Page 116 of Ruthless Vengeance
She nods, running ahead of me out of the house to open up the back door of the SUV.
Fear is written all over her face as she looks at Andre, but so is determination.
We can’t afford to fall apart.
My brother is still alive, and I have every intention of keeping it that way.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
CLARA
My hands are stainedwith Andre’s blood.
I apply pressure to Andre’s wound as Marco races us toward the nearest hospital.
I’ve watched enough medical dramas to know Andre isn’t doing well. The bleeding isn’t stopping, and it’s likely the bullet has done some damage to some of his internal organs. Even if we make it to the hospital, there’s no guarantee he’ll still make it.
Marco is driving like a maniac, but I can’t help but fear that it won’t be enough, that Andre will bleed out right here in the back of this car.
If it wasn’t for the slight rise and fall of Andre’s chest beneath my hands, I would have thought we had already lost him.
My heart pounds so hard it makes my chest ache, and the silence in the car is deafening.
Marco hasn’t said a single word, and his body is so tense he looks like he’s been carved from stone.
When we finally make it to the hospital, Marco abandons the car in the ambulance bay and jumps out of the car. Only then does he start shouting for help as he comes around to lift Andre into his arms.
Time that seemed to have been moving through molasses, is put on fast forward as nurses rush to our aid.
We must look a sight, both of us covered in blood with Andre’s unconscious body hanging limp in Marco’s arms.
One minute, Marco is lowering his brother onto a gurney and the next, Andre’s being rushed into emergency surgery.
My vision blurs as Andre is wheeled down the hall.
Marco stays by my side, his eyes cold and distant.
Neither one of us says anything, but the reality is we may never see Andre alive again.
The second the doors to the surgical floor swing shut behind Andre, Marco pulls out his phone and calls Lila.
I stay silent as he talks, not trusting myself to keep it together.
The last thing Lila needs is to hear me hysterically crying on the other end of the phone.
Marco keeps it brief as he tells Lila the news before informing her that he’s sending a guard to come get her and Rosa and bring them to the hospital.
He’s quiet as she replies, and I’m grateful that it’s not loud enough for me to hear.
I’m not sure I could handle Lila’s cries of pain as she learns her husband is barely clinging to life.
This is all my fault.
When Marco ends the call, he turns and looks at me for the first time since we arrived, as if he’s just remembered I’m here.
I open my mouth to speak, to apologize, to say something, but there are no words that I could say that would make him feel better. So, I snap my mouth shut again and hope that Marco can find it in him to forgive me for getting his brother shot.
He steps forward before cupping his blood-stained hand around the back of my neck, and I swallow a sob at the contact.
