Page 83 of Fixate
Humming along to Pip’s insight, I watched the road ahead of us. It wasn’t a long drive to the hospital, just a daunting one. The entire way there, I wondered if I was going to lose him. Would this be the end before we really got started?
I wanted a life with Ricardo. My boy deserved the happiness he should have been granted years ago. And I wanted to be the one to give it to him.
I would be as soon as he woke up. We were going to live our lives as loudly as possible moving forward. If that meant a ring and a wedding, then so be it. If it meant holding hands and taking it slower until he was ready, I’d also agree to that too. Whatever he wanted, so long as he was mine.
“Boss,” Pip said, dragging me back to reality. “We’re here.”
I blinked to find we were in the parking lot of the emergency room. Nodding, I climbed from the vehicle and took off to the doors. Pip’s steps echoed behind me, a forced sound to let me know he had my back. The man could be invisible when he wanted. I had no doubt this was all for me.
A desk sat right inside the door. The smiling woman behind it frowned when she saw us. “Are you hurt?”
“No. I need to see the man that just came in via ambulance. He had a stab wound.”
Her gaze was understanding as she clicked away at something on the computer. “Let me just check — oh yes. Ok, he’s actually in surgery right now. If you’ll just have a seat.I’ll have the doctor tell you something as soon as they’re done. Would you like some scrubs to change into, sir?”
I looked down at myself, noticing all the blood I wore. My chest ached at the stains.
“Yes, please,” I answered cordially despite wanted to rant and cry about Ricardo’s status.
Hopefully the doctor would have information for us soon. I didn’t want to have to use my name here like I did for other places. I would in an instant if it were a matter of Ricardo’s care. But waiting meant I needed to have some patience.
As she handed over the scrubs and led me to a bathroom, Pip took a seat in one of the empty chairs of the waiting room. Being it was a Vegas hospital; the place was packed. None of them seemed to notice the wolf lurking amongst them though.
A few minutes later, I was clean and changed, my former clothes balled up in a bag along with my gun. There was no hiding the piece with these thin scrubs I had on. Besides, Pip had enough on him to take down any threat that arose.
And I knew they would.
Maybe not here and now, but there were clearly players out there who wanted me out of the picture. They wanted to see me lose my shit, possibly destroying everything I’d built after losing Ricardo.
Sadly, they almost won. There’s no doubt in my mind I would have done just as they planned had we not gotten my boy into an ambulance and here.
Of course, there was still a chance he wouldn’t make it. I hated knowing that was even possible, yet, as a realist, I acknowledged this could very well be the true start to my villain origin story.
I might not have been the most strait-laced man before this, but if Ricardo didn’t make it, they’d see just how bad I could truly be.
“Boss,” Pip said, drawing my attention.
Somehow, I’d managed to sit beside him without realizing it. I had no idea how much time had passed, only that we still didn’t know anything yet.
“Yes, Pip?”
“Sorry I wasn’t there for him.”
I turned to face him. His frown was enough to let me know he was feeling some guilt over not being there. Or as close to guilt as he could. I suspected emotions were hard for him. Outside of the glee he felt while hurting others, Pip was a fortress.
“You don’t need to apologize. It wasn’t your fault someone thought they could take something from me,” I said firmly. “If you still feel some sort of guilt after this, then put all the effort you can into helping me hunt. That will make it right.”
He nodded swiftly, then stood. “I’m going to get some coffee. You need the boost.”
Before I could say a word, he took off down the hall. I watched his retreating form for a moment before deciding it was finally time to make the call I was dreading. While I could have waited for an update to call Dante, I knew he’d be furious if I waited any longer to let him know his friend was hurt.
“Pharrell,” Dante said by way of answering his phone. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”
I sighed as I looked around the waiting room. It held an eclectic blend of people, some obviously sick and injured, and then others who looked like me — the person waiting for some kind of news.
“Ricardo is in surgery,” I started. “He was stabbed at the casino when the fire alarms went off.”
The sound of heavy breathing echoed over the line. It was followed by Dante’s ice-cold tone.
