Hood River Rat (Hood River Hoodlums #1) - K Webster Page 0,69

Like he can hold all the breaking pieces of me together. He can’t, though. There’s too many. If I don’t have Roux, I have nothing. Alejandro will hurt her. He’ll hurt her just to fuck with me. They send her back and it’s inevitable.

I cry and plead and struggle to no avail. Carol packs up Roux’s stuff and then they’re gone. I’ve given up my fight when it’s just Mike and me.

“Roan, I’m so sorry,” he mutters, his voice cracking.

I break away from him and run into her bedroom like she might still be there. It smells like her perfume she wears now. Sweet and innocent. They’ll break her. Fuck, they’ll break my sister. I fall face first onto her bed and scream into the mattress. The tears don’t stop as I try to figure out how I’m going to fix this.

I have to fix this.

I’m not sure how long I’ve lain here losing my fucking mind, but it’s long enough that Hollis has arrived and I never even knew when he showed up. He’s just here. Holding me. Kissing me. Whispering assurances that make my heart squeeze. I hug him to me, inhaling his scent and hoping this is all a bad dream. His phone keeps buzzing in his pocket, but he ignores it to look after me.

“I’m here,” he murmurs, his fingers stroking through my hair, soothing me. “I’m here.”

I manage to crack my eyes open so I can look at him. He’s not my pale porcelain boy today. No, he’s gray. Why the fuck is my boyfriend gray?

“Is this a nightmare?” I croak.

“Yeah. Feels like one.”

It’s not a nightmare, though.

Roux has been taken from me and my boyfriend looks like death.

“I’m going to steal her back,” I tell him, violence thrumming in my voice. “Then I’m taking you to the motherfucking hospital.”

His lips that once were pink but are nearly as gray as his skin press together. “You can’t steal her, Roan. You have to be smart.” I don’t miss that he ignores my comment about the hospital.

“I’m tired of being smart,” I growl. “It has gotten me absolutely fucking nowhere.”

Hollis whines and I think he’s going to argue with me, but he’s hurting. Like really fucking hurting. He rolls away from me, curling into a fetal position, his arms clutching his stomach.

“Hollis,” I bark out, sitting up. “What’s wrong?”

He shudders. “I’m going to be sick.”

I jolt into action, helping him to his feet and taking him to the bathroom. He’s barely on his knees before he starts puking.

Oh fuck.

Blood.

He’s puking up blood and not a little like last time.

“No, no, no,” I beg, yanking my phone out of my pocket. “Hollis, babe, it’s going to be okay.”

He groans, his head lolling forward. I stroke his hair with one hand while dialing Kelsey with the other.

“Roan,” she answers. “Are you—”

“It’s Hollis. He’s puking up a lot of blood. Help!”

“I’ll be right there. I’m calling nine-one-one.”

We hang up and I text Mike.

Me: Hollis is puking blood. Upstairs. Help!

I don’t wait for his reply. I’m too busy making sure Hollis doesn’t fucking die on me. Within minutes, Mike rushes into the bathroom. He squats down beside Hollis and starts trying to ask him questions. Hollis is completely fucking passed out.

Oh God.

“Hollis,” I say, shaking him. “Wake up.”

“Paramedics are on the way,” Mike assures me. “We just need to keep him from hurting himself before they get here.”

He’s passed the hell out, so I don’t know how he’d hurt himself. I’m panicking when Kelsey blasts into the bathroom.

“My baby,” she cries out. “Hollis, baby, it’s Mom. What’s going on, honey?”

We’re a mess, trying to rouse him, when the paramedics arrive. They gently push the three of us out of the way so they can get him on a stretcher. I’m damn near ripping at my hair when Mike tells us he’ll drive us to the hospital.

“He’s going to be okay,” Mike assures me from the front seat of his truck. “He’s in good hands.”

Kelsey is on the phone, speaking rapidly and answering questions to someone on the other end. I’m nearly catatonic by the time we reach the hospital. Mike parks out front, letting me and Kelsey climb out while he goes to park the truck. She has her phone pressed to her ear as she guides us inside.

“I don’t know, Garrett. Just get here when you can. It’s the only hospital here. You can’t miss it.” She hangs up only to call someone else. “Oh, God, Karen. I’m freaking