Page 31 of Shattered Love

“Babe, you need to hurry up. He’s starting to lose consciousness,” Warner called, his impassive voice tinted with worry.

My heart began beating faster, drowning out any other sound, while I leaned closer to the woman before me. Her lips continued to move until I finally heard the word, “Brentwood.”

I had no clue what the word meant. Or why it was so important it would be her last words. Her chest heaved aggressively three more times, and then the movement stopped. Her blank eyes stared up at the ceiling.

Bile rose in my throat, but I held it down, choking on the bitter taste of death. But I couldn’t fall apart right now. Not when Aiden needed me.

Standing to my feet, my wild eyes took in the others. Warner still bent over Aiden, pressing on his thigh, while Aiden’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. Rainer held Murphy up under his arms, pleading with him to sit. Sasha had blood pooling down her neck, matting in her dark curls, while she held Mina’s hand tightly.

“We need to find medical supplies. Quickly. And then we need to get the hell out of here,” I all but screamed.

Everyone looked to me with wide eyes, my voice haunted and crazed. But they didn’t hesitate, the three of them that were able taking off into sprints through the building, while I joined them as well.

Maybe it was selfish of me. The logical thing would be to leave Aiden behind and allow everyone else to save themselves. We didn’t know when Vex would wake up or when more guards would file in through that door.

But I didn’t care. Too many people were dead. Too many people were threats to our safety. And if all I had left was my brother, I’d do anything to save him.

Chapter Seventeen

The building was a hurried rush of chaos as we sifted through rooms, emptying drawers and prying open cabinets, trying to find something that would help Aiden.

“I found something!” Mina shouted from upstairs, two rooms down from me.

I didn’t hesitate before I sprinted toward her voice, skidding into the room. A room that was literally a miniature version of an operating room. A small bed was tucked in the corner of the room, a heart monitor and an IV drip to the right of the bed.

Cabinets filled with syringes, needles, medication, and more took up the rest of the space. The set up made me wonder what else Vex had been doing in those interrogation rooms. Who would have needed this?

“Go get Warner to bring Aiden up here,” I told Mina, turning toward the cabinets and finding everything I might need.

I grabbed out a needle to insert the IV, a few bottles of painkillers, bandages, a pair of scissors, and a scalpel. My hands shook as I set the things on the countertop. I wasn’t the surgeon, that was all Aiden. But I was the only other one with medical training, which meant his life was in my hands.

My head was in my hands, my elbows resting against the counter, trying to stave off a panic attack, when Warner walked into the room with Aiden in his arms.

Warner dropped Aiden on the bed, the rest of the group trailing inside the room, even Murphy. I glanced at Rainer with arched brows.

“If someone comes in here, they won’t disrupt us.” He shut the door behind him, turning the lock, and then standing guard, as if someone was going to break in this instant.

Pushing the thought of someone barging in while I operated on my own brother, I grabbed a pair of gloves, stretching them over my hands.

Picking up the needle, I approached Aiden, incoherent mumblings spilling from his mouth. I wiped a hand over his sweat slicked forehead, whispering, “It will be okay.”

I gripped his arm, inserting the needle and connecting him with the fluid bag. That was the simple part. I had inserted so many IVs I had lost count. But the rest? The rest I had no clue how to do if I was being honest with myself.

Grabbing the scissors, I cut the length of Aiden’s pants, revealing the bullet embedded into his thigh. Some random miracle had the bullet missing the femoral artery that ran through his thigh, but a massive amount of blood still spilled over his skin.

More would continue to run once I cut into the skin, especially since the bullet wasn’t visible. If I had any chance at getting it out, I was going to have to cut deep.

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath, and Warner was at my side.

“What do you need us to do?” Warner asked, arms crossed over his chest.

“Any of you know your blood type?”

The best case scenario would be to give him my own blood. But I couldn’t give a transfusion while operating. I glanced at the fluids going into Aiden’s arm, knowing that right now actual blood would be more helpful, giving him a better chance at survival.

Different blood types sounded in the room, all of them calling out their type, except for Mina, who had no idea.

Of course, Murphy was the one with B positive blood, just like Aiden and me. He was also still sitting limply against the wall, his body exhausted from whatever beating he had taken.

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