Page 122 of Zeus

I reach for him, fighting against the restraints limiting my movements.

"Fuck," he mutters, pulling a knife from his tactical vest and cutting at the zip ties holding me to the chair.

I feel too weak to attempt reaching for him a second time, and that's probably for the best. I don't know that I could survive another rejection.

"You look worried," I manage, my throat on fire.

I cough, hating the way the concern in his eyes increases.

"He needs to get to the hospital," someone snaps. "Like fucking now."

"No," I say, pain radiating right from the middle of me and extending out to every inch of my body.

"Yes," Zeus growls. "Narcan only lasts for thirty to ninety minutes, and it's very fucking possible that it's going to wear off before the dope does."

"Get him up," someone demands, and I scream through the pain as I'm assisted out of the chair.

I'm carried from the room and up the stairs quickly, but in a more respectful way than I entered the fucking place.

Lights, sirens, and a blur of activity greet us outside.

A paramedic walks forward, a look of distaste on his young face, reluctance to help in his eyes. I know how it has to look to him. He's here, getting bits and pieces of information from many different sources, and he doesn't know what to believe. What he has figured out is that the men who look like I look, camo shirt, ripped jeans, and combat boots, aren't the ones he wants to help.

"He's fucking one of us," Zeus growls, the vibration of his voice right beside my ear.

The man shifts gears immediately, reaching out for me.

"Let's get him on the stretcher," the guy says, stepping out of the way when Zeus and the other man helping me refuse to hand me over.

"Drugged," Zeus snaps. "A dose of Narcan in the field. They think heroine and fent."

"Not good," the paramedic responds. "We've lost a lot of folks lately around here. Fent is dropping them like flies."

My head rolls to one side, my eyes seeking Zeus, only to find him with his fists wrapped in the man's uniform shirt.

"You won't lose this one," he growls. "Understand?"

The man nods quickly.

"I'm going with you," Zeus demands.

He isn't met with an argument about rules and regulations.

I wince as they load the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, the action jostling me back and forth.

I have no clue what parts of my body have been hurt, what can be fixed, what might've happened to me that I won't recover from. But when a haziness surrounds me, the pain losing its edge once again, I don't fight it. Even though my mind is working well enough to know what it may mean, the relief is greater than any other outcome I can think of.

Chapter 38

Zeus

I would've driven this fucking ambulance to the hospital myself if someone had refused to let me inside.

This whole fucking situation is my fault.

I carry full blame.

It would've been just another fucking day of us hating the fact that we're surrounded by racists who hurt women.