Shaken (Twisted Fox #2) - Charity Ferrell Page 0,92
get up.
Chad tilts his shoulder in a half-shrug, and now that he knows his friends are coming, he grows braver. “She’s been asking for it all night. You should’ve seen the way she was looking at me, practically drooling for my cock.”
My hands are shaking in anger as I attempt to tune out Chad’s words. I whisper Archer’s name, struggling to grasp his attention.
Look at me.
Only me.
Chad pounds his fist against his chest and stares at Archer mockingly. “You want a piece of her pussy too? I’ll share after I’ve had my fill.”
His words light a match underneath the fire that is Archer, and there’s no stopping him. Archer swings around me to reach Chad.
I fall, and everything goes black.
42
Archer
I should walk around with a D on my chest.
A scarlet letter kind of way.
A signal that says, If you love me, prepare for death.
Guilt spreads through my chest, as if an infection, controlling my every thought.
This is all my fault.
I was on too much of a high—a high where I thought my life could be different.
That I could be happy.
That’ll never be me.
I’m a curse.
Poison to the heart.
Unlike my grandfather, everything I touch doesn’t turn to gold.
It turns to black.
Into flames.
Obliterated.
If only I’d walked away from that fight.
If only I’d listened to her.
After Georgia fell, everything became a fog.
The man who’d groped her became the least of my worries. I should’ve been paying more attention, but the fury I had toward the guy consumed me. He needed to get his ass kicked.
For hurting her.
For touching her.
For the vile shit he was spitting from his lips.
She took a hard blow to the head and was bleeding. Her eyes were shut, and she wasn’t speaking, like she was in a deep sleep. She was breathing but not lucid. I desperately yelled her name, gently shook her shoulders, snapped my fingers in front of her face until Cohen pushed me to the side and did the same.
Someone called 911, and she was rushed to the hospital. Chad and his friends ran out of the bar, and since our attention was on Georgia, no one tried stopping them.
I hate myself.
I veer into the first open spot I find in the hospital’s parking lot and slam my fists against the steering wheel. Cohen rode with Georgia in the ambulance, and I followed them. Lincoln and Finn stayed behind to work the bar until someone could cover for them.
My head is bowed in shame when I step out of my car and rush into the emergency room.
I ignore other patients, ignore the workers at the front desk, and say, “I need to see Dr. Jamie Gentry.”
Name-dropping Jamie is the fastest way to get to where I need to be. She’s the doctor on shift at the hospital tonight, and Finn called, giving her a heads-up to expect Georgia. The woman behind the counter surprisingly nods, and the double doors electronically open. The scent of antiseptic invades my nostrils, and I rush over to Jamie, who’s talking to a nurse.
“She wasn’t waking up,” I say, my voice quivering. “She wasn’t waking up.”
Never have I felt so vulnerable around someone other than Georgia.
Jamie’s face is professional, her look both serious and packed with concern. “She’s awake. Well, she’s conscious but sleeping. She’s going to be okay.” Her voice is soothing. “We’re thinking it’s only a mild concussion.”
I shake my head and repeat, “She wasn’t waking up.”
Just like the memory of dragging my grandfather out of the pool, begging him to wake up, Georgia lying on that dirty bar floor, unconscious, will forever haunt me.
Visit me in my dreams.
Reminding me of my fuckups.
Jamie steps closer and wraps her arms around me.
“Where’s she?” I ask, my voice nearly a plea. “Can I see her?”
“Room four.” She tips her head toward a room and takes my hand. “Just … if Cohen tries to argue, don’t engage.”
I nod, holding back the urge to barge into Georgia’s room, sit by her side, and apologize.
When the door clicks open, Cohen’s eyes narrow, looking at me to blame.
I slip my hands into my pockets and walk farther into the room. I have to see her. He can punch me, beat my ass, do all the shit he should’ve done the day of his gender-reveal party so that this would’ve never happened.
He exchanges a look with Jamie, and she stops behind him, wrapping her arms around her fiancé from the back. He runs his hand over his face, shielding his silent tears.