Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Could Samson still be alive?
I don’t want to allow myself to even hold hope because it’ll be even more crushing if it isn’t the case...but...miracles do happen. They happen every day. Look at me, I never thought I’d be here, I never thought this would be how my life ended up after I was given to that monster, but here I am.
Do I dare hope?
Bohdi starts making calls, and we all wait with baited breath as he hangs up from each hospital with a shake of his head. It’s the last hospital he calls that he turns towards the window and starts speaking in a low voice. Then, he hangs up and turns towards us. “There is a man in critical condition in surgery right now that matches his description.”
“Let’s move,” Alarick says. “Bohdi, you and Mykel stay here and keep an eye on that fuck. Girls, go back to your room and let that poor girl rest. We’ll keep you updated.”
I nod and help Briella and Merleigh take Lilian from the room. They take her to another room while I stop and glance at Cohen, who is pacing up and down the hall, anger in his eyes, tension in his body. I walk towards him, taking the risk that he might lose it at me, and reach out when I get to him and take his face in my hands. “There is a man in the hospital matching Samson’s description. He’s in surgery. They’re going to see him now.”
Cohen’s eyes widen, and he murmurs in a low, broken tone. “Is it him?”
“I hope so.”
“Fuck,” he exhales. “I can’t take this feelin’, Aviana.”
“I know, honey. I know you can’t.”
“It fuckin’ hurts. Feels like my damned heart is bein’ torn from my chest.”
“I know,” I say softly, leaning up to kiss him. “Go with them, see if it’s him. Stay by his side. I love you.”
The words come out without thought, and I stiffen. I didn’t expect those feelings to even be real, let alone those words to come out so naturally, but they did, and they feel...well...okay. Perhaps I’ve always loved Cohen. Perhaps the anger has simmered down and let those emotions free? I don’t know. All I know is that at this moment, I mean it one hundred percent.
“You love me?” he asks, his eyes searching my face.
“I do, yes.”
It’s the truth.
The beautiful truth.
“Fuck,” he murmurs, leaning in to kiss me. “Love you too, babe.”
Shit.
Those words.
They hit me right in the feels.
I have to fight a whole lot harder to keep those tears at bay now.
“Go,” I say, my voice croaky. “Go and be with him.”
Cohen kisses me again, and then he’s gone.
This day has been both the worst and, weirdly, the best...
Today, I started to find myself again.
Today, I began to remember who I am.
Today, I fully found my freedom.
22
NOW – COHEN
“He’s in critical condition. We don’t know if he’ll make it through the night, let alone the next twenty-four hours. If he does, his chances are a lot higher. If he doesn’t, you’ll have to consider the chance that he won’t wake up from this. He was in a bad way. He had been shot eight times, yet only one of those shots hit his lung. We were able to repair that, but he had severe internal bleeding and serious damage to his body. He took a hard hit to the head, which has caused significant swelling. You need to be aware that the chances are incredibly high that he won’t come out of this alive. If he does, he may very well be a different man to the one you know.”
We stare at the doctor, hearts in our fucking throats.
It’s Samson. The man they just operated on. Alarick was able to look and confirm for them and give them some information on him.
It’s not looking good.
The doctor doesn’t believe he’ll pull through.
Fucking terrifying thought, considering he knows what he’s talking about.
Samson is a fighter, strong, and fucking determined, but can you fight past eight fucking bullet wounds?
I’ll find whoever shot him.
I’ll fucking kill them if they’re not already dead yet.
“Thank you,” Alarick says. “When can we see him?”
“You can see him one at a time, very briefly. He needs the rest.”
Alarick nods, and the doctor leaves, telling us he’ll keep us updated. Alarick goes in to see Samson first. Kendric and I sit, both of us staring at the fucking bland hospital walls, neither of us saying a damned thing. He’s our brother. He did the wrong thing by the club, betrayed our trust, but he’s our fucking family, and he didn’t deserve the shit he was put through.
I don’t fucking pray, but right now, I’m pleading with whoever is listening to let my brother live.
Let him see his daughter.
Let him piece his life back together again.