Page 105 of Goose

“Bambi! Baby, wake up! Please!”

I shake her, but she’s barely breathing. With tears in my eyes, I try to stand but fall back down from the dizziness.

My head bangs off the ground, and as I reach out for Bambi’s hand.

My angel...

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BEEPING. HUSHED VOICES. Cold hands and the smell of hospital soap. My mama crying and then footsteps running out, followed by the slamming of a door.

Slowly, I try to open my eyes just to close them again. A cold wet nose touches my hand and I slowly open my eyes again to see Orion, Willow’s dog, sitting by my bedside.

I reach out and he licks my hand. Willow is sitting in the chair next to me and smiles.

“How you feeling, bud?”

I shrug my shoulder and groan at the pain.

“I’ve been worse. Where’s Bambi?”

Willow hangs her head as Lilah, Striker, and Mav come into the room. I look up and Lilah cries.

She runs over and sits right on the edge of the bed next to me.

“Oh, Sawyer! We were so worried about you. The firefighters brought you in and thankfully I was working. I called everybody and let them know you were here.”

I take her hand in mine and look at her. “Where’s Bambi?”

Striker and Mav come over and stand next to their women. Lilah sighs and stands in Striker’s arms.

“She’s... she’s in surgery right now. But to be honest... well, it’s not looking that good...”

I groan and try to get out of the bed when Lilah places her hand on my arm.

“You need to rest and be careful. We can’t have you ripping your stitches out.”

“I don’t give a shit. I need to see Bambi.”

The door to my hospital room opens and my mama comes in with a stern look on her face.

“You listen to me, Sawyer Charles Crawford. You will not get out of this bed. Listen to what your sister says, please. We almost lost you and I can’t go through that again.”

Striker taps the end of the bed. “She’s in surgery, brother. You can’t see her, anyway. Just rest and as soon as she’s out I’ll wheel you to her room.”

I lay my head back on the pillow and growl. “She fucking saved me from that crazy bitch. She saved my fucking life! She can’t die, Striker. I love her. I fucking love that woman more than anything.”

A lone tear escapes my eye, and Maverick puts his hand on my shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay. Doc is a miracle worker.”

The door opens a second time and Zane comes slowly, shuffling into the room with a walker for support. Mama helps him sit in another chair next to my bed.

He shakes his head and sighs. “Fuck, man. I can’t lose her. I just found my sister and can’t fucking lose her.”

Mama comes over and hugs the both of us. “It’s gonna be okay, boys. That angel is in excellent hands and I’ve been praying for her.”

We all sit in silence as the minutes tick by. Lilah leaves a few times to check on her other patients and to get updates on Bambi.

Doc is holding my entire life in his hands and I’m not feeling so great about it. I fucked up a lot, and it feels like this was karma’s way of sayingfuck you.

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