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“He’s a goddamned idiot,” Ghost said as he gave Grant back his phone. “I… That’s supposed to be me.”
“I wish it was,” Rhys snarled at him.
I pulled Rhys against me. It was useless to tell him not to be angry, that fighting with Ghost would only make things worse. “Let’s focus on getting Rogue the help he needs.”
“I…” Rogue coughed and sputtered. Blood leaked from his lips.
“You have to be okay. Please,” Rhys begged.
“Rhys. Look at me,” Grant demanded.
When he looked up, the anguish on his face did me in. I wanted—needed—to fix things, but there was nothing I could do but be there for him.
“Rogue is strong. He’s going to fight. He doesn’t want to leave us. Just let him know you’re here. That’s all he needs from you right now.”
Tears began to roll down Rhys’s cheeks. “Why? Why did this happen?”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Because of Franco and… Fuck, I should never have stayed here.”
Grant shook his head. “It’s not your fault any more than it’s Ghost’s. The man responsible is dead, and Rogue is going to live.” His voice shook as he spoke. I knew he was as scared as Rhys, but he’d never show it in front of his brothers.
Finally, the ambulance arrived. Rhys insisted on riding with Rogue, and I knew better than to try to separate them. The paramedics wouldn’t allow anyone else to join them, so Grant, Jacob, Ghost, and I rode in Grant’s quad cab. He drove so fast he nearly kept up with the ambulance.
When we burst through the ER entrance, I heard Rhys arguing with the staff.
I followed the sound of his voice and arrived at the same time as two security officers who must have been called to remove him. I held out a hand to them. “I’ll take care of it.”
When I pulled him away from the stretcher Rogue was on, he tried to fight me. “I want to go with him. I need to know what’s going on.”
“We’re taking him into surgery, and we need to go now.” The doctor spoke in a calm voice, but I could tell how serious he was. Grant joined me, and together we held Rhys back as the doctor and nurses wheeled Rogue away.
36
RHYS
Ifelt Rogue’s pain. My chest ached, and it was hard to pull in a good breath. The world swirled around me, and I had to fight to stay conscious.
I felt Rogue getting further and further from me. I needed to be with him. Would he still be able to sense me? Would he know I was thinking about him?
My grief got the best of me, and sobs made my whole body shake as TJ and Grant pulled me over to a quiet area of the waiting room.
“I… I can’t lose him.”
Someone, maybe Ghost, wrapped a blanket around me. “Keep him warm. I think he’s in shock.”
“Should I get a doctor?” Was that Jacob? Had he come too?
“No,” Grant said. “He’ll be all right.”
Jacob said something about where we could go to wait for news about Rogue.
“I need to be with him now. Why won’t they let me?”
TJ wrapped his arms more tightly around me. “Baby, you can’t be in the operating room. They have to take care of him.”
I knew he was right, but I couldn’t be logical right then, and I couldn’t shake the sense that Rogue would be better off with me by his side.
The next few hours seemed to last forever. Grant and Jacob kept trying to make me drink water and eat. Ghost sat away from us, looking like he wanted to disappear, but for once, that power had been taken away from him. TJ knew exactly what I needed, for him to be there, holding me, never moving from my side, the one thing I couldn’t do for my brother.
