Page 115 of As Thick As Thieves

“But she—”

“She needs to be monitored properly. She could risk organ damage or die. Take her to the hospital, man. I fucking mean it.”

I clung to Drake as he nodded and made his way out into the cold, night air, and he’d hardly started driving before I passed out.

Drake

I’d never been this scared before. Stone was currently in surgery, and we’d been warned to prepare to say goodbye. The bullets had hit vital organs, meaning if he did pull through, he would have a long road to recovery.

The three of us were sitting in Penn’s room, anxiously waiting for her to wake up. She’d scared the fucking shit out of me when she’d passed out in the car and I couldn’t wake her. As much as the Donovans had better pull at the hospital in Ashburn Valley, they managed to secure private rooms in Kingslake’s hospital, which was probably what saved Stone from dying on the ambulance ride over. If they’d had to take him to Ashburn Valley, he wouldn’t have lasted the trip.

My hand was in Penn’s, my other in Knox’s as he sat on my other side. Cruz was half asleep in a chair on the opposite side of the bed, his hand in hers as he rested his head on his arm on the mattress beside her. He was covered in Stone’s blood, but he refused to go home and change. He wanted to be here the moment Stone got out of surgery.

The door opened and Cruz’s head shot up, the doctor giving us a small smile as she closed the door behind her for privacy.

“Mr. Barrett is out of surgery and it went well. There was damage to his bladder and kidney, and luckily, the bullets just missed his spine. He’ll have to stay here for a while and remain hooked up to a catheter, but with rest and monitoring, we expect a full recovery. You’ve got yourself a fighter.”

I sagged in relief, but Cruz got to his feet. “Can I see him?”

“He’s not awake yet. Leave him to rest for now, and I’ll let you know when he’s ready for visitors,” she replied, running her eyes over the machines that Penn was hooked up to and checking her chart before excusing herself again.

Cruz kicked his shoes off, not giving a shit as he climbed onto the bed beside Penn and got comfortable, being mindful of her IV line and monitor. He looked as bad as they did, so I wasn’t surprised when he was asleep within minutes.

“C’mon, let’s go get some coffee,” Knox murmured, and I shook my head.

“I don’t want to leave her.”

“Babe, she’ll be fine. Let her and Cruz nap while we stretch our legs. We should fill Beckett in on the update too, she’s probably still in the waiting room,” he replied, and I sighed before untangling my fingers from Penn’s to allow Knox to pull me to my feet.

He was right, Beckett was in the waiting room with Zavier who almost knocked me over when he saw me. “Are they okay?”

“Yeah, Penn’s sleeping, and Stone just got out of surgery. He’ll be stuck in here for a while but he should be fine,” I mumbled into his shirt as he hugged me tightly in a death grip.

“Maddox said she was practically naked when you guys found her. Did he—” He didn’t finish the sentence, but I knew what he meant. We’d all thought the same thing until the doctor confirmed Penn had only sustained a bullet wound to her arm and a shitload of shock, as well as a few hits to the face. There was no sign of sexual trauma.

“No, she’s okay,” I promised, patting his back and stepping into Knox’s side.

“It was Owen all along? Did Penn say anything before passing out?” Beckett asked, dropping into a seat. “The house has pictures of Penn’s sister all over the place like a fucking shrine, but didn’t she die when Penn was really young?”

Knox nodded, sitting beside her and tugging me onto his lap, not giving a fuck about the dirty looks from the couple sitting across the room. “Emily was fifteen when she committed suicide. Her death records seem legit, but I can’t find much of a trail between Emily and Owen. As far as Penn knew, they weren’t connected. Penn met Owen because she started sneaking out of Kingslake and going to the gym.”

“Maybe they weren’t connected, and Owen’s just a creepy bastard who was obsessed with Emily? Maybe that’s why he snapped with Penn?” Beckett suggested, the idea not being too far-fetched.

“Hopefully he said something to Penn about it before we killed him,” I said, itching to get back to Penn. Knox could sense me fidgeting, and he let out a sigh.

“Penn and Cruz are both asleep, but you’re welcome to come and poke your head in if you want to see her.”

Zavier nodded, and Beckett shrugged as she motioned for us to walk and they’d follow. She made it obvious she wasn’t Penn’s number one fan, but she wasn’t a complete cold bitch towards her. Penn had proven she wasn’t a prissy Kingslake princess, so Beckett had accepted her in some weird kind of way.

Cruz was still sleeping beside her when we walked in, and we spent the next hour just watching both of them sleep, Beckett glued to her phone in the corner. I was exhausted, too, but there was no way I could leave until Penn left with me.

I wasn’t letting her out of my sight ever again.

Cruz

Beeping woke me, and I was surprised to find Zavier and Beckett here, deep in conversation about fuck knows what. I heard Owen’s name mentioned and something about his death being too fast, guilt hitting me that it hadn’t been faster. If I’d been one or two seconds faster with getting inside that cabin, then Stone and Penn wouldn’t have ended up in the hospital.

“Hey,” Drake murmured, drawing their attention to me as I yawned.

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