SWNOVELS Chapter 68 — Our End
-Dominic's POV-
Beep...
"He's fallen into a coma-"
Beep...
"But you said the operation was a success!"
Beep...
"It was sir, but you have to understand that he had severe blood loss and until the transfer was given, the damage was already done."
Nick pulled on his hair and turned away in annoyance and anger. All I could do though was continue staring at Blake's unconscious figure.
I hadn't slept in the three days that it had taken for Blake's recovery to become stable. When they needed a blood transfusion, I didn't hesitate to volunteer. Eating, drinking, the essentials had all been pushed into the back of my mind and all I could do was pray for Blake's safety.
Beside me, Jake was sitting in a chair by Blake's bed with his head in his hands. He had also just come back from his recovery for his bullet wound. Thankfully, his wasn't serious since I had already taken care of most of it, it just needed some antibacterial spray, restitching, and time to heal.
"I should have been there," he whispered to himself.
I knew that part of him felt like he was to blame. No matter how much I told him it wasn't his fault, as much as I told him that we'd do whatever we could to help Blake, he didn't believe me. It didn't stop him from screaming for his brother when Blake was rushed into surgery, it didn't stop him from staying up with me, day and night until we heard something to do with Blake's condition.
The rest of the guys were at home, either drinking or trying to pass the time less painfully as they wait for words from Nick.
Just as I had thought about this, Nick headed outside to go and call them. As he did, I thought about another issue that I knew I had to take care of, so I started walking out of the room when, "D...?" I turned back at Jake's weak call. His eyes were red and tired. His face demonstrated the suffering he was going through.
"I'll be back in a second, I just need to ask the nurse something," I answer with a low voice. I probably didn't look any better than him. My throat was dry and in pain, but I forced myself to ignore it.
"Come back soon," he pleaded, a little desperately. He felt alone and was afraid of losing someone else again. I understood that perfectly and nodded back to him before leaving the room and walking around to the next corridor. "Excuse me," I called out to the nurse who had just been in our room. Once she heard the call, she faced me with a small smile.
"How can I help you?" she asked, "How much will the hospital bills be?" I went straight to the point. my patience was completely depleted, and I just needed an answer. Her eyes looked at me with pity and with that alone, I knew I wasn't going to like the answer.
"Since you don't have any insurance, the full cost of the operation will be $150,000 and there will also be extra costs depending on how long you're going to keep Mr Lucifer at the hospital-"
"As long as he wakes up!" I replied instantly which took her back a bit.
"That may be another $1000 to $2000," she informed with a shaky voice. She had been scared of Nick and now I raised my voice too, making us seem horrible I'm sure.
"Alright, I'll be sure to pay the bill. Please send me an email with the full amount and I ask that you do not bring this subject up to any of the other people involved, is that clear?" I asked sternly, "But Ms-" "Please!" I begged a little louder and with hesitance, she nodded.
With that sorted, I went back into Blake's room to see that Jake had fallen asleep already and since there was only one person allowed to stay, I put a blanket, which had been left on the side of the room, on top of Jake before walking towards Blake.
I looked down at him one more time. This time I couldn't hold it in.
I broke down.
I put both hands on my mouth, trying to keep it shut, trying to keep myself together but failing horribly. I had to get out of there. So, without making too much noise, I picked up my bag and ran out of the hospital, hand stationed on my mouth.
-Nick's POV (four weeks later)-
"Has anyone heard anything from Dominic?" I asked the lads, filling the silence that seemed to have made itself comfortable in our schedules.
Jason shook his head and Zack replied with, "Nope" but Jake hadn't said anything. He looked as if he was in deep thought instead, unaware that I had even asked anything.
"Jake?" I asked calmly, making him snap out of it.
"Sorry, no, I haven't for a couple of weeks."
Seeing him this way upset me. You could tell that he was broken and suffering deeply. He and Blake had been inseparable since birth, losing their parents at a young age, they promised each other that they'd never leave the other. Of course, this was hard on him, I understood that. At the same time though, him not knowing where Dominic was was a little weird.
After the incident, William had explained everything to us, what was actually planned, what had happened, and how Jake was helping protect us. I felt like an idiot who kept messing up and even now wished I could turn back time to change what I believed was right, but it was impossible and all I could do was learn for the future from here on.
Arthur was staying with William now, trying to stay hidden from the leftover members of the Men of Mayhem. I told him he could stay with us, but he refused, saying that he doesn't want to put us in any more danger, so I let him go. That way it benefited us both.
I stood up after that and walked towards the nearest window while dialling a number on my phone. I looked up at the sunset as I put the phone to my ear, but it didn't ring. Instead what came through was a voicemail, "You've reached Dominic. Unfortunately, this number is unavailable at the moment. Please try calling again later." I let my hand drop for a second but decided not to give up.
