ZERO(The Skulls, 6)(15)

“He killed Trevor. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes. There was nothing either of them could do. Alan was going to play his game. “Could you do me a favor and phone the school to let them know it’s going to be a few weeks before I return? I’m not going to risk him hurting the children, and it’s not like I can go back.”

“He’s capable of anything.”

She watched him pull out his cell phone. “Who are you calling?”

“Tiny and the club. They need to know he was here.”

“Why?” she asked.

“He got past Blaine without anyone knowing and the security at the hospital. Not only did he do that, but he was able to hurt you when no one was around. I don’t accept shit like that.”

She was touched by his caring. The nurse bustled into the room, glanced at Zero and clucked her tongue. “You don’t use that here.”

Zero glared.

“Go make your call.” Prue was petrified at being alone. Alan had been in her life twenty-four hours, and she was already scared to be alone. How pitiful was that?

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I need to learn to be alone again.”

He moved to her bedside, leaning down to kiss her temple. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

She watched him leave the room as the nurse started working around her, reading her charts and taking her blood pressure. Prue stayed silent, closing her eyes as the fright began to grip her.

He’s not here. He’s not coming for me.

Prue knew it would only be a matter of time before he came for her. Whatever Alan was planning it wasn’t going to be nice.

“You’ll be moving to a ward later today,” the nurse said.

“Okay.”

“Your man, he shouldn’t be here. We’ve got visiting hours for a reason.”

The woman walked away, leaving the clipboard on the end of her bed.

Didn’t stop a maniac from coming to my room, fucking bitch.

This was the first time she’d been in the hospital for any length of time.

“Tiny and the boys will be here soon. You’re moving to a ward?”

“Yeah, the nurse was a bit of a bitch.”

“Don’t trust the nurses.” He took a seat on her bed, smiling down at her.

“I bet you’ve fucked all the nurses here.”

“Not all of them.” He frowned. “Is there a man at your place I need to get in touch with? I’d hate for someone to be worried.”

“No, there’s no man.” She had been with two men in her whole life. The first guy hadn’t lasted a week after taking her virginity before Trevor got a hold of him. After him, there was a guy who worked at a bar, but apart from the lust there was nothing else between them. She loved sex, yet she wanted something more, something deeper. Sex as an act could be quite boring without the passion. Maybe she was fucked in the head. A lot of people could fuck without needing something more.

“I’m surprised. I thought there’d be loads of men knocking at your door.”

“I’ve not been in a relationship in a long time. Trevor saw to that when we were younger. Any guy knocking on the door and he sent them away. Getting older, I’ve not had the time or desire to be with anyone.” She stopped, biting her lip. Thinking about Trevor always left her filled with pain. Never a moment went by when she didn’t think about him. Being around Zero reminded her of what she’d lost. The only other guy she’d been with since Trevor’s death was the guy at the bar, and she’d only gone to him to scratch an itch.

“I miss him, too,” he said. “I tried to get him to join The Skulls with me. He said he had other plans.”

“We both know what other plans he had.” She gasped at the pain his absence brought. “I can’t talk about him. It hurts too much.”

Zero took her hand, brushing some hair off her face. “We’ll get through this. He would kill me for what I let happen to you.”

“What did happen to me?” she asked, staring down her body then at the machines.

“Someone drove by and shot you. No one else was killed or hurt.” Zero hung his head. “I was so fucking stupid. I shouldn’t have come to you when I did.”

She knew he was referring to the time he had to hide out from another MC group, The Darkness, she recalled. His visit had been the highlight of her year even though he’d spent most of the time worried about his club.

“No, you don’t get to blame yourself for what happened. You needed me, and we both promised each other to be there for each other.”

“I could have gone anywhere else.”