“Please,” he whispers, his voice thick with tears.
Sebastian kisses the back of Marcus’ hand. “I’m right outside the door. Call when you’re ready.”
When everyone has cleared the room, I turn back to Marcus.
“You are going to be fine.” It’s all I can say. I need him to believe it too.
“Don’t tell the guys about this. I don’t want them to remember me being scared.”
“Fuck, Marcus,” I hiss. I lean over him and cradle his face in my hands. “You will not die. I will follow you right through those fucking pearly gates and drag your ass back so I can kill you myself. You’re my fucking soulmate. Don’t you even dare think about leaving me.”
“I’m scared, Jax.” He gasps for air as tears roll into my hands. “I’m so fucking scared.”
“I love you.” I press my forehead to his, and I can’t keep the tears back any longer. “I love you. I fucking love you, Marcus Reed. You hear me?” I stare deep into his eyes as he nods. “I love you, and you will pull through this. Do it for me. I’m too fucking selfish to lose you. I can’t live a life where you’re not in it. You’re in my fucking bones. Promise me you’ll fight. Fight for me.”
He grabs hold of my wrist, and with a shuddering breath, he whispers the words I need to hear.
“I promise, Jax. I’ll fight. I’ll fight because I want to be there for every minute of your life. I’ll fight with everything I have.”
He swallows hard, and his face crumbles under the emotion which only makes me cry harder.
“But if I don’t make it, don’t think it’s because I gave up. Don’t blame yourself, because I know you will. Don’t blame me for not fighting harder.”
“What the fuck do I do if you don’t make it?” I groan as the pain rips through me.
“You live,” he cries. “You fucking live for both of us. You live knowing I loved you … so fucking much.”
We both cry because no matter how good Leigh is, there’s a chance he won’t make it.
888
LEIGH
As Dr. Yang administers the anaesthetics, Sebastian holds Marcus’ hand. He presses a kiss to Marcus’ forehead and smiles warmly at him.
“I’ll be right here when you open those gorgeous eyes again,” he whispers as Marcus starts to go under.
Taking the scalpel, I look down at his chest.
This isn’t Marcus.
This is a patient.
He’s a patient.
I take a deep breath and make the skin incision, and cut through the layers of soft tissue. I open the sternum with a saw and cauterize arterial bleeding points on the underside of the sternum to minimize blood loss. We use sternal retractors to maximize exposure, and the second I see the beating heart, I take a deep breath and allow my mind to take over.
888
JAXSON
I sit in the waiting room, and I’m about to start chewing my nails when Ryan walks in.
“Sebastian called and said you might need some company.” He hands me a cup of coffee and sits down next to me.
“Thanks. I just wish I knew how it was going.”
“I don’t know much, but I’m sure he’s going to be okay.”