Page 25 of Crusher

“Alex, talk to me,” she chokes, but again, I don’t blink.

“Momma, can we afford this?” my sweet boy asks, and I look at him with wide eyes.

“What?” I whisper, and he flinches as he grips the jersey.

“Football is expensive,” he whispers, and I swear my heart breaks.

I hate that he knows I use coupons and that I’m struggling to keep us afloat. I never wanted to be like my mom, and I refuse to start now by not letting him live his dream, or one of them, even if it means I only eat the bare minimum.

“Trouble, I promise, if I couldn’t afford this, I wouldn’t put you onto the team. You want to be a wide receiver like your daddy, then you will be, plain and simple.”

“Crusher, how do we get her out of this?” I hear Clark ask just as a strong hand grips my cheeks, and Linc comes into view, my best friend, my brother, but not by blood.

“Alex,” he whispers as some tears fall from his eyes, but again, all I see is my son.

“We don’t,” I hear my husband whisper, “Not until we know, because as soon as she comes out of shock, I’m going to have to sedate her…”

Sobs echo as my son’s giggles echo in my head.

There’s a shooter.

The words echo in my head, and I feel like I can’t breathe—like I’m dying.

My son, she shot my son…

“I still don’t understand why she didn’t tell you, though, son, that is your kid, your seven-year-old kid, and she didn’t tell you,” I hear Killer snap before Hayes shouts, “I said that is enough!”

Linc shakes his head before he kisses mine, then gets up and states, “Is this really the time to have this fucking out, Killer? His girl is in a comatose state, his son, he didn’t even know about for reasons only his girl can explain, may not even fucking come through this, so sit your ass down and shut the fuck up!”

“I agree with Blaze, shut the fuck up, Killer, or get out,” I hear before Cage comes into view, and he crouches down and cups my cheek. “Sweetheart, speak to me,” he whispers, but I don’t even flinch.

Kayden, my baby…

“Mama?” I hear a whisper, and I groan as I squint to see my little troublemaker standing near my bed, already dressed in his football gear, and I look at the clock before groaning.

“Kayden, it’s five in the morning, your game doesn’t start until nine,” I moan, and my boy gives me a little pout.

“Can we go now so I can practice?” he asks, and I swear his puppy dog look is exactly like his father's.

Crap.

“Kayden,” I sigh as I sit up, and the little cutie links his fingers and bats his eyelashes, and dammit, I’m about to give in…

“Trick?” I hear Cage say before there's a lot of commotion, but I don’t move.

“He survived the surgery,” Trick says, and the words swim.

Survived, he survived…

“But his heart did stop five times, five fucking times, so I need you to be prepared, brother, very fucking prepared.”

His heart stopped.

He could…

I could lose him…

“Fuck,” I hear Hayes choke.