Beautiful Bounty(93)

She cleared her throat. He looked at her strangely as she tried to sit up in her panic. “Where is he? Nikko?” He pushed her back down firmly, eyes revealing her worst fear.

“He’s in the other ambulance on the way to the hospital. He lost a lot of blood, baby girl, but it was a clean shot through the shoulder. No vital organs,” he told her.

He’d been shot. She hadn’t dreamt it all. Her stomach churned. Despite Gio’s assurances, his face revealed he was just as fearful and worried as she.

“Is he going to be okay?” she asked again needing more.

“Ronnie,” he started and faltered.

She could tell from his tone he was trying to be patient with her. He’d probably rather be in the other ambulance with his brother, but someone had to ride with her.

“I’m not going to lie. He lost a lot of blood, but the paramedics are with him now, and they are giving him IV fluids to increase the blood volume. We’ll know more. . .” he stopped short and glanced towards the front of the ambulance. “We’re almost there,” he patted her hand. He looked tired and twice his age of thirty-one.

She knew he must be incredibly worried about his brother, but she was too. Yes, this was his brother, but she loved him. Sudden guilt overwhelmed her and the tears came, silent but they came.

“I should have told him I loved him,” she choked out, feeling like her whole world dropped out from under her.

“Yes, you should have,” he agreed and dropped her hand suddenly.

Ronnie felt lost. If something happened to Nikko she didn’t think she could take it.

The ambulance continued on for another interminable minute. The siren, the only sound, blaring above them as it sped towards the hospital, and Nikko.

She couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Andreas? Blaze?” she asked wanting to know if they were okay.

“Andreas is in the other ambulance with Nikko. They left a minute or so before we did. And Blaze was with the cops who were picking up Gary. He’ll drive to the hospital with the rental when they are done questioning him. There will be cops at the hospital Ronnie, for you. They’ll probably take you in until we get this all cleared up.”

“Take me in? But I want to be with Nikko,” she winced as she tried to sit up again. He pushed her back done once more. Tears started to form in her eyes. She couldn’t go to jail, not without knowing Nikko would pull through. “Please, can you convince the police to let me stay until we know something?” she begged, grasping for his hand.

He sighed, but gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises.” He was looking toward the front of the ambulance again and he let her hand drop. “We’re here,” he announced. Her stomach felt like she swallowed lead.

“Gio let me sit up, please, just to see if I can see him being wheeled in. Please!” He looked at her more kindly this time, but she couldn’t blame his earlier looks of disapproval. He, hell, all the brothers, probably blamed her for this. Nikko would never have been in this situation if it hadn’t been for her.

He shrugged and relented. She sat up quickly and her head swam with the sudden movement, but she was just able to get a glimpse of Nikko being wheeled into the double bay doors. She noticed his arm, the one with the IV tubes in it giving him precious fluids to keep his heart pumping, and that was her last sight of him. Again, she felt woozy and had to lie back down. Her opportunity to have it all seemed lost, and this time it was her fault. Her biggest regret was not telling Nikko she loved him too.



***



It felt like he had cotton in his mouth, and his head pounded like someone hit it with a sledge hammer. He winced and slowly opened his eyes, quickly shutting them at the glare of overhead lights, bright. Too bright. He winced and let out a groan.

“Nicky?” He heard Andreas and felt something on his right shoulder, and opened his eyes just a crack, revealing his brother blocking out the painful light.

“Yeah,” he muttered past the cotton.

“So glad you’re awake little brother.” He heard Andreas, and his voice sounded thick.

“What happened?” he muttered trying to get up, and felt a shooting pain in his left shoulder.

“Don’t move, Nikko,” Andreas cautioned. “That bastard, Gary, shot you. You got out of surgery an hour ago. You lost a lot of blood, so you don’t want to open that up.”

Andreas had been beside himself with worry. He couldn’t take losing another family member. He’d lost his parents, the woman he was going to marry, and now this. He had been relieved as hell when the doctors came out of surgery and announced what the paramedics reported. A clean shot. The orthopedic surgeon on call put in a few pins to help the healing process, but with some therapy he would regain use of his arm and shoulder. Then, finally they’d let him come into the recovery room to see for himself.