Sacrificing Sloan (Sloan Series Book 3) (5 page)

I sort of expected the doctor to yell back at Ray. After all, I’d watched enough network TV to know that when a patient acted like Ray, then a doctor would come in and say some heroic speech, or yell, or do something dramatic. I figured this one would do the same thing. Instead, he scribbled on a clipboard.

Very anti-climactic.

“I have a deal to make you, Mr. Hunter.”

“I don’t want to make a deal. I want my clothes, and I want to go home.”

“Enough.” He raised his voice, and when I say raised, I mean lowered it down to an impressive octave. It was enough to get the nurse’s attention, and she had been busy ‘pretending’ to check Ray’s IV. I knew she was pretending because every little bit she’d glance to the doctor and to Ray. The doctor and to Ray. “You will not pull anything like you did last night, do you understand me? It does not make me happy to have to sedate a patient. It is the last thing I ever want to do, and either you believe that or you don’t. It’s not my problem. However, let me tell you something, Mr. Hunter. You are hurt. You were shot… shot! And no, it didn’t go through your body and it didn’t hit any organs and yes, it grazed your skin, but the truth of the matter is, you were still shot and I’m still concerned about a few things with you. Let me be perfectly clear. You will not leave this hospital.”

“Watch me.” Ray said in a very Aaron-like tone.

“No, you watch me. If you even think about getting out of that bed and doing anything besides going to the bathroom, I’ll make sure you stay the entire week—on bed rest.”

“You can’t do that…”Ray scoffed.

By the look the doctor gave the nurse, oh yeah… he could so do that. “Or, I can make you a deal. You lay in the bed for today,
just
today. You allow the nurses to do their jobs. You allow these sweet ladies next to you to take care of you. You relax. You recover. If you do that for me—just for today—I’ll let you go home tomorrow.”

Ray’s brow furrowed. “Just like that?”

“Just like that. No fighting. No making you stay, but only if you give it the day. Since it is a graze, I can justify sending you home tomorrow, but I need to keep you under watch for a concussion. You were knocked out for a very long time, Mr. Hunter. If you leave and look for your brother now, they will have both of you to look for because you most certainly won’t make it in your current condition. Not in this storm.”

The doctor stuck out his hand to Ray. “Do we have a deal?”

Ray stared at the doctor’s outstretched hand for what seemed like forever before taking it and saying, “Deal. I’ll be a good boy. But just for today.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hunter.” The doctor replied, before writing something on his chart and whispering to the nurse on his way out.

What just happened?

CHAPTER EIGHT

Aaron

4:32 PM

W
OULD.
T
HIS.
D
AY.
E
VER.
E
ND?

We made it pretty well the first few hours Mr. Lawrence was gone. We didn’t make friendly banter, but we didn’t snip at each other either, which was a good thing, I supposed.

But it was very difficult.

I tried my best not to say something snarky. For a good four or five hours, I kept my tongue and my anger in check. I did good, until it turned 4:00pm and the rain got harder outside. From my little spot in Heaven, I could hear the creek outside. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to hear how close it was getting. It would be around the cabin in no time, and then where would we be?

The radio said to expect Chapel Creek to reach the flood plains by noon tomorrow, and we were most definitely in the flood plains. We were much closer than that to the water. It would be next to us before noon, possibly even before the night was over.

Mr. Lawrence hadn’t left quickly enough.

I thought about a lot of those things. I had nothing else to do. I tried not to think about my brother because it hurt too much. I couldn’t do anything for him. I couldn’t help him. I hoped… no, I believed… that Sloan got him to the hospital safely, and he was okay. He had to be okay.

And so did she.

My Sloan.

It was a strange feeling because I hadn’t loved anyone before. Not really. No one but Ray and, at one time, my mother. In a small way, I did still love her, but not like I used to—not before I knew better.

Love meant trust. Love meant acceptance. Love meant a lot of other things I didn’t completely know about, but I knew without a doubt that I was in love with Sloan Bridges. I needed to get back to her, so I could tell her that to her face.

Hoped… not prayed.

Praying was what Sloan and Ray did. When I went to church with them, mainly, I just went for something to do on Sundays and to spend some time with my brother… and Sloan.

