I moved to the floor beside her and pressed my hand over the bleeding wound. My fingers and palm were soaked in her blood, and I realized how much of it she had already lost. That could only mean several organs were pierced…that was very bad news. “Annabella, you’re going to be fine. I just need you to stay with me, okay?” I lied to keep her calm, to make her remain positive so she was more likely to live. I scooped my hands underneath her body and lifted her as I rose to my feet.
Liam was a mess. He sobbed uncontrollably and was so upset he couldn’t do anything at all. Filled with self-loathing, he just stood there and watched me take her away. “Anna…I’m so sorry.”
I headed to the door, prepared to run down three flights of stairs to get her into the car. But I stilled when I heard Liam’s words.
“That bullet was meant for you…” He stood near my bed and didn’t know what to do with himself. He was overwhelmed by the grave mistake he’d just made.
I faced him, so livid I could barely breathe. “Then you should’ve aimed better.”
I got her to the hospital in record time and handed her over to the trauma team. Letting her go was so damn difficult because I was giving her to strangers, but they were the only people who could help her right now.
There was nothing I could do.
All I’d been focused on was getting there as soon as possible, and once that mission was complete, I had no other purpose.
Other than to wait.
The adrenaline never disappeared. It was still fresh in my veins. Sometimes I sat on the couch, sometimes I paced just to move, and I even read the newspaper without understanding a single word…all in an effort to pass the time. I was in a state of panic, waiting for news that I wouldn’t receive for a long time.
Unless she didn’t make it.
They took her to surgery right away without giving me much detail about their plan to help her. They had no idea the extent of the injury until they got their scans and opened her up, and they didn’t have time to waste telling me all those things. Their only option was to move as quickly as possible to fix the damage right then and there.
So I waited…and waited.
A lot of bad things had happened to me.
I’d lost my mom too soon. I’d lost my best friend over my stupidity. I’d killed people who were innocent, and I’d gotten my hands dirty more than I wished.
But this was definitely worse than all of those occasions.
Worst day of my fucking life.
I sat in the waiting room, and my heart continued to pound violently in my chest. At some point, I called Hades and told him what happened, but I couldn’t recall exactly what I said.
Just a blur.
Now, he was beside me, Sofia on the other side of me. They’d brought me a change of clothes since my sweatpants had been wet with Annabella’s blood. At first, they asked questions, and I answered in a dreamlike state. But then I turned quiet because my body couldn’t respond anymore.
Hades was silent for hours, but when the waiting room started to empty, he said something. “No news is good news.”
I stared at the linoleum beneath my feet. “Not sure if I agree with that.”
“It means she’s still alive. Otherwise, they would come out here and deliver the bad news. That means her heart is still beating, she’s still fighting, that she’ll pull through this.” He rested his arms on his knees with his hands together in front of him. He was in jeans and a t-shirt, probably throwing on whatever he could find after I called. It was late at night, eleven when I finally reached out to him.
Pretty sure he was asleep by nine.
So domesticated.
Sofia locked our fingers together, and she held me with a soft touch. “She’s going to be okay. I can feel it.”
“But if she’s not…” I had no idea what I would do if Annabella didn’t pull through. First things first, I would execute Liam. I wouldn’t honor her last wish to spare his life. But after my need for vengeance was satisfied, what would I do then? I’d finally found a woman I loved, and then she was gone. There wouldn’t be somebody else. Time wouldn’t heal that kind of pain.
Hades turned his gaze on me, watching the side of my face. He didn’t give me false promises or try to make me feel better with unrealistic hope. “Whatever happens, it wasn’t your fault.”
I pulled my hand away from Sofia’s. “None of this would’ve happened if I’d just killed him…” I didn’t have a lot of regrets in life, but now that was at the top on my list. Even if Annabella came out of this relatively unscathed, she shouldn’t have been forced to endure it in the first place. I should’ve done my job and protected her. I shouldn’t have allowed her feelings to complicate the situation. Liam had always been an enemy, and I should’ve killed him like all my other enemies.