Instead, I called Xavier and waited for it to ring but just like Dominic's phone, it went straight to voicemail, "Xavier here, I work from sunset to sunrise so if you're hearing this, that's why. Call me tomorrow or leave a message " I ended the call and went to sit back down.
I was being paranoid. They've gone street fighting, of course, they won't be replying.
I staid sitting while my fingers fidgeted, and I looked around in hopes to distract myself. This went on for a bit until, "Alright, I've had enough." I looked towards Jason, confused, and he came up to me before grabbing my hand and pulling me up. "I can't handle the fidgeting. Let's go to the bar and check if she's there, which she will be, and then we'll come back." He planned and then turned around to Jake, who seemed zoned out again.
"You coming, Jake?" Jason asked him with a softer voice, probably wanting Jake to get out of the house since he rarely did anymore. Jake looked up at us and shook his head negatively.
We then looked at Zack who had also watched Jake's answer. "I'll stay with Jake, you guys go," We hesitated but left soon after.
By the time we reached the bar, the sun was gone, and darkness loomed over us. Jason and I walked towards the entrance of the building which should have been easy to get into yet when we were about to step inside, the guard stopped us. "Nickolas Secter?" he asked, "Yes?"
After hearing my reply he blocked the entrance completely, "I'm under strict orders of my boss not to let you in at any costs. I'd like to ask you to leave."
"But I-!" I was about to start but Jason pulled me back as I struggled against him slightly.
"Nick! We can't cause a scene here. Let's go, we'll just call Xavier again," I growled at the guard but turned to leave anyway. Just as I did, I was stopped again, except this time by a phone call. In hopes that it was Dominic, I picked up without looking at the caller ID, but it wasn't Dominic's voice through the line, it was Jake's.
"I'm sorry Nick, there's something I have to tell you."
-Xavier's POV-
"Dominic, I won't let you keep fucking yourself over like this! You have to eat properly damn it!" I shouted at her, reminding her every day now, and yet nothing seemed to change.
"You worry unnecessarily Xavier, I keep telling you I'm fine," she started saying in disagreement with a rough voice as she lifted her energy drink, ready to down it but I grabbed her wrist and forced her to look me in the eye instead. I was desperate. I needed her to change this new routine of hers or else she'd kill herself before Blake woke up. I needed her to see that.
And yes, this had started ever since Blake went into a coma. She had been fighting night and day in order to gain enough money for his hospital bills. She stuck to eating the bare minimum of a sandwich a day and the rest of her diet consisted of energy drink and pills or protein shakes but only if I forced that on her. If she wasn't fighting, she probably wouldn't eat at all.
I knew how much Blake meant to her, but this wasn't worth that. Her health had to be her top priority.
Yet at the same time, I didn't have the gut to call Nick and tell him about her state in order to help change it. It wasn't because I was afraid of Nick. Not at all. I hadn't told him because of Dominic.
When she told me four weeks ago, that she had to do this to replace the guilt she had and that I 'couldn't tell a soul' about what she was doing, I couldn't go against her. I understood from just her facial expression that Blake's coma was haunting her, that the fault was all hers and she had to do whatever she could to repay him. This seemed minor in comparison to his suffering. I understood but I didn't agree. I respected her desperation though. That was one reason. She even made our boss ban Nick from entering at any point in the day, so he doesn't see her condition. She was serious.
Seeing that also made me worry about what she would start doing behind my back if I started going against her too. As much as I hated this, I didn't want her doing it alone. That was my main second reason.
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"I've...finally got enough money saved up to pay the bill," She said, slightly breathless and then flinched a little before holding her chest in either discomfort or pain. I sat next to her quickly and sighed, trying to think about what to do. I reached towards a water bottle that was next to me and switched Dominic's energy drink with it. "Hey!"
"If you're going to fight in this bar then you're going to do it the way I want you to from now on. Not only do you fight here, but you also work at the gym and I cannot afford you to lose yourself now." She looked at the water bottle with disgust, so I shot her a look that told her that I was serious. She replied with wide eyes.
Just when she was about to start drinking the water, she groaned out loud and bent forward which alerted me.
"Demon? Hey, you okay?" I asked in panic while supporting her up, but she seemed to not be able to reply. She grabbed onto my hand and squeezed it hard.
"I-it hurts, Xavier, help m-me, please." My legs shook slightly seeing her in this state, but I stayed strong and stood up, ready to help.
Another wave of pain must have gone through her because she groaned again which was my sign to make a move.
As I decided to pick her up, I felt Dominic suddenly going limp in my arms. I looked down at her panicked, "Demon?" I called, shaking her a little but her eyes closed, and she slowly fell unconscious. "Shit." -Nick's POV-
"What?"
