Page 31 of Fixate

Instinctively, I smile through the panic at hearing her, but then my legs jerk again, making me fall to one knee. My toes are drawing up so tight the pain is almost unbearable, and I can’t help but let out a low grunt. “Urgh!” I grumble as my calves twitch, but I can’t fight it, dropping to the concrete.

“Hoodoo!” Hurricane shouts.

“I’m okay,” I call back, spittle flying out my mouth as I lay on the concrete. My legs spasm so bad the pain shoots through me and rivals my back pain that intensely I don’t think I’ll ever complain about my back again. “Novikov… he said…urgh!” I moan as another spasm hits. “He said… he hasn’t forgotten what we did to his campsite. And that… this was only a taste of what’s to come…fuuuck!”I groan as the spasms move up my spine. I shouldn’t have spoken so soon about my back pain because this is so much fucking worse as I push my back out in an attempt to ease the pressure.

But it’s not working.

The door to the clubhouse is pushed open, and Maxxy is standing there with Ingrid and Hurricane holding her back. “Jesus…Hoodoo!”

Gritting my teeth due to the insufferable pain, I fling my hand up to signal her to stop. “No! Get… back,” I yell. The jerking of my body makes my voice sound strange even to me.

Finally, the sounds of sirens filter through the air.

“Let me help you,” she cries out.

“If you touch me… this will happen… to you too. I can’t… let that happen. So…please,Maxxy…” I pant, my breaths harsh and fast, “… stay inside.”

She lets out a frustrated grunt and storms back inside as a weak smile crosses my face. She can’t help but be the angry, beautifully frustrated woman she is, and it only makes her more appealing to me.

“Hey, can anyone open this gate?” someone calls from the other side of the clubhouse gates.

I glance over to see what looks like the top of a fire engine and multiple men standing in hazmat suits. “You’ll have to break the lock,” I call back as another spasm hits, this time far more powerful than the last. The pain rips through my entire body, making lights flash before my eyes. My body flings back on the concrete, my muscles tensing with so much pain I can hardly think.

Sounds are muffled.

My airway is constricted.

And I am jerking and shuddering uncontrollably.

My eyes open to a light flashing in my eyes, and I see two figures standing over me—men in hazmat suits—one is placing a mask over my face, but I can’t control my breathing enough to keep my eyes open.

The light fades.

The pain takes over…

… so much pain.

Then everything turns black.

CHAPTER NINE

Maxxy

My stomach rolls as I stand back, pacing the clubhouse.

The sounds of the emergency services hosing down outside and decontaminating everything while people question Hurricane grates on my last nerve. Murmurs of strychnine filter through the commotion, and it takes everything I can to remain calm.

I want to know if Hoodoo is going to be okay.

Yeah, he aggravates me, and yes, I treat him like he’s a bane of my existence, but the guy kind of grows on you. And seeing him writhing in pain like that has done something. I’m unsure what, but I have this innate need to be near him right now.

Goddammit!I fold my arms over my chest and continue to pace as Ingrid steps up to my side, placing her hands on my shoulders and halting my movements. “Maxxy, darling, you need to stop. You’re wearing a hole in the floor.”

I do exactly that and stop dead still, then let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Ingrid… what if he…” I pause because I don’t dare say it.

She grimaces and pulls me to her in that motherly way she always does. “Don’t think like that. He’s as strong as they come and knew exactly what to do. He took off the clothes he could and washed himself down, which is what the officers said he should have done. He dideverythingto give himself the best chance. We simply have to wait for the medics to help him now. And once they transport him to the hospital, Aubree will take good care of him.”

Slumping my shoulders, I glance around the clubroom, seeing all of Frankie and Lani’s cooking going to waste. “I can’t believe this is happening, especially on Christmas Day.”

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