45. Rueben

Rueben

O livia’s coughing wakes up all of us. Not that I was sleeping, to begin with, but I did manage to close my eyes after a long day at work. Catching runaway criminals is not always easy, but Mose joined my little team and is a better bounty hunter than I initially thought. He can run and he can aim.

Tyson and Ansel are snuggled against Olivia, and she buries her head into the pillow, not wanting to disturb us, making me snort softly.

It’s been three days since we fucked, danced, and fucked some more in the rain, and Olivia fell sick that night. Since then, she’s been gradually feeling worse and worse, to the point where she started having chest pain right before we went to bed. We insisted on taking her to the ER, but she was too stubborn to listen. She only wanted a cup of herbal tea before going to bed.

Jasper made her ginger tea with honey, and for about an hour, she felt good—until she started coughing again.

I hate to admit it, but Jasper was right when he said that Olivia would catch a cold.

A new round of coughing starts.

Jasper mutters under his breath before kicking the blanket to the side and quickly getting out of bed. After turning on the light, he says, “We’re going to the hospital. End of discussion!” He leaves Olivia no room for protests.

Olivia sits up, leans her head against Tyson’s shoulder, and coughs harder. Tyson rubs her back. “Water,” she croaks.

Mose jumps out of bed and rushes out of the room.

“We are leaving in five minutes,” Jasper says as he quickly puts on shorts and a tank top.

I get up and go directly to change my clothes. Most of us either sleep in a pair of boxers, or in Olivia’s case, she likes to wear one of our t-shirts.

Mose returns with a glass of water and hands it to Olivia. She quickly drinks from it. “Can you give me some Tylenol?” she asks, her voice weak.

The medicine is in the bathroom. I finish zipping my pants and say, “I’ll get it for you.”

“No!” Mose growls loudly, taking everyone by surprise. “Hospital.”

“I am fine,” Olivia protests. “I only need a good night’s sleep, and I’ll be good as new tomorrow.”

“Tyson,” Mose says, and we all know what he means by that—he wants Tyson to carry Olivia to the car. It’s strange how we started understanding Mose’s demon even when all he says is one word at a time.

Tyson scoops up Olivia—who is too busy coughing and can’t put up a fight—in his arms and gets out of bed. “Get me something to wear,” he says over his shoulder as he disappears down the hallway, in a pair of butterfly boxers. I grab him a pair of pants, a T-shirt, and a pair of flip-flops and go after him.

On my way out of the cabin, I grab the car keys from the key rack. The others are right behind me. Diva was sleeping on the sofa, but all the commotion wakes her. “Stay,” I tell her as I step on the porch. She won’t like it, but the hospital is not a place for her.

My new car is parked close to the cabin, and Tyson and Olivia are already waiting there. Mose reaches me and grabs the keys from my hand before walking past me. There’s a sense of urgency in him that I haven’t felt before. I don’t blame him. I’m as worried for Olivia as he is.

Mose unlocks the minivan and tosses the keys back to me. Tyson opens one of the back doors and gets Olivia inside before grabbing the clothes from me and quickly putting them on.

Minutes later, I turn on the engine and speed off to the hospital.

Olivia keeps coughing, and it reminds me of when she had pneumonia. I grip the steering wheel hard, internally cursing Maddox for betraying our friendship. Where will I find a good doctor like him who I can trust?

“Hurry!” Mose snarls at me.

I press the gas pedal and drive even faster.

The closest hospital is thirty minutes away. It takes me only fifteen minutes to get there. The moment I park, Tyson is already out, Olivia in his arms. The others rush after them, and I remain behind because I hate hospitals. They smell odd, and they are too sterile. Some flashbacks from the facility rush to my head but I quickly shove them to the side as I don’t want to remember about that when Olivis is sick.

I feel my pockets. When I don’t find what I need, I open the car and look inside the glove compartment. The pack of nicotine gum is under one of my handguns. I grab it and pop two pieces of gum into my mouth.

Tyson and Ansel were able to quit smoking right away, but I still crave cigarettes, especially after I kill someone. So, I resorted to nicotine gum. It keeps me sane and away from possibly drug-laced cigarettes.

I cross my arms against my chest and lean against the car, watching the hospital entrance. If I go inside and find out Olivia is seriously sick, I don’t know what the fuck I’ll do. Probably threaten all the doctors that if they don’t perform some miracle, I’ll fucking kill them.

Olivia has become my sole purpose in life and if anything happens to her…my blood-brothers and I will probably go berserk. The rage I once felt for her has now been completely replaced by love. I never thought I could love someone so much, to the point that I’d do anything to see her smile.

Chewing my gum, I cave and make my way to the ER. My blood-brothers are sitting on chairs in the waiting area. Jasper has his arm awkwardly wrapped around Tyson’s shoulders.

“And Olivia?” I ask.

Ansel jerks his head toward the treatment area. “The doctor is with her. We were asked to wait here while tests are being performed.”

I sit next to Mose and take my phone out to keep myself occupied while we wait for the doctor to tell us why Olivia is coughing so badly. I suspect she has pneumonia again, but I could very well be wrong.

Cirro is online in the chat group, and I start talking to him.

Me: Did you figure out Senator Deymar’s schedule?

Cirro: He will be in the city in two weeks. I can ‘arrange’ a meeting.

Two fucking more weeks. That motherfucker has no idea the things we have planned for him. We won’t kill him right away, we will take our time.

Me: Do that. And Jason?

Cirro takes a moment to reply.

Cirro : It seems he has crossed the border and is now in Canada.

If he thinks he won’t pay for what he did to Olivia, he’s wrong.

Cirro: From the looks of it, a woman was with him.

Me: Find out who she is.

Could it be Alma? Her father is worried sick and he even told me that if I don’t find Alma soon, he will cut off my balls.

Cirro sends me a thumbs up, and we stop chatting. Looking for anything to distract me while I wait for the fucking doctors to come out, I start playing Tetris.

Time passes excruciatingly slowly, and it seems like forever until a nurse tells us to follow her. She takes us to the treatment room.

A loud noise comes from one of the room’s corners—where Olivia is. She looks like she wants to kill the doctor, “What do you mean that I’m pregnant?”