"I know I should have told you! But when I overheard her talking to the nurse, she said she didn't want any of us to know, and I just felt like I should respect that..." Jake looked down in what looked like shame after explaining the whole situation to me.
I wasn't mad at him, I couldn't be, I was too shocked to feel anger. "But $150,000 is a fuck ton of money...She would have to work all day and night," I mumbled and Jake, unfortunately, nodded at my words.
"I know," he replied, "I went to check up on her two weeks ago because I had a bad feeling about her overworking like that and I was right. I could tell that she wasn't eating or sleeping properly-"
as he continued, a wave of sadness held my body in a suffocating grip, but I didn't have the time to let it settle in because my phone started ringing.
I looked at the caller ID and my body tensed when I saw Xavier's name flash across my screen.
"Xavier?"
As Xavier started talking to me, my teeth unconsciously gritted together, and my hand swam through my hair, tugging from time to time. When he was done, I hung up and got ready to leave with the other guys who had also been listening in behind me.
I swung my door open, prepared to start rushing towards my car but instead, I was forced on my doorstep by a group of men in uniform. -Dominic's POV-
In the past few weeks, all I could think about was how much I owed my life to Blake for not only saving me from the bullet, but also supporting me, loving me, and giving so much to me. His time, his love, his care. He gave it all to me, and I had never thanked him.
I didn't know what I would do if I was never able to see him wake up and tell him all this. I didn't want to think about the possibilities if things went wrong, so I spent my time on things like fighting and the gym.
Not even sleep left me alone, as I would see his face as his chest was shot, the way his body stood frozen before collapsing, his eyes shutting. Nightmare after nightmare. When awake, if I wasn't physically doing something, I'd overthink and imagine him never opening his eyes ever again.
I gave up on sleeping, only doing so when my vision started to go blurry, and only for four hours at the most.
I had completely lost my appetite ever since that day too, forcing myself to eat at least once a day to keep some of my muscle mass, but even that was a struggle. Somewhere along the way, I had forgotten about my medication too, and now I was faced with the consequences. Unconscious. Unaware of the time or place.
"D?"
I suddenly heard a voice in my dark world. A voice I hadn't heard in a while.
"D, wake up!"
It was an echo at first, but then it started getting clearer.
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Slowly, I opened my eyes, greeted by the sun's rays. I squinted before looking around and realising I was in a familiar hospital room. Wasn't it Blake's room?
"You're finally awake."
My eyes widened, and I looked to the side slowly, to the left where Blake's bed was. He was there. Awake.
I chuckled for a moment. The chuckle turned into a laugh before slowly lessening into a smile as I looked back into his beautiful eyes. My soul felt as if it had experienced a miracle in seeing them again; it felt light. "I could say the same for you," I replied, making him grin back at me.
"I love you." We both declared in unison, causing us to chuckle together.
"The nurse told me what you've been doing. Thank you for taking care of me, even if it meant not taking care of yourself."
I smiled. "Thank you for saving my life, even if it meant nearly losing your own." It was the beginning of my long list of things to thank him for.
"It's alright, I knew my girlfriend would take care of me!"
Our laughs were interrupted by a knock on the door, which ripped us out of our little moment. We watched as the door opened and my smile turned into a straight line as two policemen walked into the room.
"The two individuals have been identified as Blake Lucifer and Dominic Secter, Skulls and Bones gang member and street fighter." One said into a mic, "You are both under arrest, along with the rest of the gang-"
The rest of his statement was drowned out when Blake and I looked at each other again. We both knew this was going to happen eventually, and instead of being worried or scared, I was actually very relaxed, and Blake seemed to be feeling the same thing.
"See you when we're released?"
"Hell yeah."
I turned on my chair and faced the guys who were sat around the room, casually having fun as if they didn't live one of the most messed-up lives.
"I'm finally done!" I announced, making them all look at me with smiles and grins growing on their faces.
"Congrats!"
I nodded back at their celebrations.
"Also, thank you to the guys who wrote those chapters, it made the story way better." I complimented, completely genuine, feeling an empty peace now.
"No problem, love," Blake replied from next to me, his arm circling around my waist, pulling me into a side hug, which I accepted happily.
"I personally think, if I wrote some chapters, the book would be a worldwide bestseller!" Zack exclaimed causing us all to laugh.
Suddenly a notification sound came from my phone, which caught my attention.
Xavier: Come down here Demon, you're on in an hour.
I grinned again and grabbed my bag, "Well, I gotta go, a street fighter's night begins now. I'll see you guys later?" I asked and got nods around the room.
"Make sure you're not late for the meeting with the rest of the gang tomorrow," Nick reminded me, and I gave him a two-finger salute as I left to indicate I got it. With that, I walked out of the door, ready for my next fight.
-The End-