going to be okay?” I ask.

“He’s in a critical condition, the bullet nicked an artery. He died once in the ambulance and once again when he got here. There is no telling if he will make it or not.” She looks down at her coffee and sobs.

“Fuck me,” Shadow whispers.

Doc sniffs and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. “Take Dani home, get some sleep.”

Shadow looks at me, his blue eyes full of hurt, killing me inside. I want to take away the pain he’s feeling, add it to mine, but I can’t. Shadow is living a Hell I can’t imagine. Bobby took a bullet for him, saved his life, and he lost a woman he considered a mother all in one day.