Page 58 of Sin

“Sin was stabbed. We think he’s having a stroke,” Lewis said, packing up his suture kit. “An ambulance should be here soon. I’m sure everyone’s busy trying to help all those injured.”

Mare said something into the phone, but I couldn’t focus on her words. I was struggling to stay conscious, and I didn’t feel very well. It reminded me of when I was in middle school and caught a nasty flu bug. I’d skipped school for a full week getting over it, and I’d lost over ten pounds.

I didn’t know if my body could handle losing ten pounds right now.

“Tenpouns,” I tried to tell London, like he should know this.

His brow furrowed. “What?”

I attempted to swallow, but my throat didn’t want to work. I choked on the saliva pooling at the back of my throat, and London started smacking my back to help me.

“They’re here,” Mare, or maybe it was Blade, said, and the doors to the back of the van opened.

An ambulance was parked beside us, and a couple of people jumped out of the vehicle. They rushed over, assessing.

“What happened?” one of them, a woman with kind eyes asked.

“He was stabbed inside the park,” someone, Lewis, I thought, answered.

While they talked, I found myself drifting. That was, until a bright light flashed in my eyeballs.

I squinted away, and the light disappeared. The rumble of voices drifted around me, but I couldn’t understand any of them. When I was lifted and moved to a stretcher, I barely reacted. As they rolled me into the back of the ambulance, my gaze fell on a person at the back of a crowd of those fleeing the park and those sticking around to get a peek at our situation.

Lucas watched from under the cover of a baseball cap, his expression unreadable from so far away.

But when I blinked and he was no longer there, I wondered if I’d imagined him.

Chapter Twelve

Turned out, strokes sucked

Turned out, strokes sucked.

After being treated at the hospital for my blood loss, stab wound, and the stroke, the hospital made me stay two days to run some tests and make sure nothing worse happened.

My stroke had resulted from the loss of blood flow to my brain, but I was fortunate that it hadn’t caused any permanent damage to my body. I was still weakened, but I had full function of my body and I was no longer struggling to talk. The worst part was honestly the fatigue. I slept most of my hospital stay, even with the intrusion of nurses and doctors coming to check on me or introduce themselves from a shift change.

London had stayed with me the whole time, not once leaving my side unless to use the restroom. And even then, I guessed he only used the bathroom when I was unconscious because I never saw him leave.

When it was time for discharge, the whole team came to collect us from the hospital. When I stepped out the doors of the hospital and found all of them waiting in front of the idling van, I stopped in my tracks. Because each and every one of them held something. Blade held a large bouquet of white roses, Mare hugged a brown teddy bear nearly the same size as herself, and Jinx waved a cluster of balloons, all stating happy birthday.

Lewis handed me a get well soon card and clapped me on the back. “Good to see you on your feet, Sin man.”

I gaped at them before opening my card and reading it. They’d all simply signed their names, though Mare had added she was glad I hadn’t died. The fact they’d gotten me anything meant a lot.

Clearing my throat as emotion made it difficult to swallow, I closed the card. “Thank you. You didn’t have to get me anything though.”

“We know,” Blade said, stuffing the roses in my arms. I almost dropped them because I was still recovering my strength. When she realized that, she quickly snatched them back. “Sorry. We can hold on to this stuff for now.”

I grinned. “That would probably be best.”

London ushered me into the van, and when I took my seat at the back, I was grateful for it now. I was able to stretch out my legs, and I had plenty of room to put all the things they’d gotten me.

The others piled into the car once I was settled, and even though he seemed reluctant to leave my side, London took his seat at the front of the car. Blade drove this time, leaving Lewis to sit in the middle seat with Jinx, and Mare took her usual seat by my side in the back.

She didn’t say anything, but she shoved the ridiculously large bear at me, making me let out an oof.

We took off, and I was grateful that Blade actually seemed capable of driving and that I wouldn’t have to worry about my head hitting the window.

---