by Jackson Kane
That’s all that mattered.
“Hold on, Remy...” I hauled ass out of there, looking for any other signs of life. It was late, and the first place I found was a McDonald’s. Only the drive-thru was open, but fortunately, it was empty. I didn’t bother with the speaker where I would place my order. Instead, I drove right up to the window and, the teenage employee directed me to the nearest hospital.
How the hell was Remy still alive? I nervously looked him over again for the hundredth time. There was so much blood, and he was starting to turn an ashy pale. Time was running rapidly out. I wish I knew anything about medical stuff! I stifled more tears and drove faster.
Suddenly, red and blue lights and sirens wailed behind me.
Oh, god.
We couldn’t afford to be pulled over, not now! I was still dressed like a fucking stripper. If we get stopped, I’d be arrested. Remy would get medical attention but would also be linked to all the shit that went down in Vegas and be completely fucked. All because of his gunshot wounds.
The gun Remy taped under the car! Could I get to it in time? I’d shot someone before and even killed a man by running him over. But this was a cop I was thinking of shooting… That was too far, wasn’t it? Fuck! Everything I’d ever know was so blurry right now.
The lights drew closer. Maybe I could outrun them. Was I insane? How many episodes of Cops had I seen where that’s ever worked? Fucking zero is how many. It wasn’t like I could outrun them, either. I didn’t even get my driver’s license until I was nineteen.
“I’m so sorry, Remy. I just can’t.” I slowed down and pulled over. Trying to kill a police officer was just too far for me.
The cop behind us turned out to be an ambulance that blew right by us. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Wait! An ambulance? I must’ve been close to the hospital!
I stomped on the gas. The flashing lights made it easy to follow. A few minutes later, the brightly lit St. Mary’s Hospital sign came into view and shone like a beacon of hope in the darkness.
Remy saw this and finally woke up enough to grab my leg. “No…hospital. Records…Veins.” His voice was barely a whisper.
Records? Oh, he’d be on file there. There’d be a record of us, or at least him, even if we entered him as a John Doe. The Steel Veins would probably hear that he’d been shot and figure the closest hospital is a good place to check for him. Same for the police or even the Lobos if they felt like tying up loose ends. Hospitals aren’t designed to keep people out. He’d be a sitting duck for however long it took him to get better.
“Fuck!”
We pulled up beside the ambulance. At this time of the night, the hospital was probably mostly dead.
“What do I do, Remy? How do I help you, please!” I pleaded, but he’d passed out again. I didn’t know if it was the bumpy drive, but he was definitely bleeding more now.
No! After all the crap getting him here, and everything we’ve been through these last few days, I refused to let him die in the fucking parking lot of a goddamn hospital!
The rear ambulance doors were still open from when they rushed inside whomever it was that needed rushing.
That’s when a crazy idea came into my head. I drove the car around so that the passenger side was right next to the back door of the ambulance. I got out of the car, grabbed the gun that Remy taped to the car, and secured it within my thong. The cold steel on my pussy sent a chill up my spine. I carefully raced around the car and half-dragged, half-pushed Remy the short distance into the back of the ambulance.
I parked the stolen car in the adjacent visitor parking lot and jumped out just in time to see one of the EMTs exiting the building to have a smoke. He was pudgy, tired-looking and, despite probably being in his late thirties, was weathered beyond his years.
I ran up behind him, jammed the gun into his back, and led him to the ambulance. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time or the knowledge to remove the bullets or the magazine.
Please don’t let this be one of those times that a gun just goes off for no reason!
“Give me the keys!” I barked the words into the man’s ear.
“Jesus! They’re in the ignition! Take it! Take it!” He dropped his cigarette and lighter in shock.
“Get in the back.” I pushed the man toward the open double-doors and motioned for him to get in with Remy.
“What the fuck!” He started to protest but got a good look at my gun and thought better of it.
“You’d better make sure he doesn’t die!” I slammed the doors, jumped in the driver’s set, and sped off.
If there were no exterior cameras on the hospital, then we were all set. If there were... I didn’t want to think about that right now. Instead, I drove for half an hour before stopping by the side of a poorly lit road. The sky was lightening up in the distance. Soon, the fiery hues of dawn would burn away the night sky.
I’d seen far too many dawns lately.
“I’m coming back there,” I called out, tucking the firearm away. “Remember, I still have a gun, so don’t try anything!”
Mentally, I scolded myself for sounding like a poorly-written TV trope.
When the door opened, I saw that Remy, barely conscious as he was, had grabbed the medic’s shirt, preventing him from rushing out the back as we slowed down.
“How is he?” I was almost too afraid to ask.
