Page 87 of Unraveled Love

“Oh God.” I clung to Jaxon’s arm that was holding on to mine and tensed. “Is he okay?”

Pity filled the doctor’s tired blue eyes. “He’s stable and looking good, but he wasn’t as lucky as your friend. The bullet didn’t get a good through and through, so he’s still in surgery.”

“What does that mean?” I pleaded, already feeling more tears.Shawn…he had to be okay.

“I’m not his surgeon, but I checked before I came out. He’s doing well, but it’ll be a bit longer for him. There were fragments and they had to do some internal stitching, and it looks like he needed an appendectomy.”

My hands flew to my mouth, and the doctor’s expression didn’t change. “How long?”

“That depends on how he keeps doing, but Dr. Brandt is our best, and he’ll keep you updated. Although…” The doctor glanced at me again, and his expression turned softer along with his voice. “It might help you feel better if you get cleaned up. I understand nurses have talked to you? You’ll feel better, I promise.”

“And I’ll feel better once I know Shawn’s okay.” My words tripped over themselves as more tears fell. With both Jaxon and Charlie holding me up, I didn’t have to worry about collapsing, but the room spun as the doctor moved to focus on Jaxon.

“He’s suffered some serious damage and lost a lot of blood, almost as much as your other friend, and while I can’t make promises, I have every reason to believe he’ll come out of surgery just fine.”

Tears fell down my cheeks and dribbled off my chin. Charlie’s hand left mine, and she wrapped her arms around me from the side.

“Thanks for coming to talk to us and checking on him first,” she said to the doctor.

He stepped back and dipped his chin. “I’ll have the nurse let you know when Joshua—”

“Cort,” Jaxon corrected.

“Cort is in his own room. Take care.” He turned and left, leaving me on the verge of another breakdown.

“Thank God Cort is okay,” Charlie said softly. “And Shawn will pull through, too, you’ll see. But the doctor is right—you’ll feel better once you’re cleaned up, Addi. Can we try that? For Shawn? He won’t like seeing you like this.”

All the energy to fight it left me.

Shawn was in trouble, and a shower was the last thing on my mind. Still, I let Charlie pull me from Jaxon, and with a bundle of scrubs or something in her arms, she took me to a restroom.

I cried silent tears in far greater number than water drops in the shower. Pink rivulets of blood mixed with water pooled around my feet, and for the second time that day, I dropped to my knees and I prayed.

30

Shawn

Fuck I hurt.

Everything from my skull to my toes thrummed with pain like someone had taken a hammer to me and decided it’d be fun to shatter every bone in my body. A bright light came through my lids and I tried to force them open, but my eyes were dry and every movement was like stabbing my eyelids with a toothpick.

A scraping sound somewhere next to me made me flinch and then groan in pain.

“It’s Jaxon. You’re okay, Shawn. You’re all right.”

Jaxon. Where were we? And why did I hurt so damn bad?

“You’re in the hospital,” he continued, as if I’d been able to voice the question. That wasn’t possible. I’d lost my throat muscles somewhere along the way. “You’re recovering. Took a good slug to the abdomen and lost your appendix in the process.”

I managed to peel my eyes open only to be blinded by white lights and squeezed them closed again. “That explains why I feel like a lion tore my stomach out with its teeth.”

And I didn’t care if it made me a bitch to admit it.

“I’m sure it does, but you’re good. It’s been a few days, though, and we were starting to get worried.”

A few days?It took a moment to register what he was saying, and then the memories of getting shot started to filter in.

“Addi.” I slammed my eyes open because fuck the pain. “Where’s Addi?”

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