SCARLET
He’s dying, I think to myself, my blood-soaked hands gripping the ambulance bench. He’s fucking dying, and I can’t do anything about it.
The two paramedics swarmed around him in the cramped space, pushing me out of the way each time I tried to grab his hand or rub his leg. I just wanted some form of contact, something to let him know there was someone with him that loved him.
“Touch me one more fucking time, asshat, and I will rip your limbs from your body.”
The mousy paramedic with the already wide eyes regarded me with terror in his blown pupils. He quickly withdrew his hand from my arm and went back to work, swallowing so loudly that I could hear it over the sirens.
My fingers threaded through Seb’s, and even though he was out cold, I swore I felt his knobby knuckles squeeze back against my own. I felt a sob choke my throat, and I swallowed it down, refusing to cry when he was still alive. He was still there.
“Shit,” I heard the other one swear before the monitors started going off. Suddenly, they were both in action. The one I yelled at was filling a syringe while the other administered CPR.
“What’s going on?” I asked, standing up and hovering over him to see as best I could. “What the fuck is happening?” I yelled.
“He’s coding. Please, sit down, miss.” The one doing CPR gave me a look that had me falling back on the bench. I pulled my knees to my chest and ran my bloody hands through my hair. The events of the last forty-five minutes were swimming through my head faster than I could keep up.
Motshan. My father. Kenna screaming. Finn.
Seb.
The ambulance swung into the hospital, causing me to almost fall off my seat as Seb’s monitors began to calm down. Both paramedics shared a look between them that I chose to ignore. I didn’t want to know what the fuck that meant. I had a feeling I wouldn’t like the answer.
As they quickly climbed out of the rig, I made my way after them, running on wobbly legs through the emergency room entrance. All eyes turned to us as we made our way in, taking in my clothes and skin, both completely drenched in blood.
I choked back another sob as they pushed him through the double doors with big red letters that told me I couldn’t go any further. A nurse came up and wrapped her body around mine, stopping me in my tracks as I tried to follow them.
“You can’t go back there, love.”
I violently shook her off, not caring that she almost fell into the counter as I did.
“Stay the fuck away from me.” I looked into her frightened brown eyes and then walked outside, digging my phone out of my back jeans pocket, my hands shaking as I unlocked it and pressed Tristan’s name.
“We’re almost there, Scarlet,” he said as soon as he picked up.
“He coded in the ambulance,” I choked out. “And they took him back somewhere I wasn’t allowed to go. He was unconscious, and they wouldn’t let me hold his fucking hand, Tristan.” I was rambling, my words coming out in a waterfall like I couldn’t get them out quickly enough.
“We’re pulling in any moment, baby,” he tried to console me, but I could hear an edge to his voice that gave away his anxiety. “Has Finn come in? Did you see Finn?”
Finn was the last thing on my mind. I loved the kid, but I didn’t have it in my emotional range to care about anything or anyone else besides Seb. His pale face and cold hands flashed through my memory, and a pained whimper escaped my throat.
“No,” I finally managed. My hand came to my mouth, my brain wanting to chew on my nails before I remembered what they were covered in. A pathetic whimper came out of me. “Tell me he’s going to survive this.”
“He’s going to survive this.” His voice was strong and sure. I nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. “We’re pulling in.”
I locked the phone and shoved it back into my pocket. I looked around, wondering where they were going to come in, and decided to just sit on the cold-ass bench to the left of the emergency room doors. I pulled my knees to my chest, cradling my legs against my torso and resting my forehead on my knees.
Exhaustion racked through my body, causing tremors to roll through my muscles. If Seb died, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I couldn’t even comprehend life without him at that point. He had imprinted himself so deeply in my heart…I didn’t think it would work without him.
“Scar?” My head flew up at Tristan’s voice. He ran over to me, Elliot stalking behind him like an angry shadow. The relief that coursed through my body at seeing them both, knowing I wasn’t alone anymore, was almost painful.
My weak legs let me stand and take a step towards them before giving out. I fell face-first into Tristan’s chest as he caught me and held me tightly to him. His hands ran through my hair and down my back, trying to give me any bit of comfort he could.
“I’ll go get some information,” Elliot said, kissing the side of my hair before walking inside. I took a deep breath into Tristan’s chest before he bent down and lifted me into his arms. I fell apart, snotting and crying into his shoulder as he cradled me and sat down on the bench. Every single tear I had been holding in since Sebastian was shot and loaded into the ambulance came flying out of me.
“Poppet,” Tristan murmured against my hair. “Sweet girl.” The tenderness in his voice broke me even more. I wrapped my arms around his neck and wound my fingers through his hair. “I can’t promise you that everything is going to be okay. But do you really think Seb would leave you alone with us two?” He scoffed, and I couldn’t help but smile through the tears.
“He would never,” I joked, leaning back and letting Tristan wipe the tears from my cheeks.