“He’s sort-of stable now, but I don’t know for how long. He wouldn’t let me give him anything for the pain. He’s lost a ton of blood, okay? I’m not a doctor, and this isn’t the ER. Without proper treatment, he will die,” the bespectacled man warned.
“We can’t take him to a hospital. People are obviously trying to kill him.” I climbed in and sat down beside Remy. I could tell he was in so much pain—it made my heart ache.
“I – uh – figured as much. I take it the police are out of the question?”
“Yeah. No, that’s not an option, either.” I brushed Remy’s shaggy hair away from his eyes. While now bandaged, the EMT hadn’t cleaned Remy up at all. The blood from his cheek had painted the whole side of his head and neck red. “We’re on our own.”
“Listen. I’m sorry about your boyfriend, but, please, you gotta let me go. I have a wife and kids. I can’t get dragged into this kind of stuff. Please just let me go!” the medic pleaded with me.
I did feel sorry for him, but I really didn’t have any choice. I felt the gun slip out of the near-negligible amount of fabric that covered my pussy. When I looked down, Remy, half an eye open, had the gun roughly pointed at the medic. His hand wavered with dwindling strength.
What was he doing?
“Oh, Jesus! Don’t kill me! I did the best I could!” The EMT screamed. For someone constantly around death, he sure did startle easy.
“Don’t shoot him, Re—” I stopped myself from saying Remy’s name. The less this guy knew about us, the better “This man probably saved your life.”
“…wallet.” Every syllable Remy uttered was intensely labored. He shouldn’t have been talking at all.
But as commanded, the medic handed it to me.
Seriously? Was Remy really robbing him right now?
“...License... show me...”
I did. What could he possibly want with the man’s license? It’s not like Remy could’ve passed himself off as the medic. They looked nothing alike.
“Shawn... Grayson. I know... you... now. Stay quiet... about us… or... I’ll find... you.” Remy passed out again.
I took the gun out of Remy’s limp hand, letting the implications linger for a moment longer. I had no doubt that if Remy wanted to find this man, he could. Granted, he’d need to survive the night first.
God, I hated seeing him like this!
“Where can we go?” I wiped the water from my eyes. That silly, hesitant girl version of me was burned away. The anger in my voice was unmistakable. My knuckles went white from squeezing the gun handle so tightly.
“Okay, okay!” Eyes squinting, Shawn pi
nched the bridge of his nose to think. Finally opening his eyes, he wore a hesitant expression but told me anyways, “I know a guy who should have the necessary tools to get the bullets out and clean him up.”
“Does he run a private clinic or something?”
“No. Well, kinda but not exactly.”
“You better not be fucking with us, Shawn!”
“I’m not! I p-p-promise!” Shawn stammered, rolling his hands then added, “He’s just kind of a weird guy, but he knows what he’s doing, and for the right amount of money, he won’t ask any questions.”
“Give me your cell phone,” I said, pushing back another wave of tears and aiming the gun back at him. “Unlocked.”
“Here!” He handed it to me. “Please. Just put that thing away!”
“I’m going to give this to very bad men. If this place turns out to be bullshit or if we get busted by the cops, I promise you they will come visit you or...” I browsed his text messages until I found I found a few from his wife. “Sherry. Do you understand?”
He nodded emphatically, obviously terrified of me.
I climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the ignition over. I didn’t enjoy the barbwire in my tone, but I understood how necessary it was now. In our short time together, I’d begun to see how Remy forged me into something truly meant for this outlaw world. I thought back to that dark version of myself in that dream and wasn’t afraid of her anymore.
Glancing in my rearview, I could see Remy barely conscious and clinging desperately to life. His willpower filled me with a steely reserve. Remy would survive – he had to! I felt it in my bones. I knew he was too tough for even death.
The road before us was straight and empty so I afforded myself an extended blink as I drove. In the extra second that my eyes were closed, I saw the Star I had once been, the one that went to college and whined about having to do menial chores, was now gone. She was just smoke locked away in one of the forgotten rooms in my dream.
Speeding along those back roads with a trail of bodies in our wake, I was now the shadow-version of myself that used to frighten me.
I didn’t have to fall asleep to know that none of the doors in that long hallway of possibilities would ever open again, save the one at the very end. And when that door opened, the room would glow brilliantly with blood and marigolds.
And it was Remy’s wide-armed embrace that I would crash into.
I opened my eyes. A new dawn’s sun climbed over the distant horizon. Great and horrible things were in store for us when Remy was healed.
It was our time now.
END Book 2
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jackson Kane is a professional stuntman, athlete, romance author, and above all else, a hopeless romantic. From American Ninja Warrior, to some of your favorite films, Jackson brings a unique writing style forged from countless harrowing adventures.
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