Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Everything I did was futile. My whole arrangement with Bracer, shooting Puck…
I take deep breaths of air not yet stained with death. But I know all too well what happens to a body after a while. I refuse to see him that way. Without Road, none of my plans make sense. Those dreams of making him breakfast, a place of our own, evenings on the couch, and fucking each other’s brains out until we’ve melted into one only worked with him in the picture.
No one else will do. No one else would understand me and my life the way a fellow biker can. The way he could.
I pull out the gun I was intending to threaten my uncle with if push came to shove. It might have also served as protection if needed. Now it will take me to Road.
Peace comes over me as I take a deep breath and pull his arm around me.
It’s awkward with him on the couch and me kneeling by it, but I don’t want to drag him off it. He deserves to be comfortable. I press my face to his chest, and the gun under my chin.
“It won’t be long now,” I whisper to him, but right as I’m about to pull the trigger, I hear the faintest heartbeat.
Chapter 34
Clyde
Am I imagining things?
Tears keep flowing as I stare at Road’s masculine features, touch his stubbly chin, wipe a dirt stain off his crooked nose, but when I rub my sleeve against the foaming spit, a rasp leaves his throat, so faint I could have only heard it from up close.
Elation weaves into guilt and fear already present inside me, and I slap his cheek before shaking Road hard. “Are you there, Road? What the hell did you take?” I ask and grab the empty baggie, before stuffing it down my pocket.
He’s unresponsive, but when I sense a faint pulse where my fingertip digs into his neck, hope flares up, and I circle him with my arms. “You need help. The hospital. They’ll help you there.”
Is it a bad idea? Will I be seen there? Possibly by my aunt? Yes, yes, and yes, but am I gonna take him there because of the faint possibility that he will be brought back to me? There isn’t even a sliver of doubt in my mind.
My heart beats like mad, and I talk to him as I go through the painful and unpleasant process of making him vomit as much as he’s able to. He’s not lucid through any of it, but at least I’m now sure he’s alive.
The next step is securing him to me on the bike with both our belts, so we don’t both fall over and die in an accident instead of getting to the hospital. I feel like I’m trapped in a puddle of tar, every movement too slow when I want to rush and get help. Precious minutes tick away, but then I’m finally speeding down a forest road, holding my man tight as his head lolls from side to side.
The ride is tough, filled with worries about his limbs hitting something, but it’s nothing in comparison to carrying his limp body. Now all I’ve got to do is not crash before we reach the local hospital. It’s not far, and I switch on the long headlights, tearing through the cool air like a knife. Thoughts turn into a steady flow of prayer, even though I don’t believe in any gods. It takes me a while to realize it’s Road I’m addressing, but once that happens, an antsy peace settles in my heart, because I know he would do anything in his power to stay. To be fine. To be there for me now that I need him so very much.
The miles separating us from the ER fall away, as if we’ve crossed the sound barrier, traveling impossibly fast, but then I’m arriving at the entrance, and dragging his limp body on my back. He’s so damn heavy, but even the creak in my spine won’t stop me from getting him the help he needs.
People stare, but I’ve made the choice to come here and reveal myself in public. The very thing I’m not supposed to do. But what’s the alternative? Dropping Road in front of the hospital and driving off? I can’t risk him being treated like trash.
“Help! He’s overdosed on something. He needs to be seen right now!” I yell, making myself even more of a spectacle.
It’s late, and only a couple of people are present. In any other situation, I’d be ashamed to make so much noise in the middle of the night, but only minutes might be separating Road from the point of no return, and I don’t care if anyone laughs at my desperation.
“Clyde!”
My heart stops, because of course she just has to be working this night shift, the one nurse I did not want to encounter.