Page 23 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

“God, I hope so,” Dex muttered in disgust before dropping his arms. “For the record? So you know? Rivers is sopping wet because he chased down two buses in the rain making sure Bobby’s mom and the boy she’s caring for are safe, because that’s what my brotherbeggedhim to do before the EMTs got there. Sowhatever bug is up your ass about what Henry does for a living, shit it out right now, because you just hit the wrong fucking guy.” He glanced at Bobby and Reg, pulling them with him with a jerk of his chin. “C’mon, guys. Let’s let them talk.”

“I’ll be back with ice,” Dave said, and Jackson stilled him with a hand on his arm.

“Is there, you know,” he murmured, “any news?”

Dave shook his head. “Our boy’s with one of the best surgeons in the place. Don’t worry, we love Dr. Luna around here, although I couldn’t tell you why right now. But we made sure Henry was well taken care of.”

“Thanks,” Jackson said, and then it was Ellery, Jackson, and Lance.

Ellery was still standing between them.

“I said I’m fine,” Lance said like a penitent schoolboy.

“Don’t touch him again,” Ellery said, his voice like ice. “I know I’m not the violent one, but I have other ways of doing damage—”

“Ellery, it’s fine,” Jackson said.

Ellery turned toward him, his heart suddenly pounding in his chest. “No, it’s not,” he said. “You’d die for Henry—I know that, Jackson.I’veaccepted it. The fact that Lance doesn’t makes him worse than a bad friend. It makes him a badpartner,because he doesn’t know what Henry would die for, and worse? He doesn’t care. So he doesn’t get to take it out on you. We love Henry too, and he just disrespected everything Henry stands for.” Ellery’s jaw was clenched so tight his head hurt as he whirled on Lance. “You make your peace with us, with Henry,now.He thinks you love him. I would hate to be there when he finds out you onlythinkyou do.”

Jackson sucked air in through his teeth, and Lance Luna’s eyes went wide and shiny.

“Ou. Ch.” Jackson took Ellery’s arm and moved him gently, but Ellery wasn’t leaving that hallway.

“He can say his piece to me, Jackson.”

“Sure he can,” Jackson murmured. “When you stop breathing fire, okay?”

Ellery scowled, and unexpectedly, Jackson grinned at him, his face still a little swollen from a punch he hadn’t had to take.

“You’re sexy when you’re all het up,” he said, and Ellery recognized the same energy as when he’d taken the picture of Galen.

“Fine,” he muttered, his face heating. “Talk.”

He finally stepped aside and cast Lance an unfriendly look. Jackson stepped forward and said softly, “How is he? The EMTs booty bumped me, and I didn’t get a full assessment of his injuries.”

Lance swallowed and glanced involuntarily to Jackson’s hands. Ellery hadn’t noticed before, but although Jackson had obviously washed since then, there was still blood on the cuffs and pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. Jackson glanced down at the same time, and an absolute silence fell.

“Shoulder and stomach,” Lance said after an audible breath. “Small caliber bullets, fired through plaster at close range. They didn’t fragment, and their velocity was significantly slowed, so it’s only the two wounds, but the slow bullets left big holes. There was organ damage.” He let out a breath. “They’re going to be stitching up a lot of that. When he’s recovering, infection is going to be a real problem.”

“When,” Jackson whispered, and Ellery heard it, the desperation to know there would be a “when.”

“Prognosis sixty percent,” Lance said, his voice as quavery as a bad flute.

“He can….” Jackson took a breath. “This is Henry,” he said at last. “He’s… he’s really strong.”

“But he’smyHenry,” Lance almost wailed. “And he’s all I’ve got?”

“No,” Jackson said, and EllerywilledLance to break.Willedhim to let go. “You’ve got a whole room of brothers in there. Why would they desert you now?”

“Because they love Henry best,” Lance said with a little shake of his shoulders. “How could theynot—”

Jackson moved first, bridging the gap between the two of them, wrapping his arms around Lance’s big shoulders. “Course they do,” Ellery heard him whisper. “He’s our Henry. That’s what he does. Make a difference in our lives, right?”

But Lance was too busy sobbing to answer.

AN HOURlater, Lance was huddled with the rest of the Johnnies guys, and Bobby, Galen, and John were huddling with Jackson, Ellery, Jade, Mike, AJ, and Crystal.

“You sent my mom to Disneyland?” Bobby was saying for maybe the thousandth time. Once Jackson had a chance to confer with Crystal, who was even more ethereal in a one-piece catsuit pajama with AJ’s hooded sweatshirt over her thin shoulders and her brown hair waving around her face like plant fronds, Jackson was much more forthcoming about the state of things.

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