Page 63 of One is Never Enough

“Jace Masters,” I answer, my voice shaking. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Mr. Masters? Can you open your eyes for me?” The paramedic pulls Jace’s eyelid up and moves a flashlight across. “Mr. Masters? Can you hear me?” Jace doesn’t move at all, and I have to bite my lip to keep from losing my shit. There’s too much blood, and he’s way too still.

The machine makes a funny noise, and then it starts making one long beep.

“We’re losing him! Step on it!” No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO!

The paramedic cuts Jace’s shirt open and slaps pads on his chest. He grabs two paddles, rubs them together, and yells, “Clear.” Watching Jace’s body jump from the shock is all I can take. Tears are freely falling down my face, and I keep repeating over and over for them to save him. He does this several times before setting them to the side and climbing onto the gurney. He starts doing chest compressions, and I move over to grab Jace’s hand, squeezing. It’s cold to the touch and limp in my hand.

“Jace,” I whisper, kissing his bloody knuckles. “You can’t leave me now. I love you so much. Please come back to me.”

I listen to the paramedic count the chest compressions, but the noise on the machine never changes. I hear the driver talking over the walkie telling someone that they should be prepared for a trauma, but it’s most likely a DOA.

Dead on arrival.

Chapter 25

Toby

I’m just leaving Inferno when my phone starts ringing. I look at the screen and smile when I see Oliver’s number.

“Hey, Baby,” I say after I slide to answer. He starts talking hysterically, and my heart rate spikes. “Whoa, Baby. Calm down. I can’t understand you.”

“Jace is at the hospital. He had an accident, and they won’t let me see him. They won’t even tell me anything.”

“I’m on my way.” I jog to my BMW and jerk the door open. I slide into the driver seat and stab the button to start it while slamming the door. I shove it into first and take off toward the hospital. “How bad is it, Oli?” I ask when it connects to the bluetooth.

“Bad,” he whispers. “We were riding past it, and I recognized the car. Toby?—”

“Don’t do that. Nothing is going to happen to Jace. I’ll be there soon, Baby.”

“Okay. I need to call Aiden.”

“I’ll do it. Just focus on Jace, okay?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I disconnect the call and immediately dial Aiden. So many thoughts are running through my head that my hands are shaking. His phone goes to voicemail, and I leave a quick message letting him know where we are and what’s going on. I weave in and out of traffic, trying not to push the car even harder to get to Jace.

I can’t lose him. He’s one of the reasons that I even made it this far in life. He’s saved me from myself more times than I can count. Jace is the glue that holds this family together, and without him, we might fall apart.

I swipe the tear rolling down my cheek and dial Aiden again. “Damn it, Aiden,” I say when his voicemail picks up again. “Why aren’t you answering your phone? I need you to come to the hospital. It’s Jace. I just…I need you, okay? I can’t do this by myself. Please call me back, or something.”

I hang up and whip into the hospital parking lot, coming to a screeching halt in a parking spot. I’m out and running, busting into the emergency room, my head swinging every which way, trying to find Oliver. I finally find him in one of the chairs, his face buried against Leland’s neck.

“Oli?” I call out, walking over. When he looks up with his tear-stained face and bursts into tears again, my stomach drops. “What’s going on?” Oli jumps from the chair and runs into my arms, crying so hard that he can’t get a word out.

I look at Leland, and he swallows. “They won’t tell us anything, but they had to do CPR in the ambulance.”

“They couldn’t get him back,” Oliver sobs.

No. This can’t be fucking happening. Jace isn’t dead. I pull Oliver away so I can look at his face. “I’m his emergency contact. They’ll tell me. Stay here with Leland.”

Leland pulls Oliver back to him, and I march straight to the nurses station. “I need an update on Jace Masters.” The nurse looks up at me with a raised brow. “My name is Toby Pierce.”

She starts typing on the computer, and her face changes when she sees whatever is on the screen. “They’re still working on him.”

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