Children of Fire (Complete)

seventy-one

Gideon

I practically ran into the hospital, soliciting a few dirty looks from some of the patients and doctors around. I found the elevator, but opted out and took the stairs instead, I could get there quicker that way. I bounded up the stairs, taking them two by two until I got to the third floor of the hospital. There was a prospect just beside the door, he nodded at me as I passed. As I reached out to open the door to Emerson's room, Doctor Lindsay was walking out.

"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked her, seeing the clipboard clutched tightly to her chest.

"Oh, what? Yeah, everything is great. She's awake, but probably not for long. She needs some rest and her body is close to shutting down again. Go and visit with her while she's still coherent." Lindsay said, beaming up at me. Wonder what she was so cheerful about?

"Thanks, doc. I really appreciate it." I told her, walking past her and into the room. I heard the door click shut behind me and saw Emerson on the bed, her eyes wet with tears. "Hey, baby. Is everything okay? Are you hurting? I can get the doctor and we can get you another dose of morphine."

"No, Gideon." She interrupted me. "I'm fine. Everything is fine, I'm just tired."

"Okay, do you want some sleep? We can curl up and watch trashy reality tv until you fall asleep. I won't even complain about it this time." I offered, pushing the tray away from her without looking at it. I kicked my boots off and crawled into the hospital bed with her, pulling the sheets over us and maneuvering my arm so that it was wrapped around her. She laughed gently and I could see her wince with pain. "Shit, baby, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I'm okay. Promise you won't make fun of my shitty reality tv?" She asked, smiling softly at me.

"I promise." I said, crossing my finger over my heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Don't say that, I hope you're always here with me." She said, draping her arm over my waist.

"I'll always be here right next to you, Emerson." I whispered into her ear, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. "Now, get some sleep. I'm not going anywhere." She nodded and nuzzled into my chest, her scent was still there over the sterile smell of the hospital, and I felt myself drifting off to sleep at the rhythmic sound of her soft snoring.

I almost couldn't believe the things that had happened to my poor girl in the past 24 hours. I had to tell myself numerous times over the past day not to blame myself for what happened to her, but how could I not? I left her at the clubhouse, a place where she was supposed to be safe, and she was taken from me. I knew I shouldn't have given Ray a second chance, but now I wouldn't have to worry about him anymore, thankfully. He was gone, Linda was gone, Greyson and her dad were gone. The only person standing in the way of our happiness was Callahan, and we would deal with him soon enough.

As if some celestial being could hear my thoughts, my phone started vibrating wildly in my pocket. I fished it out as quickly as possible so Emerson wouldn't wake up, but she was still next to me snoring loudly with her mouth hanging open and drool forming on the corner of her lips. I smiled softly at her and brought the phone my ear. "What's going on?"

"Hey, how is she?" Killian asked. I had given him the task of getting in touch with Callahan's associates that I knew were trustworthy. Associates that had openly complained about his tyranny before, but were too small to do anything about it. The thing about Callahan, is that he chooses his affiliates wisely. He would never choose to do business with anyone stronger than him, but if enough of his smaller associates bounded together, we would be able to take him down. The only person that Callahan dealt with that was more powerful than him were his international arms dealers. They tended to stay out of his affairs, though. As long as he was able to move their product, they stayed out of the way... however, if he was unable to push his product in a timely manner, they would most likely be forced to step in-- which is what I was hoping for.