Page 77 of Mischief Mayhem
I sniffed and cleared my throat, drinking down the last of my beer in blissful silence. Something tugged at my line, just a small nibble at first but gradually becoming more feisty, and that too was from my memory.
“Oh shit,” Trojan said, pushing to his feet so he could help me with the pole. “You got one.”
“I got one!” I shouted, rising to reel it back in. “I got it! I got it!” The words were still on my lips when I opened my eyes to a dark, blurry room with loud beeps in the background and a warm body next to me. Everything hurt—my ribs, my head, my legs. I couldn’t move, and when I tried, my companion stirred and sat upright.
“Hollywood?” came V’s soft voice as she lifted her head from the pillow next to me, peering down at me with those big violet eyes.
“I got it, V,” I told her, certain she would understand. “I got the fish.”
“Let me get the doctors,” she said, furrowing her brows.
“No.” I tightened my fingers around her hand in mine, hoping to keep her close. “No, stay with me.”
“Okay,” she said, relaxing again. “How are you feeling?”
I winced and swallowed against a dry sandpaper throat. “Is there water?”
She reached for the cup on the table next to the bed and held a straw to my lips, letting me have barely a sip before she pulled it away again.
“I’m not sure if you’re supposed to have any,” she said, running her fingers over my face. “I love you, Hollywood. You scared the shit out of me.”
“I love you,” I tried to say. “I’m sorry.”
“Me, too,” she said. “About what I said before you left. I was scared. I do trust you. I do. And I want everyone to know you’re mine. I want everyone to know how much we care about each other. I can’t stand the thought of losing you. Ever.”
I smiled, despite how drugged up I was and how hard my heart pounded. “Good.”
“Don’t almost die again,” she said. “You hear me? You’re not allowed to leave me. You and I are going to die at the same time, you understand? And not a fucking minute sooner.”
“That’s really fucking deep,” I said, pleased as warmth spread through me that had nothing to do with the morphine drip. That’s my fucking girl. Yeah, she was dark and gothy and would rather hiss at strangers than spark up a conversation, but I loved that about her. I loved everything about her, and I always fucking would. “I want you to be my old lady. Would you ride on the back of my bike?”
She leaned in to kiss me, delicately tracing her lips over my face before murmuring a quiet, “I’d ride with you anywhere, pretty boy.”
It was with her affection and adoration warming my heart that I fell back asleep. I didn’t dream of Trojan that time, and when I woke again, KC and Bear were on either side of my bed, talking over me like I wouldn’t hear it. Bear stood, but KC had been relegated to a wheelchair.
“Berkshire says the charges are heavy. The judge is unlikely to set a bail,” Bear said. “Dad’s stuck there until we can figure out a way out of this.”
“If there even is a way out,” KC said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“What happened?” I groaned, blinking my eyes open.
“Hey, there he is,” KC said, giving me a small grin. “You look like shit, but I’m glad you’re talking.”
“How do you feel?” Bear ran his hands back through his hair, but I noticed the dark, heavy bags under his eyes and the strain around his lips.
“You look like fresh, rotten hell,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” KC said, wheeling himself back as a team of doctors and nurses came in to check on my progress. They mumbled a bunch of medical shit I’d heard before. The bullets went clean through my chest and out the other side. I had a collapsed lung when they brought me in, not to mention the internal bleeding, but they managed to clear all that up. They wanted me out of bed and walking around to ensure I didn’t get clots, but as long as things held steady, I could go home tomorrow.
The nurse promised to return with the walker to help me do a lap, but after they left, I returned my attention to my brothers.
“Where’s V?” I asked. “Where’s Crow?”
Bear sighed and shook his head. “The Feds raided the clubhouse. The place is a fucking clusterfuck. We lost a lot of people when the Caputis attacked us. Slip, Coins, Picasso, just to name a few.”
“V’s making funeral arrangements,” KC added. “She’ll be back as soon as she can.”
“She hasn’t left your side, brother,” Bear said. “She really cares about you.”