Zero

“The battle is not over. Angel is in the hospital, and she went into that hospital room alive. Zero doesn’t have life threatening wounds. He will come out of this alive. The time for panicking is not now. My brother needs me to be strong.” Nash stepped into the bathroom. The tears were falling thick and fast down her cheeks.

“I saw it. I saw the car drive past. The bullets and I saw them hit Angel. They waited for her to fall before aiming for Zero. None of them had any intention of stopping.” She sobbed the words out as Nash wrapped his arms around her.

“He’s going to get through this. Zero is strong. Stronger than any of us realize,” Nash said.

“I can’t handle him dying on me.”

“No one is dying,” Tiny said, standing in the room. “Devil is calling me back. I need you to stay out here, Prue, and keep an eye on Lash and get word to me on Angel and Zero. Can you do that?”

She nodded. “Yes, I can do that.”

“Good, we need you. The club needs you.”

Stepping away from Nash, she followed Tiny out of the bathroom toward the waiting area. Taking a seat on one of the chairs, she watched the clear doors. Not long ago Zero had been waiting to hear news about her. Now their roles were reversed as she watched the doors like a mad woman. Lash would be out for a few hours. She hoped they had news by the time he woke up.

Killer sat beside her, groaning as he did. “I spend more time sitting on my ass in this f**king hospital than I do anything else.”

She smiled, even though she didn’t know what there was to be happy about.

“I know you’re freaking out over what’s happening and don’t want to know anything other than if Zero and Angel are going to be all right,” he said.

Turning toward him, she waited for him to finish.

“What I’m saying is I’ve been here a lot. I was here with Kelsey when she tried to kill herself and other times. Fuck, this doesn’t sound good at all.”

“Why don’t you just make your point?” she said, shaking.

“We’ve been to hell and back again, and yet we’re still here. Kelsey is my wife, and she’s pregnant with our first child. We’re all surviving.”

“What if this will be the one time they don’t?” she asked.

“I don’t allow myself to think or feel that way. Once you let the bad in, you can’t think of the good.” He tapped her hand. “Try to think positive about everything that is happening here.”

She nodded, watching him leave. Tiny was on the phone, and she watched him talking. Tears were streaking down his face.

After a couple of hours the doctor came out to tell her news. She listened, as did The Skulls as they were told Zero was fine. The bullets were easy to remove, and he’d be on his feet within the next forty-eight hours. Prue was thankful.

Angel was not doing as well. One of the bullets was next to her spine. Extracting the bullet with precision took time. Any wrong move and she might never walk again. Two of the bullets had been removed, and they didn’t know the extent of the damage. They were taking tests and observing the damage during surgery.

Prue sent up a prayer for the sweet woman. Alan was going to die, and she was going to make sure he hurt and would watch him die before she left his dead body. Running a hand down her face, she left the reception to go and see Lash.

He lay on the bed, which looked like it was going to collapse from his weight. The pain on his face was clear even in sleep.

Prue walked up to his bed side. She took his hand and couldn’t find the strength to smile.

“I’m sorry.”

The words were filled with much feeling, but she knew it didn’t matter to him what she said. If Angel didn’t make it out of this hospital alive, Lash would do everything in his power to hurt the one responsible.

Alan had won this round like he’d won the other two. Leaving Lash’s side, she made her way out of his room to wait for more news. Zero was going to survive, and now it was the wait to see about Angel.

****

Jumping up and down giddy at what he’d done, Alan stared at the room. Putting a cross through Angel’s picture and another through Lash, he giggled. The pain had been clear from that split second he got to see. Lurking in the shadows, he watched the car approach, his men fire and the ensuring chaos.

His plans were not over. He doubted Zero would stay in the hospital.

Circling Sophia’s head, he pocketed a knife

Lockdown was over, and the game could truly begin.

Chapter Twelve

“Devil has arrived in town. He’s at the clubhouse getting caught up with Alex, who made it back into town,” Tiny said.

Zero listened to his leader, his president, talk as he lay in bed with Prue sat beside him. The conversation being directed at him was not what he wanted to hear. Seeing Prue since waking up had been the highlight of his morning. The drugs they fed him kept him out of it for some time. He couldn’t feel a single thing. If it wasn’t for seeing the wounds covered by bandages, Zero wouldn’t believe he was actually shot.

“What happened to Angel?” he asked, cutting across Tiny.

The fact Lash wasn’t in his room and neither was Nash didn’t fill him with confidence.

Please, don’t let that woman, that angel, die for trying to protect me.

He closed his eyes, seeing her hands reaching up to push him out of the way. Before she even touched him, the bullets had hit her.

“What do you want to know?” Tiny asked.

Prue’s hand tightened inside his, locking their fingers together tightly.

“I want to know if she’s alive. She tried to protect me. I need to know that she’s okay,” he said, gritting his teeth. Tears filled his eyes, and he scrubbed them away.

“She’s alive,” Tiny said.

“Then what are you not telling me?”

He saw Tiny and Prue look at each other.

“Tell me, goddamn it. I need to know what else this bastard has done,” Zero said.

“She’s in a coma, and the doctors don’t know when she’s going to wake up.” Prue stopped, hesitating.

“What else? Give it all to me,” Zero said.

“They don’t know if she’ll be able to walk once she wakes up. They removed the bullet with minimal damage. We don’t know what will happen once she wakes up. She could walk again or need some physiotherapy to walk again or she may never walk again.”

He squeezed Prue’s hand. “Is Lash with her?” he asked.