Page 3 of Silent Betrayal

“Holy shit! Is that…?” Max cuts himself off with a whimper, making me look at where he’s pointing to something on the floor by his feet, near her arm. I lean in to get a better look, and suck in a sharp breath as recognition sinks in. The blood drains from my face when I look at her hand.

Max turns away and vomits into a bucket in the corner as I stare at her severed finger in horror.

“No,” I whisper in horror. “No, no, no, no, no,” I mumble as I tear off a piece of my shirt and grab her hand, trying to stop the blood from escaping the spot where her ring finger used to be.

“Jasper, we need ice and something to keep her finger in. They might be able to save it if we act fast,” Dom instructs, and I’m thankful he’s able to keep his head in the situation right now. I feel like my world has come crashing down around me. I’ve just started to get to know her and to lose her already is unthinkable.

Jasper jumps up and runs upstairs, and moments later, Tucker yells right before he comes barreling down the stairs. When he sees her, his face goes white.

Jasper is on his heels, and he moves around Tucker to carefully pick up her finger and place it in a bag of ice. His face is pale, and he looks horrified. I can see him fighting to keep from throwing up as his eyes return to Mina.

“Do you want me to hold it?” I ask, reaching out for the bag. He shakes his head and holds it to his chest.

“I have to do it,” he tells me quietly, and I nod. I can tell he’s not going to misplace that finger, and it will give him something important to focus on.

“No, no. This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Tucker cries from where he kneels beside Dom. I glance up and see tears rolling down his face. I’ve never seen him cry before. Then again, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of my brothers cry. Looking around, nobody is unaffected by her mangled body.

“I’m so sorry, Sugar. I’m so, so sorry we couldn’t protect you,” Tucker whispers, leaning close to her face as tears stream from his eyes. Helooks like he wants to touch her but can’t find any part of her that isn’t damaged.

His words hit me hard. I told her we’d take care of her.I’dtake care of her. Can she really survive so much blood loss and all these injuries? My eyes roam up and down her body, unsure where to look. There are just so many. Deciding I need to do everything I can to save her and bring her back to us, I pull off my shirt and start tearing it into strips.

“Tuck, we need to stop the bleeding. Start with the bigger wounds.” I take one strip and toss him the rest. I use mine to wrap her right shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding there. My own vision blurs. He’s right, we failed her… badly. We were so close to getting her out of here. She finally listened to me and asked for help, but I’m terrified it’s too late.

I look for other places to bandage and notice a lot of blood coming from her legs. Looking closer, I see they’re covered with cuts, and a few look quite deep based on the amount of blood coming from them.

“I need another bandage,” I tell him. I look up and see both him and Dom shirtless, covering her with strips of their shirts. There are so many wounds that our three shirts aren’t enough to cover them, which terrifies me. We are so much bigger than her, it shouldn’t have come to this.

“Guys, the medics are here!” Gideon calls.

“Wait, who was watching Jeff?” I ask, glancing around.

“I was, but the cops are here now. He’s still out cold,” Gideon says, and I sigh in relief. At least he didn’t get away.

The medics hurry in, pushing Tucker out of the way. He moves to stand with the twins and Gideon. The medics quickly assess the situation and check her pulse. My heart beats frantically, hoping that she’s still breathing.

“We have a pulse, it’s weak. We have to stop any major bleeding and get her to the hospital ASAP. John, go get the stretcher, the other med kit, and the B team if they’re here,” the first paramedic orders his partner, who runs upstairs.

He opens his kit, pulling out cloths and self-adhesive bandages. He tries to clean the skin so the bandages will adhere, but there is so much blood it looks like a horror scene. I can tell those bandages aren’t going to work here.

“I think this is the worst one,” Dom says calmly, motioning to where he still holds his shirt over her stomach.

“Let me see.” The medic pulls back the fabric, and Dom releases the pressure.

We watch in horror as blood starts pouring out, and the medic pushes Dom’s hand back down. “Okay, keep the pressure on it. You’re doing good,” the medic says, trying to use a few more self-adhesive bandages on some of the larger wounds.

“There’s a stab wound here,” I point out, indicating her shoulder. He hands me a bandage and cloth, and I do my best to clean the area and apply it.

He examines the knife. “We’re best to take this out, so it doesn’t cause more damage during transport. I don’t think it hit any major arteries.” He gets another pad ready and passes it to me. There is surprisingly not a lot of blood around the injury yet, the knife obviously keeping it from flowing.

“I’ll pull it out, and you cover the wound. On the count of three, okay?” he asks me, and I nod, getting the bandage ready.

“One, two, three.” He smoothly pulls the knife out, and I cover the wound immediately.

A couple of cops come down the stairs, and I recognize the woman as the officer who went into the school earlier today while we were watching from the parking lot.

They approach to see what’s happening. The woman seems to recognize Mina, and her hand flies to her mouth in shock.

“Is this—is that Mina Davies?” she asks in shock.

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