My eyes widened.
“We’ve been trying to take down Sebastian Arnett—better known as Blaise—for some time now, but he’s very well-protected. We decided the only way to do that was for someone to infiltrate his security. I’ve spent years working my way into his inner circle, enough to become one of his most trusted colleagues. All the while, I’ve been gathering information to take him down. He’s extremely crafty, though, and knows how to cover his tracks. It’s why he’s been able to undermine the law for so long.”
“Wha…What…?”
“What happened?” he asked for me.
I nodded.
“I shot Felix and Blaise shot you before I could disable him. I should’ve taken him out first, but his gun was still holstered so I didn’t think he’d be a problem. I ended up shooting him in the arm and leg to disable him until backup could arrive. You then became my priority. The shot he got off landed in your shoulder, but it was near a major artery. You’re lucky it missed it, and your lung. But there was a lot of blood, so I applied pressure and waited for the medics to arrive.” He nodded to my right shoulder. It was then that I realized it was now in a sling, unlike before…
“Yeah,” he said, like he could read my thoughts, “the doctors taped you down good after your…episode,” he chuckled, “and you’ll have to wear the sling for a while. But you’re lucky to be alive, so I don’t think it’s too much of a trade. And you’ll have a pretty cool scar.”
I didn’t care about my shoulder. Or a scar. Or even being alive.
All I cared about was knowing if Ari was okay.
“Ar—” I tried to speak again, but it was impossible. My throat hurt like a hot iron had been shoved down it, and it was dry from lack of water, which didn’t help the situation.
“Ariella?” Brian lifted a brow. “She’s fine. Her wrists are a little banged up, and I think she’s mentally spent, but physically she’s fine. She was only kept overnight while you’ve been here two days. She’d be here now with you, but she’s being questioned by another agent.” He took a breath. “I know this is a lot to process, and we’ll speak more later, but for now I’ll let you rest and see your parents. I think you have some friends waiting to see you too.”
I nodded, surprised by how much effort it took for such a simple gesture.
Brian left the room and my mom took my hand.
“Oh, Liam, I’m so happy you’re okay. When we got the call from Ollie, we thought…we thought you were gone. He didn’t know anything except that you’d been shot and were in surgery.” She pressed her shaking fingertips to my face. “I already lost one baby, I can’t lose my other.” She bawled. “Don’t you ever scare me like that ever again.”
If I could’ve laughed, I would’ve.
With my arm that wasn’t strapped down, I reached over and took her hand in mine, holding it to my chest in a silent gesture to tell her I was okay.
She bent and pressed a kiss to my forehead and then moved away, letting my dad stand beside me.
I’d seen my dad happy. Angry. Sad. Pretty much every way, but I’d never seen him look so helpless as he stared down at me lying in the hospital bed.
He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but instead of words, a gut-wrenching sob came out and he began to cry.
That was another thing—I’d never seen my dad cry.
He tentatively reached out to hug me, careful of my shoulder, and I felt his tears soak into the thin hospital gown.
I didn’t know what to do, but I found my free hand moving on its own accord to pat his back, trying to tell him that I was okay.
I felt terrible.
I couldn’t imagine how my parents must have felt getting that call—getting on a plane and flying all the way across the country, not knowing if your son was alive. It had to be a painful experience as a parent.
Eventually, my dad let me go and my mom handed him a tissue so he could wipe his face. Wordlessly, he gathered her into his arms and kissed her forehead before they both looked down at me like they were trying to remind themselves that I was alive and well.
“Ollie wants to see you. We’ll give you two a chance to talk.” She smiled, and her lips trembled a bit with the gesture. “We’ll be back soon.”
They left the room and a few minutes later there was a light knock on the door before it swung open slowly.
“Hey, man.” Ollie tried to smile, but it didn’t meet his eyes. He looked wary, and not at all like himself. His eyes boasted dark circles, the scruff on his cheeks was thicker than normal, and his wild hair was tied back in a bun that was half falling out. Even his tanned skin seemed to have lost some color. He closed the door behind him and walked up to the end of my bed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. His black t-shirt hung loosely and his shoulders sagged. “This is some crazy shit,” he finally said.
I nodded. There was nothing else I could do.