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“No,” Dana piped in, with Ford still boiling next to him. His mouth a thin, angry line. “No one has been in here for hours. The nurse said they were dealing with a trauma and they’d try to find Brian a room.” Dana looked at his watch, identical to Cayson’s. “That was three hours ago.”
“Ford. Bradford!” Dana yelled next to him. “Let Brian get some help.”
“It’s his fault.” Ford pointed at Cayson and he had to stop himself from looking behind him to see if he meant someone else. How were they blaming this on him? He’d been at Quick’s worrying for all of their safety, now he was fearing for his own.
“Where is that punk motherfucker who did this to my brother? Where is he?!”
Cayson assumed security was busy too, because all the screaming and ruckus going on behind their curtain should’ve been addressed by now. Where was everyone? Not even a nurse came in to see what the noise was. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Answer me!” Ford boomed.
Cayson turned and fled through the curtain, leaving the chart on the counter. He looked behind him to see if he was going to have to break into a sprint. If Ford came after him, he’d forget about the minimal self-defense training he’d had and haul ass. He was somewhat relieved to see Dana emerge first, looking left, then right before he saw Cayson at the end of the hall.
“Doc. Wait,” he called out.
Cayson stopped, but he craned his neck to make sure Dana was alone.
“He won’t leave Brian’s side, not even to chase you, so don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry.” Cayson slumped against the wall, digging his thumbs into his aching eye sockets. “What the hell is going on? And where is Roman?”
“You haven’t heard anything from Quick or Duke?”
“No. Not since early this morning. Quick said he wasn’t hurt.”
“Quick wasn’t hurt. Luckily. They got Brian instead, thinking they had Quick. Three men jumped him after he came back from a bail release. They kept trying to get Brian’s name out of him, but of course….”
He doesn’t talk. Cayson felt the pain so deep he fought to keep from doubling over. “Wait.” He pushed off the wall, and started pacing while he put together what Dana said. “Some guys were after Quick, but they got Brian. What guys?”
Dana looked like he didn’t want to say anymore, but Cayson glared at him. “Just say it!”
“Your ex-boyfriend sent some guys to kill your new boyfriend, but they got Ford’s brother instead.”
Cayson slumped down the wall and landed hard on his ass. He plunged his hands into his hair, pulling at the length on top. He’d completely forgotten about the ER and his job. His head started to pound and his heart felt like it’d been stabbed repeatedly. He coughed and hacked, trying to catch his breath. What had Joe done? This was unbelievable. This didn’t happen to people like him. This was real life criminal activity going on and he’d started all of it. Brian was… beaten. He couldn’t call out for help. So he had to push the alarm. Oh, god. What did I do? It is my fault.
“Doc. You alright? Breathe.” Dana was squatting next to him. “Hey don’t do that. Chill out man. Breathe. Breathe. Everyone is alright now.”
He’d fucked up. Big time. He’d dumped Joe and downplayed his anger, calling him a scared anesthesiologist. All the while, he had the capability of an organized mastermind. Quick and Duke would never want to see Cayson again. He was a troublemaker who had brought strife and chaos to their close-knit family. This wasn’t who he was. He didn’t cause problems – he fixed them. Well, now he was the problem, and Ford was going to fix him properly. He wouldn’t be able to run forever. Cayson would pay for what happened to Brian. Maybe Ford would kill him swiftly. Surely, he knew how. He felt sick. Sicker than any patient in that hospital.
“No. No. Don’t pass out. Shit! Quick is going to kill me for telling you.” Dana sounded tired and extremely nervous, but Cayson couldn’t form any type of response. “Doc! Doc!”
Cayson’s world was tilting and fading to darkness. Was that the ground? His cheek was smashed hard against something freezing cold and he wanted to pull away from it, but his body was completely zapped of energy. He must’ve had his eyes closed, because he couldn’t see a thing and it scared the shit out of him. He heard his name being called and he thought he answered, but if he had, they wouldn’t keep calling out to him. He was jostled and pulled as he was hoisted up and carried away, he didn’t know where he was taken because he couldn’t figure out where he was.
Quick
Augh! I have to know what’s going on with Brian. Quick was in an interrogation room no bigger than his downstairs bathroom. He assumed Duke was in another just like it somewhere else in the building. He was slowly going out of his mind in the tight confinement, especially when there was so much more Quick needed to be doing. He needed to talk to Cayson and Vaughan. Let them know everything was going to work itself out. Right now, no one knew anything about where they were. And Brian. Was he okay? Quick massaged his temples, groaning at his ever-growing to-do list. They had bond calls that were probably going unanswered. People still got arrested on Sundays. Magistrate recognizance bonds were the easiest. He had a feeling Duke hated to miss those.
