Page 56 of Cougar

After everything we’ve been through and the revelations that have come to light, I don’t blame Dizz for getting his family out of here. But we’re his family too, and I know he won’t leave Cowboy to handle this alone.

But RJ, he’s a different story. He’s a broken man, John. Back the fuck up.

I make my way over to him as I need to get this information out into the open. Sooner rather than later. Stepping up behind him, one of my guesses is confirmed when I hear him talk.

“Okay. Let me know when you three land, and I will have someone come and get you.” Cowboy tells Dizz. He pauses while he listens to whatever it is Dizz is saying on the other end. Something tells me he doesn’t like it when he lets out a groan. “Dizz, you know we have trucks here. You don’t need to rent a car.” He’s agitated, and I’m standing here so I can make it worse.

Clearing my throat, I alert him to my presence. He turns, and his eyes cut to mine. His are extremely red-rimmed, and it’s obvious he is trying to keep his shit together. It’s also obvious that he’s failed. Do I blame him? Not a single bit. His father, and a man who is basically his uncle, are in the operating room. I’d be a lot more broken than he currently is if the role were reversed.

I’m proud of him, though. I know it’s such a weird fucking thing to think right now, but I am. Cowboy doesn’t handle the hard shit well. Especially death. Well, death of someone he loves. His reaction is to run. The fact that he’s standing right here—yeah, I’m proud of him.

His growth is showing.

“Ugh. Fine. Fine. You win and get to have it your way, Dizz. But you still better fucking call me when you land and again when you’re on your way here. I’ll let you know where we’re at. Hopefully, it’s a lot fucking further along than where we are now.” Cowboy rubs his face as he listens to his best friend. Letting out a sigh, he speaks again, “Yeah, I love you too. See you soon.” Hanging up, he lets out a loud and tired exhale. One that’s more pronounced than a few seconds ago.

“I need a moment, Cougar,” he tells me as he leans against the wall. One of his feet comes up, making contact with the wall as he hangs his head.

“Prez, I know you do, and I’m sorry, but I need to talk to you. It can’t wait.” I watch him as his face goes from pointing at the ground to me. “Do you want to talk here or go somewhere else?”

I don’t know what he wants his mom to know. I glance back at her, and she’s still pacing, but I don’t allow her to fool me. She may seem frazzled and out of it, but I know better than that. Her ears are open, and she’s waiting to hear what it is I need to speak to Prez about. When he doesn’t answer right away, Elvira stops pacing and changes her direction.

“What do you need to talk to him about? Did you hear anything about Ken or Theo?” she asks, practically begging me. The fire in her eyes is a strange contrast to the desperation in her voice. I take a moment to really look at her, and all I see is pain. Elvira is a mother to us all, but right now, she’s a broken woman who doesn’t know what her future is going to look like.

I wish I had the answers she longs for, but I don’t. There’s no way they’d tell me over her or Cowboy anyway. I shake my head, “No, ma’am. I haven’t heard anything. They wouldn’t tell me anyway. When they have information, I know they’ll make sure to tell you first.” I give her a small smile, trying to reassure her, but I don’t think it does the trick, so I continue. “Aletta was in an accident, so I was with her. Her mom is with her now.” I hope this gives her what she needs. I know she needs some form of comfort, but I need to talk to her son.

“Aletta? Aletta’s here?” I turn toward Butcher’s gruff voice, stealing my spine. I motion for Elvira to move off to my side. I know he would never hurt her, but instincts are a son of a bitch.

“Yes,” I swallow. “Her and the baby are okay, but they want to monitor them for a little while. Abilene is in the room with Aletta.” I explain. I don’t know why I bothered.

Butcher shoots up out of his chair and charges me. Stunned by the motion, I have zero time to react before he sucker-punches me across the face. The motion causes me to crash into Cowboy and Elvira. To keep me from taking Elvira down, Cowboy pushes me back toward Butcher, who takes it as an invitation to punch me again. The man is a fucking beast and a lot more powerful than I am. I stumble and fall to the other side. I spit some blood out onto the floor and turn toward him. Rambo and Willie are pulling him back in an attempt to keep him away from me. I struggle, but I get my ass up.

Butcher points a finger at me. He’s absolutely seething.

“If the love of your life is laying in a hospital bed, you’re by their side when you can be. You never leave them. No matter what.” Butcher yells at me as Rambo and Willie pull him back.

Before they get to the exit, I call out to them, “She’s in room 217 in the maternity ward.”

Don’t ask me why, but he needs to hear from her that she asked me to leave and check in with everyone in this room. I promise, if she and the baby were in danger, I wouldn’t be standing here. Nothing would have kept me away from her.

I face Cowboy, and he’s attempting to calm his mom down.

“Mom. He’s in surgery. There isn’t anything you can do. There’s nothing I can do. I know you would be right there by his side if you could. But right now, we have to let the doctors do what they need to do. They can’t do that if we’re in there causing problems. Anything can happen back there, and I hate it, but we have to trust them.

“They have to have something for us soon. They’ve been back there for over three hours now. Dad is strong. Plus, you know he refuses to die before you. It’ll be okay.” He hugs her, and when her head hits his chest, I hear him whisper, “It has to be.”

I stop myself from breaking their moment up. He knows I need to talk to him, but I know that his mom needs him right now. The pain Elvira feels is immense. It’s seeping from her pores and coating the room. What I need to tell Prez can wait a moment. Turning away from them, I stand there like a jackass. But what else can I do?

After a few moments, I feel a tap on my shoulder. When I turn around, Prez nods for me to follow him. We head off and go around the corner from the waiting room. Once there, he puts himself right back into the stance he was in previously. It doesn’t last long, though. He stands and paces back and forth in the smaller hallway.

I’m not sure what compels me. Okay, that’s a lie. This whole situation is pure shit. I stop Cowboy mid-pace, and I wrap him up in my arms. That is the exact thing I know Dizz would be doing if he were here already. He tenses for a moment before his arms wrap around me in return, and he hugs me back. Cling to me. Let me carry the burden for you—even if just for a moment.

“Okay. Enough of that,” he says as he pulls away from me, sniffling. “Where’s Knuckles? I thought you were getting him. What was it you needed to tell me?” He’s ready to get back to business, even though his eyes are still glossy from tears. He needs a distraction. Unfortunately, the one I’m about to give him. I know isn’t the one he wants.

Clearing my throat, I start. “Knuckles is still at his place. I was trying to get him to leave his place with me, but when I got there,” I blow out a breath, “he was going crazy. He was acting like a fucking madman. He has papers and strings all hung up on his walls. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he was tweaked out.”

Cowboy looks at me like I’m crazy. “Okay…this doesn’t answer why he isn’t here.”

“I’m getting to it, I promise. I’m just…trying to find the best way to tell you what I need to tell you.”

---