Chapter Thirty-seven

"Stupid piece of shit!" Wyatt bangs on the vending machine, trying to wiggle the bag of chips that hangs in the balance, teasing him.

"Excuse me, sir. Please step away from the machine," the nurse scolds Wyatt.

"Sorry," he grumbles. He plops himself on the chair across from me, staring at me with a concerned expression.

My legs won't stop bouncing. I lean forward with my head pressed against my bloody hands with a knot in my stomach, waiting to hear from the doctor.

Shorty's blood.

No one has come out in the last two hours with an update.

I'm going fucking crazy.

Ash is pacing the hall, muttering something underneath his breath. Jag leans back on the chair with his head resting against the wall with his eyes closed.

Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. I repeat this mantra, praying she's going to make it through.

The dinging sound snaps my head toward the elevator as Tia runs down the hall with tears smearing her eye liner, the black smudges running down her cheeks. Her aunt, Seb, and the rest of the crew follow behind.

"Oh my god! Wh-what ha-ppened?" Tia runs into Ash's arms as she tries to get the words out between her sobs.

"Her father happened," Ash says in a heart-breaking tone, holding Tia like a lifeline.

A loud gasp comes from Tia and her aunt as they cover their mouths with their hands.

"It was her dad, wasn't it?" Seb's broken voice cuts through. "He finally did it."

I nod without saying a word. He nods back, and slams his fist against the wall, causing all of us to jump.

"Sir! What are you are doing?" An older nurse yells from the station.

"What the fuck do you think I'm doing?" he yells back as he walks toward the nurse's station with his hands balled into fists. Gio places his hands on his chest, pushing him backwards.

"Don't fucking do this. You're no good to Shorty if you're locked up," he warns. Seb's face is red, nostrils flaring while his chest is heaving. He turns to me, and he falls to his knees.

"I should've protected her. I should've killed him when I had the chance." His weeping is gentle which doesn't fit his character.

"Family of Mercedes Ramirez?" A middle-aged man with blood smeared on his blue scrubs and booties stands outside the double doors that lead to the surgery room.

That's too much fucking blood.

"Yes, that's us." I stand and walk toward the doctor.

"Sadie will make a full recovery." The heavy weight on my chest lightens in relief. "But she lost a significant amount of blood and was given a blood transfusion."

"What does that mean, doctor? She's going to be ok, right?" Tia's aunt asks as she wipes her tears away with a tissue.

"The knife that was used to cause the injury damaged the diaphragm of her spleen. We were able to repair it." He turns his somber look to me, "If you were a few minutes later, she wouldn't have survived."

And the weight is back.

I shut my eyes, keeping my breathing steady.

"Due to the extent of her injuries, she has been transferred to the ICU unit for observation. Abdominal injuries can cause complications.

We are going to monitor her for a few days before we transfer her to a private room."

"Can we see her?" A small hiccup comes out of Tia while still she holds onto Ash's hoodie with a death grip.

"Only family."

"We are family," Seb proudly says as he gets back on his feet.

The doctor smiles and shakes his head while twisting his cap in his hands. "Ok. Only one of you can see her. She needs to rest."

"What about her mom and brother?" That was Jag.

The doctor sighs before he responds. "They are both stable. We had to sedate the brother to calm him down. He suffered a few broken ribs, a fractured nose, superficial cuts, and bruises. The mother sustained several injuries. A broken arm, a fractured jaw, bleeding in the brain due to a blunt object to her skull, and she was also stabbed in the stomach. Luckily, no damage to any internal organs, but we had to put her in an induced coma to reduce the swelling in her brain."

"Is she going to make it?" Tia's aunt holds onto Seb's hand as she stares at the doctor.

"All we can do is wait. It's up to her now to fight. I'm sorry this happened to them. I hope they catch the monster who did this." And with that, the doctor walks away.

"I'm going to see her." I don't even ask for permission or give them an option, and no one follows me or argues.

I disappear down the hall toward the ICU.

I hate hospitals. The smell of disinfectant makes me want to vomit. The place is full of sick people who are ready to move on to the next life. The pain in my chest feels like thorns wrapping around my heart, slowly squeezing the life out of me just thinking about Shorty and how she could be one of them if she doesn't survive her injuries. She has to. Shorty is a fighter, not a quitter.

As I walk toward the double glass doors leading to the ICU unit, a nurse in a pink scrub asks me who am I here to see.

"Sadie Ramirez." I don't even recognize the weak voice that comes out.

The nurse leads me into the room and my heart stops beating. The sight of Shorty's tiny body hooked up to machines monitoring her heart rate and oxygen level, and IV bags on both side of the bed are inserted into her veins will forever be etched into my mind.

"It's just temporary until she recovers. She's a strong girl. She flatlined twice while in surgery but came back to us." The nurse smiles as she walks away, leaving me alone with my girl.

Hesitantly, I walk toward Shorty, rubbing my bloody hands together and stand beside her bedside, watching her chest rise as she fights to breathe. My sadness turns to anger as I look at her beautiful, now pale face covered with black and blue bruises. They are more visible now that she's been cleaned up. Her eyes are swollen from her piece of shit father ramming his fists into her face.

Leaning in and towering over her with one hand on the bed rail and the other above the pillow stroking her matted curls, I kiss the top of her head and place my forehead against hers. "I'm so sorry, Shorty. I'm so fucking sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

Holding her hand in mine, I kiss her cheek and whisper in her ear, "Baby, please come back to me. Please. I'm begging you. Come back to us. To Sophie."

The nurse walking in reminds me for the tenth time that visiting hours are over. Security physically removes me because I refuse to leave her side. As I walk out of the room and down the hall back toward the sitting room, trying to reign in the anger boiling in my blood, I spot Mom walking toward me.

She stops midway and cocks her head to the side, giving me her "I'm so sorry" look which makes me break down crying hard and ugly right in the middle of the hallway, not caring if people are watching. Mom runs up to me, wrapping me in her arms. I hug her back, crying in the crook of her neck. She rubs my back in a soothing manner just like when I was a kid.

She gently pulls away. "I'm so sorry, baby. I'm here, ok? I will help you get through this." And she places a kiss on my forehead, pulling me back in for the hug I've missed since the night of our fight.

"I can't lose her, Mom. Not again." Holding on to her tightly, I sob in her arms.