But faith and God were their things, not mine. I couldn’t understand God, and I sure couldn’t understand him in my current situation, staring at Boyd Lawrence with the blanket balled in my fist, so I wouldn’t go over and beat him up—broken bones or no broken bones.

Sometimes I wondered, though, if there was something else. Something to what Sloan and Ray believed. Not that I’d ever actually voiced my thoughts on the subject to anyone, let alone those two. If they wanted to believe, good for them. To each his own.

Still…

It would be nice if there
was
someone with me, someone taking care of me. Watching me. Protecting me.

God.

It was a nice thought.

In my opinion, some people in the world couldn’t be saved—or shouldn’t be saved—based on their actions. Boyd Lawrence was exhibit A. You hurt someone—hurt them bad—you didn’t deserve forgiveness. Simple as that, but then you had this religion that not only accepted it, but preached it.

It made no sense to me. There was no way Boyd should ever be saved. There was no way I could be saved from everything I’d done in my past either, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to live in a world or support a religion that pushed it.

I’d sat through several sermons at Sloan’s church, and the preacher spouted off how each soul was important and how each one had a chance at forgiveness.

Did that include Boyd?

It shouldn’t.

Not to me.

Some things—hurting a woman, abuse, murder—shouldn’t be forgivable, and I had a very hard time believing in a God who would allow a child murderer, if he’d gotten saved in jail, to go to Heaven—the same Heaven as my saintly grandmother or an innocent child who died at birth, or even the child murderer’s victim.

I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

I didn’t want to, quite frankly. One thing was clear to me—Boyd Lawrence deserved nothing good to even happen in his life ever again. He didn’t deserve to live. He didn’t deserve happiness. He didn’t deserve mercy or help from anybody—not even the Lord Almighty.

And if I had to be honest, even in the slightest, I was a tad bit scared to be left alone with him. Sure, he couldn’t see worth a dime, but he had shot Ray in the head and pulled me down a twenty-foot cliff. He’d kidnapped Sloan at gunpoint, after stalking her for days.

Boyd Lawrence was evil.

And he was crafty.

I didn’t see how a little blindness would keep him from getting what he wanted. With me gone, Boyd could get away before his dad came back with the police. It would be difficult for him, but where there was a will…

I had to take a deep breath and keep my mind from wandering too far into that anxiety-inducing rabbit hole. Yeah, Boyd might try to kill me in my sleep, but what about me? Could I really let a guy who hurt my girlfriend—hurt my brother—go without any sort of punishment? One punch… one black eye… something. Something to get this tension building within me out. I had always been good at keeping things bottled up. I had always been bad when I’d had enough and then let everything out.

I watched him and thought not so pleasant things, truth be told. I watched the rise and fall of his chest. I watched him breathe. He shouldn’t be breathing. Especially if my brother wasn’t.

Stop… he’s fine.

That thought, the thought of killing Boyd, scared me more than anything.

I literally had to keep my hand balled in that blanket to keep from hurting him. Mr. Lawrence was gone. Boyd could have had some internal injury no one knew about. He could simply… die. It could be an accident.

I tuned out off? that voice in my brain, the one that had haunted me for years. The one I wanted so badly to get rid of. I bet even Sloan didn’t feel the need for revenge as much as I did. I could hurt Boyd. I could kill him. I could attack him in his sleep if I wanted.

But could I live with myself if I did?

Could I live with myself if I didn’t?

“Do you have a problem?” Boyd mumbled as he popped a chip in his mouth. The crunching grated my ears. Would he please shut up?

“Why?”

“You keep staring.”

“You can’t see.” I reminded him helpfully. And to make my case clear, I threw a chip at his head. He only yelled after it hit him.

Baby.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t feel your beady little eyes on me. What’s the matter, Aaron? Planning ways to kill me?”

If he only knew.

CHAPTER NINE

Sloan

5:01 AM

One Day Before

R
AY HADN’T SAID A WORD.

Not one word.

I wondered if he was mad at me because I guess, in a roundabout way, it was my fault. Of course, I felt like everything was my fault now.

I sat with my feet propped up on the bottom rails of his bed and held a blanket under my arms and my phone in my lap. Ever since I got to the hospital, I’d been freezing.

