Page 18 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part two
“We still haven’t heard anything.” I see the worry lining Tyler’s eyes, so I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek.
“How long was I asleep?”
“A couple hours. We didn’t want to wake you, but we figured you’d want to know Jason was in a room.”
“I want to see him.”
Tyler nods and kisses my knuckles. “I figured.”
Tyler leads me back to the elevator, taking us to the second floor. When we walk into Jason’s room, the first thing I see is Gavin’s long body slumped in a chair in the corner, fast asleep. Jason smiles when I walk in, and I climb into his bed, cuddling into his side. He wraps both arms around me and kisses my head. That’s when I realize that my beanie is still clutched in Keon’s hand, and I don’t care. The only people who matter are these guys, and they don’t mind my bald head.
“How’s the ticker doing?” I ask, making Jason chuckle.
“It will be fine. It took them a little bit to get it back under control, but we’re getting there. It will be much better when we hear something about Ari.”
Tyler grimaces. “Yeah, Axel’s getting pissed that they won’t tell us anything.”
“Who’s his emergency contact in his files?” I ask.
“No one. Ari’s never been to the hospital, but Nolan is currently hacking into it to add someone so we can get updates.”
“Isn’t it dangerous to have him admitted under any of his names right now?” Jason asks.
“Yeah, so we fell back on an alias from his old Saviors days. Samuel Stratter.” Tyler’s phone pings with a message and Tyler smiles. “Damn, he’s good. He said someone should be in here in a minute for an update.”
Ten minutes later, a nurse walks in, looking around the room and then her eyes land on us. “Mr. Stratter?” It takes me a second to realize she’s callingJasonMr. Stratter. No wonder shelooked confused with me cuddled into his side. It takes Jason just as long, and I gently nudge him in the ribs.
“Oh, uh, I still go by Whitt,” Jason answers, and Tyler has to hide a laugh with a cough. He failed to mention that part of Nolan’s message. If his laugh is anything to go by, it was on purpose.
“Very well,” she says pleasantly. “I have some updates on Mr. Stratter.”
“You can talk freely in here,” Jason responds, his body rigid. I grab his hand in comfort, more than ready to hear what she has to say. I watch Tyler gently shake Gavin awake so he knows what’s going on.
“Okay. Well, he got through the surgery for the gunshot wound with minimal damage to the shoulder. He lost a great deal of blood, so he’ll have to get several transfusions, which we started during the surgery. He had multiple broken ribs, a concussion, a broken nose, and more contusions than we could count. One of his ribs punctured a lung, and we had to work to reinflate it, so he has a chest tube for now to keep it inflated while he heals.” She lists it all off clinically, and I get sicker by the second.My poor Ari.He must have gone through hell in there. “Overall, he’s very lucky to still be alive.”
“So, he’s going to be okay?” Jason asks, his voice small.
“That’s up to him now. We put him into a medically induced coma so his body can rest and heal. He is also still intubated. Within the next twenty-four hours, we’ll start to wean him off the medications, but if or when he wakes up, that’s up to him.”
“If?” Gavin demands. “What do you mean if?”
“His body went through a horrible trauma, and it can only handle so much.”
“When can we see him?” Jason asks.
“Soon. I’ll come get you when it’s time, but only one can go in at a time.”
“Thank you,” I respond. She nods and exits the room.
Although we finally know he’s out of surgery, we still don’t have all the answers. The way she talked, there’s a good chance that he won’t wake up from the coma.
And that’s not something that we can handle.
8
KEON
My eyes fly open when I hear my door open, and I take a deep breath when I realize it’s just the nurse. I’ve been on edge since being admitted to the hospital, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I feel like a sitting duck. I slept a little better after Tyler came to tell me about Ari and Jason, but I can’t be here anymore. I feel itchy, and like everyone that comes in my room is here to kill me. Plus, I want to be by Kira’s side. I explained all this to Tyler, and he understood my reasoning, so he went to go get me some clothes.
