Begin Again || Nate Maloley

|| Chapter 4

"He said Tony's Deli. It's right over there, Jack."

Jack made a hard right turn, screeching the tires, and I hopped out before he could even switch the gear into park.

"Nate!" I shouted.

"Over here," I hear his weak voice call out to me from behind a stack of wooden crates.

I ran toward his voice and was horrified by the sight of his blood-soaked t-shirt. His entire right hand was painted red as he pressed onto the wound on his abdomen & his face was damp with tears.

"It hurts so much," his speech slurred. "It won't stop bleeding. You gotta take me to my friend's house, he'll know what to do."

"No, we have to get you to a hospital," I insisted as I heard Jack's running footsteps behind me.

"I said...take me to my friend's house. Big Mike. I'll tell you how to get there. Just...hurry."

I quickly looked at Jack. "Help me get him into your car."

"What? No, are you crazy? Call 911, he'll bleed all over the seats too," Jack disgustingly replied.

"Fuck yo seats," Nate spat.

"Jack, I swear to God!" I gave him the evil eye.

He bounced on his toes with hesitation to help and then finally gave in. We brought Nate to his feet and he groaned in pain. I sat in the backseat and had him rest his head in my lap as Jack drove.

"Take Miller Road to High Street to Franklin and it's the house with the red SUV," Nate uttered.

"Pretty vague directions," Jack replied.

"Jack..." I shook my head and looked down at Nate, feeling his forehead. "Nate, do you mind telling me what the hell happened?"

His fingers wiggled on the towel I gave him to press onto his wound & try to at least slow the bleeding.

"Fuckin' Foosh," he began.

"Foosh did this?! Your own friend?" I yelled.

"Let me finish," he replied. "Foosh owed this guy some money and he couldn't find Foosh. He found me first. Told me to send him a message and the message was him stabbing me in the fuckin' stomach."

"Oh my God," I whispered. "Why do you hang out with these people, Nate?"

"I already told you."

"I'm sorry but how do you know this guy?" Jack interrupted.

"She is allowed to know dudes that aren't pretty boys," Nate snapped.

"Guys, not now," I stated. I wondered if Nate was the oil to everyone's water. His only solid bond has been between his boys. I wanted in, too. But right now, I needed to focus on getting him to safety. "Let me see how it looks."

I turned the car light on and made Nate move his hand, lifting the towel & his shirt. It didn't look good. It was starting to look blue & purple.

"What?" Nate looked up at me, unable to see his wound at the same scale.

"I'm sorry," I said to him. "Jack...take us to the hospital. And Nate, whatever you're worried about as far as hospitals go, I'm sure it'll be fine. If you get questioned I'll just say I was with you and we got mugged and you fought to protect me and they stabbed you. That's all."

Nate's jaw clenched and his lips pursed tight. "I said...no hospital."

"You're going! Your wound is infected. If you don't die from bleeding out, you'll die from blood poisoning," I explained.