Page 17 of Black Hearts
One of the EMTs asked me questions as the ambulance drove us to the hospital. Typical stuff. Name, age, any allergies that I knew of, medical history, blood type—some things I didn’t know, but others I did. I told them her father had been acting strange, and me and my friends hadn’t heard from her in a while, so we’d decided to check up on her.
“She’s lucky you guys did,” the man sitting across from me said. “She’s lost a lot of blood. She wouldn’t have lasted much longer if no one found her.”
I’d known that already, but hearing him say it filled me with the opposite of comfort. If I didn’t have Rave watching… we would’ve been too late if we would’ve simply come at night, like I’d planned. Knowing it was that much of a close call was anything but relieving.
We arrived at the hospital shortly after that, and as much as I tried to bully my way past the doors, they wouldn’t let me in, telling me to wait in the waiting room and that I would hear from a doctor shortly. Apparently only doctors and nurses were able to go past a certain point. Talk about infuriating.
I couldn’t sit down. I paced the length of the room, earning myself multiple pairs of eyes from the others sitting around. There was an old television set hanging from the corner of the ceiling with the subtitles on, but that was it. Nothing else but muted, floral colors everywhere. I texted Will and told him where I was, and then I waited.
I fucking hated this waiting.
My feet drew me to a stop, and I stared down at Bennet’s phone, wondering if I should call Markus or Theo. They deserved to know what was going on with Juliet, but… what good would telling them do right now? They’d only worry themselves. No, I should wait to tell them. I’d call once I had an update, once I knew whether she was going to be okay or not.
She had to be. She had to be okay. I… I didn’t know what I’d do if she wasn’t.
There were so many things I wanted to tell her, even if I’d already told her. I loved her, and not another day would pass when I didn’t say it again. I’d tell her every morning and every night. I’d whisper it into her ear as she dreamt. I’d be the man she wanted me to be, Markus be damned.
Will and Bennet strolled in after a while, accompanied by Rave, who looked like he was not very engrossed in the situation, but there nonetheless. “What’s the situation?” Will asked. “Any updates?”
“They took her in the back. I’m waiting to hear from a doctor,” I told him.
“There’s no point in all of us waiting here,” Bennet growled out, and then he tossed a glance around the waiting room, lowering his voice before saying what he said next. “We should go after Fred. The bigger head start he gets, the longer it’ll take to find his ass—”
I stared at him, frowning. “We found you, didn’t we? And you had a whole night’s head start.”
He didn’t say anything to that, because he knew I was right, and I was. Fred might’ve known enough to avoid the attention of the authorities all these years—but he’d been helped by the Scott last name in more ways than one. For instance, the girls he killed were not centered in one area. They were spread out, not even in the same state. He’d kill when he went on jobs for Markus, and Markus had sent him all over.
Now he had no one’s help. He knew he was a dead man running. He wouldn’t be running for long.
A doctor came out, carrying a clipboard. He asked for Juliet’s family, and I got up. The doctor sized me up, though I could tell he didn’t seem too impressed. “You for Juliet Osborne?” he asked.
“I’m her boyfriend. The only family she has is her father, and he…” I let out a sigh, trying not to sound like I wanted to kill someone. “I think he was the one who did this to her. How is she doing? Will she be okay?”
“She’s going to be fine,” he said, and I could not stop the sigh of relief from escaping me after hearing that. “You found her just in time. The stab wound was clean—it missed her stomach, thankfully. We’ve stitched her up and we’re giving her some blood to replace what she lost. I’m also putting her on antibiotics to stave off any infections, but I want to keep a close eye on her for a few days.”
“Has she woken up yet?” I asked.
The doctor gave me a look, and I knew what that look meant. “Not yet, but I’m confident once she’s stronger, she will. She’s got a fighting chance, thanks to you and your quick thinking. You saved her life, you know.” He held his clipboard against his chest, lowering his voice to a whisper as he said, “The police should be here anytime. We notified them after we got Juliet stable. I’m going to have to hand over what I know about what happened, which isn’t much. The rest will be up to you, son.”
I said nothing to that, merely nodding. I figured I’d have to talk to the police about it, but whatever. If they put out an APB on Fred Osborne, so be it.
The doctor gave me a comforting smile and patted me on the shoulder. “You did good here. She’s lucky to have you watching out for her. If you have any questions, feel free to ask one of the nurses.” He nodded and walked off, leaving me there to wait once again.
Seemed all I could do lately was fucking wait. I really did hate it.
“Well,” Rave spoke, moving to stand beside me once the doctor was gone, “what now? Do you want me to go after Fred? Not saying I have faith in the police to get him before I do, but I don’t like to take chances when I don’t have to.”
I stared at the wall, at no spot in particular. I knew Will and Bennet itched to go after Fred; I did, too. But we couldn’t. If Juliet woke up and she was alone… I couldn’t imagine how she’d feel. No, it made the most sense for Rave to go after him. After all this time spent watching him, he knew the man better than most. He’d be the best tracker.
“Go,” I said, “but I want him alive.”
“Might be hard to do that, Jax. Call me psychic, but I don’t think he’ll want to come with me willingly once I catch him.”
I took a step toward Rave, my voice deadly as I repeated, “I want him alive.” I didn’t care how hard it would be. Rave would find the fucker and bring him to me still breathing, because I wanted to oversee his death myself, make sure he felt a substantial amount of pain before he expired.
“All right, all right, Markus Jr., I got it,” Rave said, holding his hands up and taking a step back.
Markus Jr. I wanted to roll my eyes at the name, but right now, I guess that’s what I was. The man himself wasn’t here, so I was taking the reins and doing what had to be done. Markus could deal with our father, and I would handle this. If that made me a junior Markus, then that’s what I’d be.
