Chapter 24
A jolt and a screeching noise wake me up. Getting my bearings straight, I look around and realize that I'm still on the plane. From what I gather, we've just landed.Thank God we're back in the States. I never thought I would be glad to be home.
Once we deplane and get our bags and such, Hawk meets us at the airfield to take us back to Edinboro. When we get back, we all proceed inside the house, the boys following carrying Rebel. They take him straight to Ari's room and lay him on the bed. He is really holding his own; I am surprised that he hasn't passed out yet. He's looked better though, and I can't help but worry about him.
Caden turns toward Doc and Ryder and says, "You boys look beat. We've done all we can here and you need to get some rest. There's shit we have to deal with tomorrow and I want everyone fresh." They nod in unison, say goodnight to everyone, and leave.
Hawk looks at his watch and says, "Brewer should be here in ten minutes." Caden nods and they both go out to get the rest of the bags. Ari remains with Rebel. When Hawk comes back in he takes my bags up to my room. When he comes back down he gives me a hug and says, "I'm so fucking glad you're home."
I smile at him and reply, "Me too."
Brewer shows up not long after and Ice takes him to Rebel. I decide that maybe I should put something together for everyone to snack on. I think it's gonna be a long night. As I am rummaging through cabinets, trying to scrounge up what I can find, Emma walks in. "Whatcha doing?" she asks.
"Oh, just making some coffee and getting some snacks together. It wasn't like we flew commercial and were fed on the plane. I'm sure everyone is probably famished."
"Good idea. Can I help?"
"Yeah, why don't you get coffee cups, cream, and sugar? I'll cut up some cheese and we can make a cold cut plate for folks to snack on."
"Sounds good." As we're working on getting things together, Ari walks into the kitchen.
"How's Rebel?" I ask.
"He'll be ok, I think. The doctor is with him now. Brewer says he's really lucky. From what he can tell, the bullet exited through Rebel's abdomen cleanly without hitting any major organs. He's concerned about the blood loss but says that it is manageable. He said he'll give me a more accurate update once he fully examines him." She's completely exhausted, poor thing. I bet she didn't get any sleep on the flight.
She plops herself down onto one of the bar stools. "Is that coffee done yet?"
"Almost, sweetie," I reply. Ari lays her head down on the counter.
"Ari, you really should go get some sleep," Emma says.
"I know, I will. I just want to wait until Brewer is done examining Rebel. I won't be able to sleep until I know for sure that he's going to be ok."
When the coffee is done, Ari gets her cup and goes back to her room to check on Rebel. Emma and I bring the serving pot, cups, and snacks into the family room. Aillise and Connor, Rebel's parents, appear grateful as they both pour themselves a cup. I've not spoken with either of them and right now, I'm not sure that I want to. I'm finding it hard to believe that they sent their son away and I don't understand their reasons. But it looks like they are gonna be around for a while, so I guess I need to make nice.
A few minutes later, Ice and Brewer come down from Ari's room. "Now that my sister is out of earshot, give it to me straight, Brewer. How is he, really?" Ice asks.
"Ice, he's been shot. He's in pain and he's lost some blood. From what I can tell from the exit wound and the bleeding, it doesn't appear that the bullet hit any vital organs. But, and I know that you're not gonna like this, I'd really like to get him over to the hospital to make sure he doesn't have any internal bleeding, just to make sure."
"Damn it, you know how I feel about hospitals. It's a gunshot wound. They'll have to report it and there's no way they can know that he was in Ireland when it happened."
He thinks for a moment and then says, "If I promise to keep it under the radar, will you bring him in?"
"Can you guarantee no police report?"
After thinking about it, he replies, "Not 100%, but 95%?"
"I don't know if I can risk that 5%, Brewer."
"So you're willing to risk his life instead," he replies dryly.
"You're not playing fucking fair!"
"I'm just telling you like it is. I would rather see you be safe than sorry. I know how important he is to you, hell, how important all your brothers are. So, are you willing to take that 5% risk or are you gonna risk his life?"
"Well, if you put it that way, I guess I really don't have much of a choice, now do I?" I know that Ice hates to be backed into a corner and that's exactly what Brewer is doing. But on the other hand, we're talking about Rebel's life.
"Let me make the arrangements and you can bring him in tomorrow." Brewer pauses and starts putting things back into his bag. "I think my work here is done for now. Doc did a great job getting the bleeding to stop, so I'm not too concerned there. He's a little pale, but I don't think the blood loss is dangerous. I gave him some pretty potent pain meds, he'll sleep the rest of the night. But someone should keep an eye on him."