Mackenzie and I spent a good portion of the day texting each other, even though we were in the same room, just one bed between us. We texted things about Ray. Things about what had happened. What we’d say to the police if the sheriff ever came back… and we played a stupid trivia game app.

The one thing we didn’t talk about was Aaron.

I figured it was because Mackenzie thought if we didn’t mention it, then I wouldn’t think about it. If I didn’t think about it, then I wouldn’t do something “stupid” to get him back.

But that was the thing. I couldn’t think of anything
but
Aaron. He had to be out in the woods alone, cold, hurt. In his tux. He had to feel awful. He had to be worried sick about his brother.

I wanted him with me, and it killed me to have to stay behind and let the police search for him. I knew they wouldn’t look in the right direction, and I knew they’d be more keen on finding Boyd than Aaron.

Were they together?

I hoped not.

No doubt in my mind… Aaron would probably kill Boyd, and then he’d get in trouble for it. I didn’t think the justice system would appreciate a twenty year-old taking the law into his own hands.

Pain pulsed behind my eyes, and I rubbed my temples to make it go away. I didn’t have time for a headache or to fall apart. I had been as patient as she could be, but this was long enough.

My mom called a few times and asked if I needed her to come to the hospital. Even my dad called to ask if I needed anything, which surprised me since I hadn’t heard from him this entire time. I hadn’t even seen him since he dumped my mom for a much newer model in what I call “Tiffani-gate.” I told him I was fine. I told my mother Mackenzie and I would be okay. I didn’t elaborate that the only time we would be fine was when Ray was better and Aaron was in my arms.

My mom didn’t need to worry.

My phone buzzed in my lap, and I didn’t have the energy in me to jump. I just picked it up and sort of sighed. It was my mom again.
Need any clothes? I can bring you some.

I had my fingers all set to type “no.” I didn’t need anything from anybody, then I realized how incredibly stupid that was. I had worn those scrubs the nice nurses had given me for over twenty-four hours, and they really needed washing. Plus…

… I had an idea.

If you don’t mind. I need my boots too. My feet are freezing and a long-sleeved shirt. These hospital rooms are cold!

Not a lie. These rooms were cold, but I wouldn’t be in the room long after my mother brought the stuff to need it.

I put the phone back in my lap, and my gaze automatically landed right on Mackenzie’s. She had her lips pulled to the side and her arms crossed over her chest. She’d gone home and changed into jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt. Funny I hadn’t noticed it, until now.

She had her hair pulled up in a high pony tail, and her red curls looked like a fountain around her head, a very pretty fountain. She tapped her fingers on her elbows and stared at me like she knew… but she couldn’t have figured it out. It wasn’t like I had actually spoken my intentions out loud. I texted my mom a simple list. Didn’t even say it out loud, but I could tell by the way she looked at me—she knew. Or at least she thought she knew something that was going on.

I was just about to say something to her when Ray sat up in his bed. Calmly and without saying a word to either of us, he slid around the rail and put his feet on the floor. Though his intentions were good, at least probably to him, his body wouldn’t allow it, and his knees gave way. I caught him before he hit the floor.

“I’m fine.” He grumbled. Again, this was not like Ray. If Aaron grumbled, it would be like a normal person breathing, but not Ray. Then again, he had every right to be upset after the few months he’d had.

“You aren’t fine.” I grumbled right back and threw my arm around his back. I could tell by the way he cursed under his breath that he really didn’t want to have to depend on me for anything. I was sure Ray had some plans of his own to get to. We all had secrets. Who knew…

“Let me go, Sloan.” He steadied himself by grabbing the rail, but instead of standing, he sat back on the bed. Good. I could breathe again. “The doctor said if I was a good boy and didn’t cause any trouble, I’d get to go home today. I was good. I get to go home.”

“He didn’t say when.” Mackenzie sat on the other side of him and hesitated, before she placed her hand on his shoulder. I didn’t blame her. This was a different Ray than we were used to being around. Yeah. We could understand why he was why he was… it didn’t mean we knew exactly how to deal with him the right way. “It could be this afternoon before they let you out. It’s barely morning.”