Bang!
Bang! Bang!
CHAPTER 50
Jo
I hated blood. The smell. The taste. Just the look of it nauseated me. But when it was mine, it was such a relief. It meant no one else got hurt. I didn’t make anybody else bleed. I bet that was why red was my favorite color on my skin.
The whole world stopped, and my mind was empty. No more guilt or shame or pain. No more nothing. All I could see was black. Was I dead? Was that what dead felt like?
“Mom. Mammy, will I finally get to see you again?”
“It’s not your time, topolina.”
“Papà? Is that you?”
“Yes. Open your eyes, Jo. You’re safe now.”
I forced my heavy lids to open just a crack, the peaceful darkness I’d been resting in fading away. “Am I still alive?”
“Si, figlia mia. You got shot, but you survived.”
“No. Who shot me? Why am I the one alive? I remember hearing the bullets. There were so many.” Panic snapped my eyes open. Michele was sitting next to me on a bed—in a hospital again?—holding my hand. “Who died? Who died, papà?” I whimpered.
My other hand lifted between calloused palms. “I didn’t die, baby girl. I’m right here next to you.”
“Laius, thank God.” I inclined my head toward the direction of his voice, but a splitting pain attacked my skull. “Shit,” I moaned.
“Easy,” Laius said.
“No. Where’s Ty? I saw the two of you swooping down on me. Where’s he?” I rolled my eyes to swipe the room, but no one else was there. “No, no,” I sniffled, tears flowing down my face. “Where’s he? Where’s Ty? Did I kill him? I killed him, didn’t I? I killed Ty. I killed your son.” I broke. “He shouldn’t have tried to save me. Why did he try to save me?”
“Jo,Jo!He’s alive. He got out of surgery like you, and he’s in recovery.”
“You’re lying to me.”
“I swear on your life, his and Sammy’s, he’s alive. He reached you faster than I did, and he wrestled you for the gun. He headbutted you when you wouldn’t let go. The bullet came out and grazed your skull, but thank God, it didn’t touch your brain.”
I touched my head, feeling the bulky gauze and bandages.Great. I’ll have another scar on my skull.
“He was hit by a ricochet in the shoulder,” Laius continued. “They got it out, fixed the shoulder and checked if the headbutt and the other blows from the Larvins did any damage to his eyes. It’s not in the clear yet, but they’re optimistic.”
I blew out a sigh in relief. “Thank God. Are you okay?”
“Not a scratch.”
“For real?”
“For real.”
“Declan?” A lump rose to my throat at the name.
“Boiler, with the Mrs.”
Stunned, I glanced at Michele, who nodded in confirmation. Happy tears jumped to my eyes. “I can’t believe that nightmare is going to be over. I’m going to avenge my mother’s death, and I’d no longer live in fear.”
My father and my husband patted and squeezed my hands, sharing my joy.
