Page 102 of Together We Burn
The faint sound of sirens echoed in the distance, but the darkness was drawing in. The need to sleep was overwhelming. Just five minutes, that’s all I needed.
Stefany’s voice was faint, her silhouette even fainter as she said, “Jake?”
Chapter forty
Stevie
EMTswheeledagurneyto the side of Jake’s unconscious body. A blue glove appeared on my shoulder, startling me as I kept my finger pressed deep into his stomach.
“No,” I sneered, whirling on the poor man and gripping his throat tightly in my free hand. Jake’s blood coated his neck as my grip increased, my fingers digging into his skin. The man grabbed my wrists in fright just as Alex wrapped a hand around my forearm, tapping twice with his middle finger.
“Let him go, Stevie,” he said, withdrawing my arm from the guy who was trying to save the only man I feared dying in my arms.
“She needs to get off,” the EMT said, rubbing his neck whilst speaking to Alex. “This man needs a hospital now. He—”
“I can’t,” I said, my voice breaking as I shook my head, refusing to move away from him. My finger was buried to the knuckle, plugging the hole put there by my mother, in a bid to stop more of his blood from spilling.
“Ma’am, we really need—”
“Take her with you,” Alex interrupted, carefully sliding his arms around my waist and helping me straddle Jake.
The EMT huffed, angling the gurney by Jake’s side, ready to manoeuvre us onto it. Mac and Alex took over, pushing the man donned in a navy short-sleeve uniform to the side, and gently loaded Jake and me onto the stretcher.
My legs shook as I tried to keep my weight from him and my finger still as the brothers pushed us to the open doors of the ambulance as two more EMTs jumped out from the back. They shot weary glances at their colleague, but quickly assisted in helping get us into the van.
The sound of motorbike engines rang out as the two bikers who had Nate and Chris rolled into the parking lot and pulled to a stop next to the ambulance.
“Stefy?” Chris cried, and I turned my head to look over my shoulder. Chris was still wrapped around Pistol, chest to chest, her face pale and her long hair windswept. Alex growled and stormed over to the bike, grabbing her by the waist and hauling her off him, nearly dropping her to her ass at the force he set her on her feet.
“What the fuck you doing?” he growled in Pistol’s face.
Thinking this was hilarious, Pistol pouted his lips and kissed Alex on the tip of his nose. Alex was about to lunge until Mac grabbed his arm and got in between his brother by blood and brother in arms.
The patter of Nate running across the gravel caught Alex’s attention as the boy flung himself against him.
“Did you see me?” he asked, and Alex frowned. “Trigger says I can go on his bike whenever I like.”
“I did, buddy,” Alex replied, lifting Nate and hugging him to his chest. “You were so brave tonight.”
The EMT cleared his throat. “Does anyone else need to go to the hospital?”
“Who’s going to the hospital?” Chris asked, looking around frantically. “Where’s Stefy?”
“It’s Jake,” I said from inside the ambulance, leaning my legs back to rest lightly against his thighs. “If everyone else is done wasting time, we need to go.” I turned my head to the EMT, who appeared to be in charge from the way he barrelled in tonight. “You. Scrubs, get your fucking ass in the truck and take us to the hospital before I drain you of all your blood to replace the amount my man’s already lost.”
He visibly blanched at my words and scrambled into the back of the ambulance. Just as the doors were about to close, I yelled, “Alex, you need to go untie Will. We need him to clean this up.”
Alex approached the door, stopping the man from fully closing them.
“Don’t worry, I’ll sort it.” He nodded, then slammed the doors shut.
The journey to Carlin Valley Hospital felt like hours rather than a fifteen-minute drive from the city’s edge to the ER. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Jake’s sickly pale complexion, the oxygen mask someone had placed on his face as soon as he entered, or the slow beeps of his pulse.
My throat felt thick, like I was chewing on cotton, as all the words I never had the chance to say formed a large ball pushing against my windpipe, making it hard to breathe.
I worked on a swallow and leaned forward, close to his ear, so only he could hear me.
“I wanted to hate you so badly. I wanted to make you hurt for breaking my heart. But no matter how hard I tried…” I paused, looking over his closed eyes, his lashes lying above his cheeks. “I couldn’t. I can’t hate you, Jake. You said you’d always protect me, but you didn’t. You didn’t protect me from yourself.” My voice broke, and I held my breath, begging myself to keep it together.
