I don’t think I’ve ever heard more welcome words.
Hunter is still conscious and assures me he can walk with a simple nod, then actually manages to stand despite the flood of blood gushing from his stomach.
The next thing I know, he’s leaning on Trixie as she leads him towards the back door. I just start shooting at the crowd of Riders, the flashes blinding and the noise deafening, as I follow them.
The next thing I know, cool night air is on my face and what seems like a second after that, I’m behind the wheel of a beat-up pickup, gunning it out of the lot and down the dark country road as fast as it’ll go.
The sound of gunfire follows us.
Trixie is in the back wailing, Hunter in her arms. He’s no longer conscious.
“Don’t lose it now, Trixie. Keep pressure on his wounds,” I yell at her. “We’re almost at Sanctuary. Doc’ll fix him.”
She can fucking cry later.
As I’m afraid we all will.
* * *
I remember none of the ride to Sanctuary. I just remember driving here faster than I’ve ever driven anywhere, muscle memory and instinct guiding me.
We’re in the brightly lit lobby of the mansion now. Hunter is lying on his back on the black and white tile floor that’s covered in his blood. His face is white, his bare torso covered in blood, which is still gushing out almost black from the cuts in his stomach, despite Doc’s frenzied efforts to stop it.
Hunter’s mom, Roxie is on her knees beside him, sobbing silently, her face and hands covered with her son’s blood, except where her tears have washed it away. Cross is by her side, looking more shaken than I’ve seen him. His eyes hold none of their usual black steel they usually do as he watches Doc work, none at all.
Trixie is standing there too, shaking like a leaf. She’s still wearing only her skimpy stripper outfit, but she’s covered head to toe with Hunter’s blood. Fuck her! None of this would’ve happened if she just fucked off far away from here so he could forget her.
I don’t know how much time has passed since we got here. Not long enough for any of the brothers who weren’t already here to get here. I don’t know if Hunter is still alive. I don’t know anything anymore.
“We have to get him to a hospital,” Doc says. “I’ve stopped as much bleeding as I can, but this is beyond what I fix here.”
I help Cross carry Hunter to the car that’s already running outside, while Doc keeps pressure on the gushing wounds on his stomach and Roxie cradles his head.
“Will he be all right?” I ask.
Doc just glances at me and then Cross and doesn’t say anything.
“Stay here and tell the others what happened,” Cross tells me in a quiet voice once we put Hunter in the car.
I think he’s still breathing, I think I can see his chest rise and fall, but maybe I’m just seeing what I want to see.
And then the car is speeding away down the long driveway.
It’s about twenty minutes to the hospital from here. Ten if you go fast. Maybe.
“He’s not gonna die,” Trixie says through chattering teeth. “He can’t.”
“He can,” I snap at her, but she’s not even looking at me when I turn to glare at her. If it weren’t for her, none of this would’ve happened.
But also, if it weren’t for her, both me and Hunter would be dead right now. I’m trying real hard to remember that right now. Not that she’s even seeing me. Her eyes are still locked on the long and now empty driveway.
“I told him not to come see me,” she says in a shaky voice. “I told him to stay away.”
“You should stay away,” I bark at her. “You should’ve left a long time ago. You know he can’t.”
“Yes,” she says in a very faint voice and starts walking towards the truck I drove here.
“I’m going,” she adds. “Tell him… if he makes it… tell him… ”
Sobs overtake her again and she can’t calm down enough to say what she wanted to say. She just climbs in the truck, slams the door shut and drives off, zigzagging down the drive way because she’s probably crying again.
I’m glad she didn’t give me a message for Hunter. I wouldn’t have relayed it.
If he lives.
Which he probably won’t.