Book 3: Saving Scars {BoyxBoy}

Chapter 28

"Do you realize how much trouble you're in, Levesque?" Gil asked with a furious expression on his face as he leaned against the foot of Jacob's hospital bed, "I told you to look after Pete, and you go off and get yourself shot full of holes? You can't watch after my brother dead, now can you?"

Jacob's reply was to offer Gilbert a guilty smile as he shifted in the bed to prop himself up on his elbows, grunting to suppress the pain and hissing through his teeth, "I'm sorry. I... didn't ask for this to happen, you know."

Gil nodded and bowed his head, "You scared all of us."

"I know," Jacob said softly, lifting his head when the door opened and smiling when he saw Peter step into the room. His old friend gasped seeing him awake and sitting up, and rushed to his bedside to cup his hands around his face, his expression scolding.

"Why are you doing sitting up? Doctor Marin told you not to move around!"

Jacob laughed weakly and let Peter help him lie back down, sighing and taking one of his smaller hands, squeezing, "I'm fine, Pete."

"Fine enough to talk?" Jacob looked over Peter's shoulder to see Kieran standing in the doorway with Ben, "I don't want to push you. If you don't want to talk about what happened, I can come back, but be lucky I convinced our sister PD to let me question you."

Jacob rolled his head on the pillow to stare up at the ceiling, "I think I've been quiet long enough. What do you need to know?"

"What happened," Kieran answered simply, stepping into the room with Ben and Sebastian bouncing behind him. Kieran moved to one side of the bed and sat down in the chair there, while Peter stayed on Jacob's right, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding Jacob's hand.

Ben took his place standing behind Peter with a hand squeezing his shoulder, while Gilbert and Sebastian stayed at the foot of the hospital bed, watching their brother's childhood friend curiously. Jacob nodded his head slowly in understanding, swallowing thickly before speaking.

"Kids should probably leave," he suggested, and Ben looked over at Gilbert and Sebastian.

"Go check on Wolfgang, alright?"

Gil nodded, but Seb pouted as his older brother dragged him from the room quickly. When the door shut, Jacob seemed to relax, sighing and lifting his left hand to rub at his face, tightening his grip on Peter's hand as he started his story.

"The chief and I were going down for a quick follow up. We wanted to double check the statements from Matthew Shaw, Leanne Clarke, and George Ackley. The first cell we came to was Shaw's, but it was wide open, and... Xavier was leaning up against it, playing with his gun," he swallowed again before continuing, his voice quiet, "I could tell something was up by how nonchalant he was acting, not at all concerned one of our prisoners was gone. I noticed he was the one holding the cell keys and pulled out my gun, but he just... he just smiled at me, like he expected I wouldn't shoot," he paused, "Like he knew I wouldn't shoot," his voice trembled, and he grit his teeth as he glared up at the fluorescent lights, "What would you have done in that situation? My partner turned on me, so easily. I didn't even try to go after him until he'd fired off four rounds into my damn gut," his left hand clutched the sheets above his stomach, his right squeezing Peter's hand tighter.

"Then he cuffed the Chief to the cell and took his weapons before the man could get him down. Xavier... I spent years with him, working with him, and not once did I notice anything other than dedication and loyalty to the force and to his uncle. I was damn wrong," he paused again to take a calming breath, shutting his eyes, "I'm not sure how, but he dodged each bullet I aimed at him, like he was trained to do it. He moved like some sort of special ops agent, getting around me and stabbing me to incapacitate my movement. I dropped, he put the barrel of his gun to the Chief's back, then strutted out. I... I passed out."