Lazarus (The Henchmen MC 7)

And that part of me shocked me out of my stupor and had me running down the alley, dropping down onto my knees and reaching for her, turning her onto her side, smelling booze. Jostling her body made her hand visible- a orange prescription bottle nestled in her palm, top gone.

I reached for it, finding 30's and feeling my guts twist again.

"Fuck," I growled, grabbing the sides of her face roughly to pinch her mouth open then shoving my fingers inside until her throat clenched and she started gagging.

As soon as I heard it, I yanked her upward so that she was sitting mostly on my lap but hunched forward as she started vomiting into the alley.

"Alright," I said, trying to keep my tone calm despite my swirling rush of feelings at the whole situation. "It's alright. You got to get it out," I told her as her sobs met her heaves.

"No!" she shrieked when I grabbed her face again and shoved my fingers inside.

But there wasn't time to coddle her.

There was no way I could justify taking the extra minute to explain that what she puked up was not nearly enough. She needed to be empty and even then, it could be bad.

She was choking before she could even take another breath, another rush of vomit meeting the ground.

"Alright," I said, voice calmer, more satisfied when, disgusting as it was to do, I looked down at the vomit and realized most of the pills hadn't even dissolved yet. "Come on," I added, hand going around her center and holding her to me as I got to my feet. "We have to get you to the hospital," I added, pulling her down the alley with me.

Her feet planted and her whole body went rigid. "No," she said, her head shaking almost violently. "No," she added again, more hysterically.

"Sweetheart, you just swallowed..."

"Not the hospital. Anywhere but the hospital," she added and I exhaled hard.

Anywhere but the hospital.

Right then.

That only meant one place.

"Alright, let's go," I said, half-pulling, half- carrying her to the street where two cabs were waiting outside of Chaz's, knowing some idiot would be getting too drunk to drive. I opened the back door to the front one, pushed the girl in, and called out my address.

Before we even pulled away from the curb, she was mostly-unconscious against me, making my muscles tense up, worried that not taking her to the hospital, even against her will, was the right call.

But before I could make up my mind, we were pulling up to my building and she was breathing fine and her pulse was a bit slow, but steady. So I paid the driver and got out, reaching inside to grab her and pull her up against my chest to carry her inside.

"Girlfriend had a bit too much, huh?" the driver said, trying to, I imagine, make the whole interaction a little less awkward.

A bit too much.

He had no idea.

"Yeah. Thanks, man. Drive safe," I said, kicking the door closed and going around the back of the building.

I settled her on my leg as I unlocked the door, almost sighing in relief when I didn't smell smoke in the common room. As much as I liked Barney, it was not the night that I wanted to answer questions.

I carried her up the stairs and into my apartment, straight through to my bathroom, dropping her down in the tub. I reached for her wallet which was looped around her wrist and tossed it out into the other room as I took her cell out of her pocket and did the same.

Then I reached for the water and turned it on- cold.

Until I was sure she was in the clear, I wanted her awake. If that meant she was raging at me about the ice cold water, then so be it. At least she was alive.

"What the..." she yelped, jumping as the water started to soak through her jeans and long-sleeve tee.

Her head twisted and her eyes found my face.

And it was the first good look I really got of her.

She was too fucking pretty to be OD'ing in a goddamn alley somewhere.

I knew from holding her that she was thin- a bit too thin actually. Which wasn't exactly uncommon for an addict. The face, though, fuck. She was delicate, all porcelain and there was a small, very understated smattering of freckles over the bridge of her knows. Her eyes were dark and framed with a ton of lashes, black, matching her brows and the hair that she kept short, just barely chin-length. And the chin, fucking cutest part of all, had a strong cleft in it- giving her an almost sweet overall look despite the shitty situation.

"What are you doing to me?" she asked, lips trembling slightly but she made no move to sit up or get away from the water.