Camden's Redemption (Gloves Off #4)(42)
Unfortunately, one of us wasn’t going to make it back unscathed. Not even the pounding in my ears could mask the sound of the shot, muted by a suppressor. It wasn’t silent like you would think, almost like a deep puff of air with massive force behind it. The second I heard it, I reacted and pushed Camden. He collided into a tree and fell to the ground at the same moment I felt a piercing blow rip through my skin. A scream echoed in my ear and I didn’t know if it was from my own mouth or if it was Camden. My legs gave out and I toppled to the ground.
Camden quickly rushed to help me up and froze when he saw the blood seeping through my fingers. Falling to his knees, he moved my hand away and inspected the wound on my waist. His eyes were blazing with fury. “What the f*ck were you thinking?” he shouted. “Don’t ever try to protect me again.” The look on his face made me shiver.
The pain was excruciating, but my main focus was to get him out safe. “Get out of here,” I ordered, pushing him away. “Get to Mason and have him call it in.” As far as gunshot wounds, it wasn’t fatal. The bullet clipped my side and it hurt like a bitch, but it wasn’t life threatening as long as I didn’t bleed out. I needed him to get out of there before he was next.
“Are you out of your f*cking mind? I’m not going to leave you here.” Grabbing my arm, I hissed with the pain but then he stopped and looked down at my gun.
Something flashed in his eyes as his hand hovered over my gun. “I could take him out,” he whispered. “I could end this.”
I placed my bloody hand over his. “Camden, no. If you don’t get back to Mason, I’ll bleed out. Please,” I begged, hissing in pain, “choose differently.” He didn’t waste time; he chose me.
As fast as he could, he picked me up and raced us through the trees, his heart pounding relentlessly hard against my cheek.
Hot tears streamed down my face. I was so afraid that any minute I was going to lose him. With my free hand, I held on tight and breathed him in. “I just wanted to protect you.”
“I would rather be dead than have someone hurt you,” he growled back. The tree line was up ahead and my house was just on the other side. I waited for the next shot to fly through the air, but it never came. The blood ran warm through my fingers and I started to get lightheaded, Camden’s face blurring from sight. The darkness started to creep in. Thankfully, Mason was on the front porch, reading the newspaper when Camden rushed me up the steps.
“What the f*ck happened?” I could hear him yelling. He pulled the hand away from my side and swore. “Get her to the hospital, now. I’ll be right there.” He rushed off inside and came back out with a towel and Camden’s keys. Placing the towel on my wound, he pressed down and I hissed in pain. “You’ll be okay, B.”
I nodded. “I know.”
Camden shook with rage and Mason and I both knew he was on the verge of losing it. “It wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t push me out of the way.”
Mason grabbed his arm and pulled us down to the Jeep. “And you’d probably be dead if she didn’t, while she’ll be fine as long as you get her some medical attention quickly. Now shut the f*ck up and get her to the hospital. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Mason opened the car door and helped Camden set me in. There were no words spoken as he started us out of the driveway. I could feel him slipping away from me and there was nothing I could do about it. Not only was the physical pain too much, but my heart hurt as well. Seeing the despair on Camden’s face only made it worse. I wanted to comfort him and tell him it would be okay, but it was too late. He blamed himself.
In the side mirror, I caught a glimpse of Mason rushing out of my house with his gun. I only wished I could join him and shoot the f*cker myself. If this person was a part of my team, they were going to pay for what they’d done. And it would be a lot worse than a bullet through the side. If Camden got to them before me, they would pray for death.
WAITING. THAT WAS all I’d done for the past three hours. They said Brooklyn’s wound wasn’t critical, but she could have bled out if I didn’t get her to the hospital in time. The thought of never seeing her again put everything in perspective. I had been selfish through this whole ordeal. I knew getting close to her would put her in danger, but I wanted her so f*cking bad it hadn’t really registered.
Through the waiting room glass windows, I watched Jason rush up to the desk. When he saw me, he ignored the nurse and ran straight into the room.
“What’s going on? Mason just called and said I needed to come up here. What the f*ck happened?”
“Brooklyn was shot,” I thundered. Taking a deep breath, I clenched my hands into tight fists. Just saying the words out loud made me want to f*cking kill something. I wanted to hit things, to feel the pain. She was hurt because of me; it was my karma. The only thing I feared was that it wasn’t going to be enough. I hadn’t yet paid for all of my sins.
Jason collapsed into one of the chairs and covered his face with his hands. “I can’t believe this. Please tell me she’s okay.”
He looked up for my answer but then the nurse I had spoken to earlier walked into the room. “Ms. Avery can have visitors now, if you’d like to see her. She’s awake and doing well, maybe a little loopy from the pain meds. I don’t think she’s going to be awake much longer.”