“Finally,” he whispered. “Salvation.”
Then his hand fell away, landing at his side.
Lifeless.
After that, I threw my head back and screamed.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Pain in My Ass
The drug having worn off, my faculties back to mostly functioning, I sat in the hospital waiting room with the rest of the crew, Ren holding me close to his side with one arm, my hand held to his chest in his.
I had my head on his shoulder.
By the way, the hospital waiting room part of the Rock Chick Ride?
Not my favorite.
Ever.
And this one particularly.
They’d had a look at me when they brought me in. I was fine, still drugged, but I lost it when they tried to clean Darius’s blood off me.
I struggled, spat, clawed and no one could calm me. Not Ren, who tried first. Not Hank, who got in there with Ren. Not Indy, who Lee pulled Ren and Hank away so she could get in because he thought she would do it.
She couldn’t.
The person who did it was my mom.
And she did this by putting her hand on the nurse’s arm and saying, “She needs it. Let her keep it. We’ll see to her when the time is right for Ally.”
The nurse didn’t like it, but she moved away.
I stopped fighting.
So I still had his blood on me, there, in the waiting room.
Because Mom was right. I needed it. I needed some part of him with me.
I knew this sounded weird.
But I didn’t give a fuck.
Ren, being Ren, said nothing about the blood even though now it was on him.
And we were waiting.
All of us.
Indy and Lee. Eddie and Jet. Hank and Roxie. Jules and Vance. Ava and Luke. Stella and Mace. Hector and Sadie. Tex and Nancy. Marcus and Daisy. Roam and Sniff. Mom and Dad. Indy’s dad, Tom, and his girlfriend, Lana (incidentally, Lana was Mace’s Mom; so yeah, we were incestuous—whatever, it worked). Tod and Stevie. Buddy and Ralphie. Smithie and LaTeesha. Annette and Jason. Jules’s uncle Nick and her friend May. Jimmy Marker. Brody, Monty, Matt, Ike, Jack and Bobby. Blanca, Rosa, Carlos, Elena and Gloria. Dom and Sissy. Vito and Angela. Willie Moses. Brian Bond. Darius’s Mom, Dorothea. Duke’s wife Dolores. And even Stella’s band, Floyd, Buzz, Pong, Hugo and Leo showed up.
A motley crew of cops and crooks, bounty hunters and baristas, PIs and rock stars, hot guys and Rock Chicks.
Darius’s people.
Darius’s family.
And last, Shirleen was sitting beside me.
Close.
There was some shifting and my eyes flew to the door, hoping it was a doctor with good news. But I saw Jane walk in.
She’d been around, not much, and her usual quiet. I knew a couple of the Rock Chicks and Hot Bunch spoke with her. Since she didn’t return my calls or give me time when I approached her, and since (for once), I didn’t press, I didn’t know what they said or how she reacted.
All I knew right then was that she came straight to me, her eyes never leaving mine.
She stopped in front of us. Ren’s hold tightened, and I looked up to her.
“Nothing ever really bad happens in a fairytale, Ally,” she whispered, her eyes, locked on me, bright with tears.
And hope.
“I hope you’re right, chickie,” I whispered back.
“Me, too,” she said. Her eyes slid to Ren, then to Shirleen, who she gave a small smile before she moved away.
