Page 74 of Taming Hawke

Hawke

“No!” I scream out. “Don’t you dare leave me, Lu. Keep your eyes open, baby, stay with me!” Blood. There’s so much blood. Her torso is covered in it, her top no longer white but a bright red colour, and it’s spreading. I pull my shirt over my head and cover her wound with it, applying pressure there. “Keep your eyes open, baby,” I beg and lift her head and lay it on my knees. “Call a fucking ambulance!” I look down at her, she’s so pale, almost white. “Don’t you dare die on me, Lu, not now. Not now that I’ve found you. You can’t, you hear me? You’re it for me.”

Lu’s hand reaches up and she cups my cheek. Her voice is low and weak when she says, “I love you, Hawke. Always remember that.”

Fear chokes me, washing through me like nothing I’ve ever felt before. “Don’t you dare leave me, Lu. Stay with me.” Her eyes flutter closed and I swipe my thumb over her cheek. Crying, I beg her to keep her eyes open. “Lu, please keep them open, please, baby. Don’t go to sleep, fight it. Fight it hard, baby.”

Lu’s eyes remain shut, no sign of them reopening. I lean down and kiss her lips; they’re still warm. “I’m sorry, baby, I should have protected you.” My mouth dries out as I beg God to not take her. Sirens, I hear sirens getting louder. “The ambulance is close, baby. You stay with me, you hear me?” Someone nearby is wailing with pain, and I look to see Quill carrying Jasmine in his arms, telling her she’s going to be okay, promising her it will all be fine.

How can it be possible for both of us to be going through this? Our women have been hurt, we didn’t protect them. Medics run forward with a stretcher, fighting with Quill to let Jasmine go, but he refuses. “I’ll fucking put her on the stretcher, get your hands off her.”

“Sir, if you don’t let us take care of her, she will lose this baby.”

“Please, baby,” Jasmine says weakly. “Let them take me.”

The look of utter pain on Quill’s face is exactly how I feel. He nods at the medics, transferring her gently into their arms, and they lay her flat on the stretcher. She turns to a fetal position and grips her stomach. “You’re going to be okay, baby, you’ll see.”

I hope he’s right.

“Over here!” I yell when I see another couple of medics running through with a stretcher. I lift Luisa under her knees and carry her over to it.

“What happened?” they ask looking down at her, then around the club.

“She’s been shot. Please, please tell me she’s still alive.”

One medic places two fingers on Luisa’s wrist, his lips turning up in a smile after a tense moment. “She still has a pulse. It’s weak, though, we need to get her to the hospital right away.”

“Can I ride with her?”

“Of course,” the female medic says, and I follow them to the ambulance.

Holding Lu’s hand as the medic opens the doors, I whisper in her ear, “You’re going to be okay, baby. I promise.” They start to push the stretcher into the van, and I’m told to hang back while they get Lu settled. I look to my left and see Quill standing back while they push Jasmine into the back of hers. He has his face buried in his hands, so I shout, “Brother!” Quill looks up and over to me. “She’ll be fine, they both will.”

Quill’s look of pain now holds a little hope, and I’m brought back to Luisa when the medic says, “Okay, sir, you can step in now.”

I run to the back of the ambulance, and sit beside Luisa once I’m inside. One medic rushes up front to start the van, and the other begins to put all kinds of wires on Luisa, and a mask over her nose and mouth to keep her breathing. While the medic continues doing what he’s doing, I lean in and whisper in Luisa’s ear, “You’re going to be fine, you hear me? Don’t you dare leave me, Lu. If you do, I’m going to spank your ass.” That catches the medic’s attention, making him pause what he’s doing for a moment, but I don’t care. Luisa needs to know she’s gonna be in big trouble if she even thinks of leaving me.

The van moves quickly through the busy streets, siren blaring, and it’s not long till we’re at the hospital, the back of the van opening as soon as we pull up. I jump down out of the vehicle and move out the way as the medics get Luisa out. After that, everything is such a blur as she’s hurried through the hospital’s emergency doors, and nurses come running and take over. The medics give a full brief to them on what’s happened to Luisa. I can make out some words, but the rest goes way over my head with the fancy terms they use.

We’re stopped just before a couple of doors, and I’m confused as to why. One of the nurses looks pointedly at me. “Sorry, sir, you’re going to have to stay here, you can’t go into the operating theatre.”

“Like fuck I can’t. I’m not leaving her.”

“Hawke.” I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I look over and see Quill standing next to me, eyes bloodshot and looking like death. “Let them work, brother. They’ll look after her.”

I inhale deeply and let them go, but not before I lean down and kiss Luisa’s lips. “I’ll be waiting right here for you. See you soon,” I whisper, then stand back and allow them to rush through the doors.

I fall back against the wall, feeling at a complete loss. Sinking to the floor, I rest my arms on my bent knees, dip my head between my legs and start crying, praying to God to make Luisa survive this.

I hear Quill beside me follow me down the wall, and his arm drapes over my shoulders. “She’s gonna be fine, brother, we need to be strong,” he whispers, voice shaky.

I wipe my eyes with my thumbs and look over at Quill. “Fuck, man, we fucked up. We didn’t protect them.”

Quill sighs and runs his hands down his face. “I know, brother. Believe me, I feel fucking guilty as shit. I could lose my baby because I wasn’t on top of my game. I should have had more security on….”

“Was anyone shot?” I ask hesitantly.

“Just Gunner. Fucker thinks he’s gonna pick up more chicks now, with a bullet wound.”

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