Page 199 of Split You Open

“Fine. Come here.”

As those two get to work I carefully work the bullet lodged in Blair’s leg out. So focused on Blair’s leg, which is bleeding the most, I don’t notice someone else entering the room.

One minute I’m alone at the table.

In the next, Blair’s father is there, peering over my shoulder. It’s like a ghost clinging to me—his presence cold and uncomfortable. The hairs on the back of my neck and down my arms rise. At the same time, my body stiffens—ready to stand my ground should he decide I’m a threat to his daughter.

I glance up for just a second, prepared to warn him to give me space, but the expression on his face gives me pause.

The world’s most infamous hitman, who lacks morals and feels nothing for the world he floats through, has broken. His hardened exterior has cracked—exposing the raw, bottomless anguish.

What I’m witnessing is the heartbreak of a father.

God, I know that feeling all too well.

The words I want to fling at him die on my tongue. The man is suffering enough; he doesn’t need me to bark at him even though this mess is partially his fault.

“Blair Bear…” He reaches out to touch her foot, but a deep snarl grumbles through my chest in warning.

“Don’t fucking touch her if you haven’t washed your hands,” I warn behind clenched teeth. “We’re already going to have a tough go with infections—don’t make her recovery harder.”

I expect him to threaten me, glare, or simply pull out his gun and shoot me.

Instead, Anchor simply nods and drops his hand to his side.

“Save her… please,” he rasps.

He spares the pictures of his daughter on the wall a glance but if he has any feelings about them, he says nothing. His gaze tears away from them to stare back down at Blair.

“We’re not going to lose her,” Ledger says stiffly as Santi gingerly takes Blair’s arm to stab her with the butterfly needle. “But we’re going to need more blood. More than what I can spare and what I have stored.”

Anchor nods again. “You know we’re a match. Just tell me when.”

“We’ll have to rotate,” Ledger explains. “There was… a lot on the ground when I found her. If we’re going to make up for what she lost, we’ll be doing this for a while.”

A shiver rattles Anchor’s frame.

I mimic it.

None of us are going to lose Blair.

Not if we can help it.

Forty-Two

Blair

Iawake with a dry throat, and pain pulsates through every inch of my body. It comes in waves; becoming agonizing before subsiding to something more manageable.

Holy shit… have I ever hurt this bad before? I don’t think so. Sweat has my clothes sticking to me—the feeling gross and overstimulating. My body trembles as a new wave of pain flares up. I suck in a sharp breath and hold it as I suffer through it.

As it begins to dull, I let that breath go.

What’s going on? Why do I feel like this and where am I?

Slowly, I open my eyes. They don’t even make it halfway before I end up closing them. The room is spinning too fast and my stomach can’t handle it.

I choke on a groan, knowing I have to be quiet. I always have to be quiet. Especially now, when I’m feeling so vulnerable.