Page 58 of Point Proven
Matt stood frozen, eyes locked on the pool of Thorne’s life force seeping into the carpet. Swallowing the lump forming, I pointed a finger at him. “Matt.Levander.”
Blinking, he turned his attention to me. “What…”
“Levander!” I practically screamed, fumbling with my phone to call for help.
With one last look, he took off toward Levander’s penthouse, another set of worries lining his features.
While my phone rang, I brushed away the fallen tears on my face. “Oren. Oren, I need you to keep applying pressure.”
But he was sobbing, hands trembling as saltwater carved rivers into his cheeks. “No. Baby, no. I-I… It won’t stop. It won’t stop. Get it to s-stop, Sai.”
Thorne groaned, grabbing Oren’s hand. “Stop… Stop, dove… Look… Look at me…”
Lifting those cerulean irises to Thorne, his lip wobbled. “But… I need… need to stop it.”
The line clicked, a woman’s voice flooding through as I rattled off our location, briefly explaining the situation as Itriedto maintain a level tone. Thorne… Fuck, he was dying.
Dying.
Skin paling with each passing second, he sank deeper into Oren’s arms. “I-I… I… I love you, dove… I need you… to stay strong for Simon, and help… help rescue Liam… It’ll be okay.”Lifting a shaking hand, he brushed his bloodied thumb over Oren’s cheek. “I promise… it’ll be okay…”
Resting his forehead against Thorne’s, Oren took his hand, interlacing his fingers. “Please… No. I can’t… can’t without you.” Another wail shook his body, the tremor wracking his frame.
Chest rattling, Thorne nestled closer, his lids fluttering. “I’ll always… be with… with you… I promise… I love…” His arm slackened, his chin dipping in toward Oren as his eyes slowly closed.
“I-I love… love you too…” Cradling Thorne’s head to his chest, he was still applying pressure to the wound with his other hand—a fruitless cause considering the amount of his essence coating Oren and the floor.
I watched in horror as Thorne’s breath stilled, his body going slack in Oren’s arms. My hold on the phone loosened as Oren immediately caught the shift, palm cradling his cheek.
“Baby?”
Shaking him gently, the horror slowly washed over his face at the realization that Thorne wasn’t breathing. Panic washed over my best friend, his breath sharp and rapid.
“No. No, no, no, you… you wake up. Please.Please!” Snapping his attention to me, his cry was guttural. “Sai, he’s not… he’s not breathing!”
Without waiting for my reply, he lowered Thorne to the ground, immediately tilting his chin upward as his lips sealed around Thorne’s. Oren’s tears mixed with Thorne’s blood, each breath he pumped into him more futile than the last. Positioning his palms against his sternum, he pressed inward, but it had the opposite effect as crimson spurted from the wound.
Ripping his hand away, I turned to Oren. “Stop. You’re making it worse. You… You can’t because of the wound.”
Thrashing against me, he shouted, “Let me go! Sai, let me go!”
“The medics are on their way. Oren, they’ll be here soon.”
As if on cue, they stormed into the hallway, quickly approaching as Oren yanked himself from me. “I-I need… I need to breathe into him. He…” His finger pointed at Thorne. “He needs me. He… He… Ilovehim.” His words came out broken, more desperate as the medics immediately attended to Thorne’s lifeless body.
Hauling Oren to me, I wrapped my arm around him. “I’ve got you… I’ve got you, Oren.”
Still fighting against me, I continued to hold him as Matt appeared, carrying an injured Levander. While everything descended into chaos, I clung to Oren, keeping him from blocking the medics, but also to prevent myself from rupturing because Thorne wasdead.
I wasn’t sure there would be any way to revive him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
OREN
Dried crimson stained my hands, my relentless scrubbing having worked only some of it away. The rest coated the underside of my nails, stark against the hospital bed they were splayed on. With the metronomic beeps playing in the background, I adjusted the sheet over his torso, tucking it in slightly to keep him warm… If… If he even needed it.
The doctors had worked through the night to not only bring him back but also keep him stable. He’d lost a lot of blood, and it was even a miracle that after he was revived, he fought long enough to receive a transfusion.
