Page 279 of Fearless

Aidan shook his head in quiet disbelief. Of all the guys, he would never have suspected this would happen to Collier.

“Oh, wait,” he said, as Ghost again tried to walk into the hospital. His dad looked annoyed, but he wanted to say this, out here in the dark, before Ghost laid eyes on the brutal, fluorescent-lighted portrait in the ICU.

He dropped his voice a notch. “The three bodies the guys fed to the gators? Ava’s handiwork, all three.”

Ghost’s face blanked over with shock.

“Mercy realized he was wiping out, and he threw her off. Jasper’s crew must have thought she was out cold, or dead, or didn’t care. She got the drop on them. Dad…she put fourteen rounds in Larsen’s face.In his face. We coulda left him on the side of the road and no one would have been able to ID him. It was nothing but a bit of that blonde hair left.”

“Jesus,” Ghost said, eyes too-wide.

“I wanted to tell you, before you got in there,” Aidan explained. “Because she’s not herself. She’s on a hair trigger. She and Merc got married…”

Ghost’s jaw clenched, briefly.

“…and she’s acting like some kind of super intense Viking wife or something. It’s spooky,” he warned. “And I…I just wouldn’t push her, if I were you. That’s not what she needs right now.”

Ghost swallowed, and glanced toward the light beaming out through the glass sliding doors. “I’m not going to push her,” he said, softly. “I’m not angry with her.”

No, Aidan agreed silently. Because how could any of them feel that way?

“Ava.”

She’d been in the same positon for so long, watching Mercy breathe, tracking the movements of his eyes beneath the closed lids, that her neck was stiff and protested, grabbing as she rolled her head to glance toward the parted curtain.

Mom.

Maggie stood just inside the drape, in her familiar jeans and denim jacket, her wavy hair wild around her shoulders, her expression a mixture of relief and love and grief.

“Mom,” Ava said. And then again, disbelieving, “Mom.” She felt her throat constrict, her eyes burning, her chest heaving. She’d hadn’t shed a single tear since the entire ordeal began, and finally, she was breaking down, the moisture flooding her eyes, washing away all the leftover panic. “Oh God, Mom,” she whispered, as the tears consumed her and her shoulders started to shake.

“Baby,” Maggie said, and came to her, folded her up in her arms, instantly mindful of her sling and the bump on her head, as if she could detect all her little hurts with some sixth sense.

“It’s alright now,” Maggie soothed, stroking her hair as she sobbed into the shoulder of her jacket. “Shh. It’s alright.”

Fifty-One

“You heard Doogie Howser. The surgery’s going to take a while. You won’t be missing anything if we go get some breakfast.”

Maggie was prepared for an eyeroll. A “yeah right, Mom” and some sort of sass. What she got instead – and what disturbed her – was Ava’s expressionless headshake. She didn’t consider leaving the waiting room for a second.

“Dr. Roth might have a question,” she said. “And what if I’m not here? No. I’m not hungry.”

“Ava,” Maggie sighed. “Mercy was totally stable this morning. His white cell count was down. The antibiotics are working. You heard the doctor. This isn’t a risky surgery. You can walk to the cafeteria and get a muffin. He won’t die in that time.”

“You don’t know that,” Ava said softly, and it broke Maggie’s heart.

“Baby–”

“If she doesn’t want to go, don’t keep talking about it,” Ghost said. He stood, and shot Maggie a quelling look that she returned with a scowl. “I’m going to the vending machines. You want a Snickers?” he asked Ava. “And a Coke? If I bring it, will you eat a little?”

Ava shrugged and stared at the door Dr. Roth had disappeared through.

“How nutritious,” Maggie whispered as Ghost passed her.

“Doesn’t matter,” he whispered back. “Sugar’s better than nothing. When did she eat last?”

Maggie shook her head; she didn’t know. Ava had gone to sleep in the chair last night, after their arrival, and roused only in time to see Mercy off to the OR. That had been hours ago. During that time, Aidan had headed back to the clubhouse to catch some sleep, Tango had dropped by with coffee, and Ava’s doctor had released her, assuring that her head was fine, and giving strict instructions about her shoulder.

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