Hard Brake (Wilkins Brothers Book 2)

Chapter 23

CAMILA

“Come on, baby, you need to wake up for me. Please.”

It felt like a dream, it had to be a dream because there was no way that voice I was hearing from Gruff’s. Maybe it wasn’t a dream at all, maybe I was dead and this was him speaking to me in the afterlife or something. I don’t know if you can feel pain in the afterlife, though. That doesn’t seem reasonable and the amount of pain I am currently in can only mean one thing, I am definitely alive.

I didn’t realize that opening my eyelids could hurt so much, but it took all the effort I could muster to open them. The bright lights of the room I was in were too much that I closed them again and let out a groan.

“Hey, turn off the lights for you.” There it was again, the voice that sounded exactly like Gruff’s. “That’s it, Camila, come back to me, okay?”

I groaned as I opened my eyes, this time it wasn’t near as bright. Even with the lights off, the room was still bright enough for me to recognize the man standing next to the bed with a whole lot of worry on his face. He tried to mask it with a smile, but it wasn’t the type of smile that took up his entire face. He reached for my face and ever so gently ran his thumb across my cheeks. ‘Gruff?” I barely recognized my own voice, my throat felt like I hadn’t had water in days, then again maybe that was true, I had no idea how long I had been out.

“Hey, babe, it’s me. God, I am so happy to see you. I was worried sick.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re at the hospital right now. You’ve been through quite a bit, but you’re alive and awake so that’s something I’m sure as hell happy about.”

The events begin to unfold in my head and I find myself in a state of panic. I try to sit up, but my entire body hurts and I have IVs running through my arms. “Where are Nico and Anna? Where are my babies?” I try to yank at the IV, but Gruff takes my hands and holds them in his, pressing his lips against them for just a moment.

“Take a deep breath for me, Camila. Nico and Anna are just down the hallway in the waiting room. They are here and they are safe.” He to his left and for the first time, it clicks that we’re not alone. “This is Sheriff Radcliffe, do you remember talking to him?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Okay, good. Radcliffe has this entire floor protected. Seriously, they almost handcuffed me when I got off the elevator because it has to be illegal to look this good.” Gruff smiled at me and I laughed, the smile on my face didn’t last long because the laughing caused my ribs to hurt, and then I was reminded how horribly dry my throat was. “Shit, I’m sorry, babe, I didn’t mean to make it worse.”

“It’s okay, can I have some water?” Gruff grabs a cup off the bedside table and moves the straw towards my mouth so I can take a small drink. The cool liquid feels so nice, relieving some of the pain in my throat right away.

“How long have I been here?” I look at Sheriff Radcliffe.

“They brought you in about two hours ago. You were knocked unconscious when the car you were driving in ran into a police barricade. Would you like me to go get the doctor so he can over everything with you?”

I nod my head, “Yes, please, but before you go..um...Miguel?”

Radcliffe shakes his head, “He’s gone, Ma’am. Multiple gunshot wounds.”

“He’s dead,” I whisper for clarification while Gruff squeezes my hand just a bit tighter.”

“He’s dead, Camila, along with four others. Another five were taken into the custody of the FBI. Almost all of them had warrants already, so combined with the most recent charges, they won’t be seeing the outside of a prison cell again.”