Page 91 of Cardinal

Juliet pushing off the exam table caused my words to cut off with my step back. "Get. Me. My. Lap. Top." She demanded through gritted teeth, tilting her chin up at me with her scowl.

"No." I defied her with a step up to her. "You are not in the right headspace to do anything right now. I understand how you feel. Believe me, I have been there more than I can recount."

Reaching out, I gently wrapped a hand around her arm, only to have her jerk herself away. Too bad I refuse to have any of that. So, I reached out again, this time wrapping my arm around her waist, pulling her against me, and wrapping a hand around her neck again. "You are going to do something you regret later once your mind is set right. I won't let you do anything detrimental to yourself."

Nothing good would come from her ill-thought-out actions. If anything, they might make whatever the situation was worse. Or worse, Juliet might get into a dangerous situation because of her potential recklessness.

I understood her, and I truly did, which is why I refused to let her act. She wasn't experienced enough to handle things right now. Hell, even I had to force myself to step back a lot of the time when I got caught in similar situations that riled my emotions.

"If you don't get me my laptop, I swear—"

Now, it was my turn to cut her off. "No. You won't do anything because I won't give in to your demands. I am doing this for your own good, not because I am an ass." Refusing to let Juliet get a word in, I shut her up with a hard kiss before finishing my piece. "I am not saying you can't do anything, just not right now. Once you are in a better headspace where you can think straight, I will let you do what you want."

Lingering a kiss against her forehead, I shifted my hand from around her neck to the back of her head. "I have my men pulling up street cam footage and going through it to track down the car and the men who did this. So you don't have to worry about anything. I have it taken care of, promise." I informed her while stroking the back of her head. "They won't get away, and I swear, I will do whatever you want to them once we catch them."

"I want their lives gutted, their families ruined, and anyone else who is tied to them." Juliet's dark tone threatened to send shivers down my spine, especially after I caught a glance of her dead eyes.

"Let's save those decisions for after we catch the bastards who did this," I suggested strongly, bringing her into a kiss in hopes of clearing her mind a little.

Last thing I wanted was for her to be hit with a dump truck of regret after the fact. It might all sound good now because she was angry with a fire of vengeance, but Juliet wasn't a hardened criminal like me or the others. I knew for a fact she wouldn't be able to handle the consequences of her choices now if she made them.

Kissing her forehead, I scooped her into my arms and brought her back to the main area where Gale's parents had shown up. The older couple were obviously distraught as they held each other and cried. "Juliet, what happened? What happened to my baby?" Gale's mother barely held herself together as she gave Juliet a look of desperation.

"Someone shot at us from a car. A drive-by. We were heading back to the car after dinner, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground with Gale on top of me after I heard a loud pop." Juliet hung her head in shame, shying behind me a little.

Guilt scribbled across Juliet's face as she slowly hid herself in me. "Hey, don't," I spoke softly to her with a shake of my head. "It's not your fault."

An unfortunate incident, yes, but in no way was Juliet at any fault. Gale's parents didn't seem to accuse Juliet too much, but there was no doubt that Juliet placed the blame on herself after seeing his parents. It was a typical reaction, one most of us have been guilty of in the past. This won't be an easy bump for Juliet to overcome, but she would have to.

"And before you come up with stupid excuses, just don't. What happened wasn't your fault. You didn't ask for a drive-by, nor did you ask to have Gale shot at. You were just out having a good time with your best friend, and something shitty happened." The only fault she had in this was being involved with me, but she didn't need any of that to slap her in the face right now.

After leading Juliet over to a chair and making her sit, I left briefly to gather some snacks and drinks for everyone, using the moment to remove myself from the suffocating room. Probably shitty of me to leave Juliet alone right now, even if it was for a second, but I needed to get myself straight to be of use to her.

Unfortunately, the eerie tension in the room did not improve upon my return. If anything, the air got thicker and heavier, as if we were in a humid bog. Everything turned deadly silent as we sat around waiting for news from anyone beyond the operating doors, but hours dragged onto days, it felt like.

I wasn't close to the kid but felt bad by proxy. Honestly, I could somewhat care less about the boy, but unfortunately, he meant something to Juliet. So, I had to care somewhat. Juliet would be devastated if something bad happened to him, which I didn't want—Juliet being devastated, of course.

Part of me wanted to tell her things would be alright, but my logical side knew better than to give false hope like that. So, all I could do was hold Juliet in silence while she bore holes into the double steel doors of the operating room with her worried eyes.

Hours dragged to days, it felt like, as we sat there baking in the growing tension. Relief was too brief when the double doors opened, and a crestfallen doctor walked through. "Doctor, my baby, please—"

"Let's go somewhere private." The doctor quickly cut off Gale's mother politely, gesturing to an empty exam room.

Dread and guilt sank into my chest like an anchor into an endless sea when I turned my attention to Juliet, who looked much too hopeful at the closed exam room. "Juliet, I am so sorry." I knew better after seeing this familiar scene one too many times.

I hated seeing all her faith shatter and detest fill her eyes as she looked at me like I was some villain. "What do you mean? The doctor hasn't said anything yet. He's still talking with Gale's parents." Juliet quickly threw up the wall of denial as she pulled herself away from me.

"Sweetheart, if Gale was fine, the doctor would have let us know the moment he stepped out, and he wouldn't have looked so down. He pulled Gale's parents aside to give them privacy and tell them their son is gone." I pointed the facts out to her bluntly with an apologetic smile.

Juliet's mouth dropped with her shoulders as she stared at me in disbelief. I could see her rebuttal twisting at her tongue and hardening her eyes, but nothing came out, no matter how much her mouth gasped like a suffocating fish. She really couldn't say anything after a wail came from the closed exam room.

"No… No…! No! Nonononono!" And there followed Juliet.

And once again, I was helpless to her. All I could do was hold her and offer her words of comfort and support, but I couldn't take away her pain and suffering.

Juliet seethed through her anguished sobs. "I'm gonna kill them. I'm going to fucking kill them when I get my hands on them." Deep, angry breaths heaved her body as she glared holes into the floor for a moment before looking up at me with demanding eyes. "You make them suffer as much as you plan on making my rapists suffer. Swear that to me." Her last demands were drilled into me along with her finger in my chest.

At least she didn't ask for something ridiculous, but even if she did, I'd still fulfill it. "I swear on my life, they will know Hell on earth and after death." Torture, I could definitely do it, no problem.

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