Chapter two

Iwatch my girl break in front of me. Her pain-filled cries are fucking torture.

I can't bear it anymore.

The way she tugs at her hair.

The way she looked at each one of us with desperation, hoping it wasn't true.

The spark in her chocolate eyes is gone.

"Shorty," I whisper, pulling her hand from her face. Her eyes are shut tight, but the tears keep falling and her lips tremble.

I have never felt so helpless.

When she finally opens her eyes, she turns to face me. The haunting look in her eyes guts me. "Donnie. He's not gone," she says through her quivering lips.

"God, baby, I wish it wasn't true. I'm so fucking sorry." I kiss the top of her hand.

She covers her eyes with her other hand and lets out a heart-wrenching wail.

"No. He is not dead," she strangles out.

"Baby, yes—"

Sadie removes her hand from her eyes. "Stop saying that! Stop saying he's dead! Why do you keep saying that?" she cries, her eyes wide.

I reach out for her, but she smacks my hand away.

"Don't touch me!" she hisses.

Before I realize what's happening, she tries to scramble out of the bed. "Shorty, please stop. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Let me go," she seethes.

"Baby, please. How can I help you?" I desperately plead.

"Let. Me. Go."

Shit. If looks could kill.

I slowly pull back, raising my hands in the air. "Okay, okay."

"Sadie, I'm so sorry about your brother," Detective Carter says.

"No. No, please. Jo's not gone. Please stop saying that." Her voice is quieter now.

"He's gone," I say.

"No, he's not."

"Baby—"

"NO, HE'S NOT!"

She yanks the IV from her hand. The monitors start to go haywire.

"Shorty! Stop!" I cry out. I try to push her back down on the bed before she hurts herself more.

"Fuck! Hold her down!" Seb yells.

"?Dios mío!" Paloma cries out.

"What the fuck do you think I'm doing!" I snap at them, gently grabbing Shorty's good arm and pushing her back down.

"Baby, please. Stop," I beg. "Jo wouldn't want this for you."

Fuck.

She's falling apart and there's not a damn thing I can do to fix it. Shorty scratches at my arms, trying to push me off her, but I'm too strong. Seb grabs her leg and holds it down, but she gets one good kick in.

Seb falls down to the tile floor. "Fuck!"

Shorty lets out a high-pitched scream, cracking my chest in two. I hold her down and bury my head in the crook of her neck.

"Baby. Please, baby. Tell me what you need." My voice cracks as tears fill my eyes. "I will never leave you, baby," I whisper, resting my forehead against hers.

She slowly relaxes until the door slams against the wall and three nurses rush in. Shorty tenses and she starts to thrash again, trying to get loose.

A redheaded nurse pushes me out of the way and injects a needle with clear fluid into Shorty's arm.

"What the hell did you give her?"

"Sir, I need you to step away and give us room to help her," one of the other nurses says.

"Nancy, call Dr. Martinez," the redhead instructs another nurse.

"He's not…Jo's not gone," Shorty says through short breaths.

"It's okay, baby. You're going to be ok." I run my hands through her curls.

"No, it's not okay," she whispers, turning her head to the side.

"Donnie, am I…am I floating?" When she turns back to face me, she has a faint smile on her face.

"What?"

"I think…I think I'm dying." Her eyelids grow heavy as she goes in and out of consciousness.

"No, baby, you're not. You're just sleepy."

"What are you giving her?" I hear Paloma say.

"We had to sedate her. She's going to be okay. She needs to rest." By the time the nurse discards the needle, Shorty succumbs to sleep.

I drop my head against her forehead. "I'm so sorry," I cry, kissing her cheek, the tip of her nose, and the corner of her mouth.

"I'm going to have to ask all of you to leave," the nurse demands.

"I'm not leaving her," I shoot back.

The nurse sighs.

"It's okay. He can stay, we're leaving," Carter interjects.

"Fine. But she needs her rest. I'll be back to check on her." The nurse gives me a pointed look before leaving the room.

"Turn around," Carter instructs Seb.

"What are you doing? Why are you cuffing him?" I ask Carter.

"Murder," Seb says calmly.

"Murder? He saved us. Frankie was going to kill Shorty," I say defensively.

"No one is charging anyone with murder," Carter says with a sigh. "I'm taking him down for questioning."

"It's alright, D. Can you call the guys and let them know to meet me at the station?"

"Yeah, man," I say with a nod.

Seb's eyes, full of sorrow, linger on Shorty before he turns back to me. "Take care of our girl. She's going to need you more than ever."

Carter leads Seb out of the room, and Paloma follows behind but not before she gives me and Shorty a small sad smile.

I run my hands down my face and turn to Shorty.

Despite the messy curls on her head and her face blotchy from crying, she still looks beautiful.

Painfully beautiful.

I lay beside her, wrapping my arms around her waist, careful not to hurt her. Only the soft sounds of her heartbeat and the machine's beeping can be heard. Her chest rises and falls at a steady pace. I can feel the pain vibrating from her pores.

Suddenly, the adrenaline I'd been running on evaporates and a bomb of agony explodes in my heart. I bury my head in Shorty's neck and cry. Eyes burning like acid, I can't stop the tears from falling.

I tell Shorty the only thing I can think of after receiving blow after blow. "I'm so fucking sorry."