“You need to get your shit under control,” she said between gritted teeth. “Beth will come in that door any minute. Lily will not be happy to have her sister upset any more than she already is. So calm your ass down.”
Shade found himself listening to her. She was right; Lily would want him to protect Beth the way Razer protected Lily. The brother’s face was filled with anguish, yet Razer was keeping his shit together.
Shade took a steadying breath, focusing on Sex Piston and not the code blaring through the hospital and the running of feet.
“I see what you see in her. She comes across as this frail-as-shit wimp until you look in her eyes. She’s strong, Shade. Strong enough to survive whatever Hell that’s been given to her. She will pull out of this. She will never forgive you if you hurt anyone she cares about.”
“You can’t be sure she’ll be all right!” he said harshly as he watched through the windows of the ER’s doors as several hospital staff ran into the room Lily was in.
“Yes, I can.” She lifted her shirt at the hem, baring her tattoos to his gaze. Her finger touched the two butterfly tats, drawing his gaze to her side. “I was stabbed twice when I was in the seventh grade, Shade. I coded twice. I’m standing before you now, telling you that beautiful girl is not going to die.” No doubt was in her gaze.
When Shade calmed as he leaned back against the wall for support, Sex Piston gave him a sharp nod. “You cool now?”
“Yeah, I’m cool,” Shade said with his eyes on the doorway, but he made no more attempts to go inside.
The sliding doors opened again and Killyama, Crazy Bitch, and T.A. came in. Shade had forgotten that Fat Louise had also been hurt until he saw the women.
“We don’t know anything yet. Did you call her mother?”
“Yes, she said to call her when we know something.”
Shade was disgusted that the woman’s mother wouldn’t be coming to the hospital.
The sliding glass doors opened again as Beth along with The Last Riders’ women and brothers came into the waiting room. Diamond and Knox entered last. He must have been on duty because he was wearing his uniform.
Beth went directly to Razer. “How is she?”
“She coded a few minutes ago. We don’t know what’s happening inside.”
Beth crumbled, almost falling to the floor before she was caught against Razer and held tightly against his body. She sobbed as she pressed her face against his chest.
They eventually took the chairs in the lobby, filling the room with The Last Riders and The Blue Horsemen.
For two hours, Shade sat in a chair with his eyes on the door, willing Lily to live, until a tired doctor came out to talk to them. Shade rose to his feet, unsure whether he wouldn’t crumble like Beth had if it was bad news.
“Lily is going to be okay, but it was close. She had an epidural hematoma. We relieved the pressure, and she’s stable for now. If she had been a minute farther away from the hospital, she wouldn’t have made it.” The doctor ran a hand over his face, exhaustion apparent. “Her hand is broken in two places. We’ve stabilized it for now, and we’ll put a cast on it in the morning.” His words let everyone know she was still in critical condition.
“How about Fa—” Crazy Bitch cleared her throat. “What about Louise?”
“She’s in surgery to remove the bullet, but it did little damage.” The doctor turned to go back into the room. “Only two family members can go in to see Miss Cornett before she’s moved to the ICU. Make it quick. She isn’t conscious, but I’m sure you’re anxious to see her.” With that, the doctor went back into the emergency room.
Beth went to the door the doctor had already gone through, opening it before turning back. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she held out her hand toward Shade. Disbelieving, he took a step forward, grasping her hand. They went into the E.R. together, the door closing and leaving a stunned silence behind them.
The emergency room was busy as a nurse led them down a long hallway. Shade let Beth go first as he followed her into the room. His first sight of Lily had him leaning on the wall for strength as Beth burst into tears, going to her sister’s side.
Shade’s eyes watered at seeing her still form lying on the bed. He took a faltering step forward, reaching down to graze her pale cheek with his knuckles.
“Lily,” he whispered, “I love you.” That was why he had fought so hard to see her. He hadn’t wanted that beautiful woman to leave the world without knowing she was taking a piece of him with her.
Shade didn’t know how Knox had borne it when his first wife had died. In that moment, he felt Knox was a stronger man than him.
When Beth moved away from the bed, leaving them alone, Shade memorized Lily’s face with her dark lashes lying against the paleness of her cheeks. She had a bandage on the side of her head near her temple. Her new haircut had hidden it from view when the EMT had checked her out, and she hadn’t wanted to come across as a baby, so she hadn’t complained. His words had almost gotten her killed.
“Don’t, Shade. None of this was your fault.”
Shade looked at Beth, startled that she seemed to have read his mind.
“I’ve known you for some time, Shade, and you take responsibility for everything—the club, the men, the women.”
“I called her a baby when she cut herself at Diamond’s office. She didn’t tell us she had hit her head because of that.”
Beth gave a wry smile. “Lily’s matured a lot these last few weeks. She’s stronger. She’s learning to stand on her own. It’s why I sent her off to college. It’s likely she was more worried for Fat Louise than herself.”
“Beth, I’m in love with her.”
“I heard.”
Shade stared at her in confusion. “You’re not worried?”
“About you?”
As he nodded, Beth came to stand by his side, touching his arm. “Razer told me you helped save her.”
“Stud was also there.”
“You were there when it was over, too. You rode in the ambulance, and you didn’t want to leave her side even when security tried to stop you.”
“Razer told you everything, didn’t he?” He wasn’t only referring to the events of tonight.
“Yes. He told me months ago, Shade.”
“You going to ask me to wait some more?”
Beth shook her head. “Why would I do that? I’ve been praying for you since she was a little girl. What’s taken you so long?”
Chapter 38
“Shh … baby, you’re going to be fine.”
Shade stood in the corner with Razer standing tensely by his side. He knew Razer had come to care a great deal for his sister-in-law.
Both of them were watching with grim expressions as Lily tried again to get out of the hospital bed. Beth prevented her with a soothing voice, murmuring words over and over again that neither men could hear ove
r Lily’s cries. The trauma combined with the pain and medication had left her disoriented.
Every cry and whimper, which passed her lips, increased his resolve to take his vengeance out on the two men who were responsible for her injuries. Shade had every faith the judicial system would release them on parole, and he would be waiting for them, just like the biker who had dared to touch her and the deputy from Treepoint. Both had disappeared just as Joker and Dale would.
Lily finally slipped into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning on the hospital bed while Beth continued sitting by her side, holding her hand.
Shade stepped forward. “You should both go and get some sleep. I’ll stay until you get back.”
“I’m not leaving her,” Beth protested.
“Go and get a couple hours’ rest at Sex Piston’s parents’ house; it’s just a few blocks away. I’ll call as soon as she wakes.”
It was another hour before exhaustion had Beth leaving reluctantly with Razer.
After they left, Shade sat down in the chair by Lily’s bed.
After the night before, when Lily had coded, there wasn’t anyone who didn’t know he had reached his limit. He was done waiting. He had sworn that, if Lily survived, she would be his. No more waiting, no more fucking around. He planned to get Lily the way he would have taken on one of his missions in the SEALS. It was why, behind closed doors, he was known as the deadliest sniper in the US armed forces with over two-hundred twenty-six confirmed kills. Those were only the ones they knew about, not the privately contracted ones by the government he still carried out when the price or the reason was motivating enough. He had been given the nickname Shade because of his ability to blend into the shadows, hitting his targets with cold-blooded precision others considered impossible.
Part of what made him so successful in taking out his target was learning everything about them, knowing their strengths and weaknesses. Especially their weaknesses.
To gain Lily’s trust, he had to find out her weakness. He had always known she and her sister had secrets they hid from everyone, refusing to talk about Lily’s past. No woman had as many anxieties and fears as Lily without a reason. To reach her, he would have to overcome those fears.