“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” I scream and finish raising my gun. He just laughs, and before I can pop the safety and shoot, I hear another shot echo around the room. A burning like nothing I have ever felt in my life sears through my left shoulder, but I don’t even falter. This sick bastard just shot my friend, and I’ll be damned if anyone else here takes a bullet. It seems to take forever, but really, it’s only been seconds since Coop hit the floor, before I take a deep breath and fire my own weapon. When the recoil rocks me back, I lock my knees and keep my eyes trained on the sick fuck that just took my bullet between his fucking eyes.
I drop the gun, and with a sob, I rush towards where Coop’s body is lying motionless on the black tile floor. My ears hurt from the screams that are echoing throughout the office, and it takes me a second to realize that they are coming from my own mouth. When I reach his side, I slip and fall, crashing to the floor next to him. “COOP! Oh, God . . . Zeke Cooper, open your eyes, please! HELP! SOMEONE HELP US!” He opens his eyes for a second, but they slip closed just as I’m pulling his heavy body into my arms. I search his body, but when I see the dark red hole right in the middle of his stomach, I know this isn’t good.
“EMMY! Come on, Em, help me.”
She doesn’t even move.
“COOP, wake up, Babe! Please, God . . .” My sobs start to echo around me. I lean back, pull my tank top over my body, and press it tight against his stomach. I don’t know if this is going to help, but I’m not going to stop short of trying everything.
I know they had to have heard the shots next door. There is no damn way they didn’t. “MADDOX! God, PLEASE . . .” I sob, begging for the only person that can be any help now. Unless the guys in the back open that door, there is no way they can hear anything happening, but I keep trying.
“Coop, please . . . stay with me, Coop!” I keep pressure against his wound, but when the blood starts coming through my shirt and coating my hands, I start to panic.
“FUCK!” I’m not even sure how I hear Maddox scream over my sobbing, but he is immediately by my side. He pulls his shirt off and puts it on top of my hand. “Hold. Don’t fucking move.”
He bends down and speaks in Coop’s ear. Coop’s eyes open and he tries to nod his head, but his eyes widen before a sickening wet groan comes up his throat. I watch in horror as he coughs once and a massive amount of blood comes pouring out of his mouth. I try to shift my body so that I can offer him something, anything, but my legs slip and my body almost slides, crashing down when I lose my traction. I look down and notice the amount of blood that I’m kneeling in.
“Maddox!”
I call him to come help me, but he’s looking at Emmy as he barks orders into the phone. She still hasn’t moved from her spot behind the desk, tears still pouring down her face, and her small body shaking with so many violent waves, I know she’s about two seconds away from going into shock. Shit.
I see a flash of hot pink and long blond hair rush past me and down the hallway to the back of the building. I look up for a second to see Chelcie with her arms wrapped tightly around her belly, just shaking her head back and forth.
It doesn’t take long before Beck, Greg, and Axel come rushing down the hallway followed by a frantic, crying Sway. They don’t waste any time springing into action. I don’t move from my position, and continue pressing the two soaked shirts against his solid abdomen. Maddox finishes telling the 911 operator the rest of the details before slinging the phone across the room where it crashes against the wall.
“I’ve got it. Go get Em.” Greg’s rough voice, thick with emotion, tells Maddox when he moves to come back to Coop. He looks torn for a second between the man that is like his brother, and the woman that he’s been fighting his feelings for. With a heavy sob, he picks himself off the floor and rushes over to where she is sitting. She doesn’t move, but he picks her up from the chair and quickly carries her over to one of the couches. “Chelcie, find me a jacket, blanket, some fucking thing now!” His tone snaps her attention from Coop, and she rushes back through the office.
I bring my focus back to the men surrounding Coop and take in each one of their faces. They hold so much pain and grief. This is what the face of hopelessness looks like.
“No, no, no! Coop, Coop, you stay with us. Do you hear me?” I sob and scream. Beg for him to be okay. When the paramedics rush in and tell me to move out of the way, I refuse at first. I’m keeping him alive. How can they think of asking me to move! It takes both Beck and Greg to pull me off of his body. When they finally roll him into the back of their rig, I collapse and let out every single scream and ounce of agony left in my body as Beck holds me tight. Axel leaves with Coop, Maddox leaves in the second ambulance with Emmy, and when they come to tell me I need to be checked out, I fight them tooth and nail. Beck finally tells them that they will have to look me over while I sit in his arms.