The atmosphere in the hospital's waiting room was completely chaotic. The guys were pacing around, Andre punching the wall while Adam and Rob were cursing every deity and entity they could muster up in their minds. They immediately knew who shot Beck. They knew who their enemies were. Dominique warned them about the Canaos ambition to start the war with their family and there were only two families associated with them LA. They wanted their vendetta to start as soon as possible. They wanted blood.
The girls, on the other hand, were a different story. Jade was completely broken down, weeping uncontrollably, claiming it was all her fault because she refused to listen to him.
"I stormed off without listening to him. I stormed off to the bar and he followed me. He wanted to talk to me and I didn't even try to listen. And now he… now he…" Jade didn't dare to finish the sentence, the moment bringing back old memories and opening old wounds.
"He's not dead Jade. The doctors are doing everything they can. He will make it." The crying Tori told her crying cousin as she walked towards her and wrapped her arms around her, trying to offer her devastated cousin at least some sort of comfort.
"But… but what if…" Jade said through her sobs, but Cat cut her off.
"There is no if. He will make it. He has to." She said, trying to help Tori calm Jade down.
"If he doesn't make it, I will kill them. Every…single…one…of…them!" Adam yelled; his hands turning white from clutching them. Cat walked over to him and put her hands on his, trying to calm him down.
"We need to go tell Roy first. Without his permission, we can't do anything." Rob says, anger poring out in his voice.
"Are you kidding me? I will choke the life out of each one of then when I see them!"
"We can't do anything without his permission!" Roy yelled back at Andre.
"I don't give a fuck about his permission! They shot Beck, and they will pay for it!" Andre yelled back.
"They didn't aim for Beck! They aimed for Jade!" Rob yelled, trying to keep his rational state of mind. "Don't you guys understand?" He asked, looking at both Andre and Adam." They want exactly this. They want us to react out of anger so we do something stupid. They wanted Jade. They wanted to make Roy do something stupid; to make a mistake. Only so can they get the advantage, and we can't give them that!" Rob yelled, taking initiative.
"I'm tired of this diplomatic bullshit that…" Adam began, but stopped as soon as he saw the doctor walk out of the emergency room. Everyone immediately ran towards him, bombarding him with questions, but one voice standing out.
"How is he?" Jade yelled at him, grabbing his by his collars.
"He's stable. Two bullets hit him in the left shoulder, breaking resulting in the fracture of the bone. He's lucky that you stopped the bleeding before the ambulance arrived." The doctor explained. Everyone let out a long sigh of relief, thanking life for not letting Beck slip away.
"Thank god." Jade said in a broken voice, the weight of the world having been taken of her shoulders.
"Can we see him?" Andre asked the doctor.
"He is asleep and needs to rest. You can come and see him tomorrow." The doctor told them before excusing himself and walking away.
"I will stay here." Jade said, getting everyone's attention. "I want to be here when he wakes up."
"I'll stay with you." Tori said, wiping away the few tears left on her cheeks.
"So will I." Cat said as she placed her hand on Jade's arm and gave it a light squeeze.
"Thank you." Jade said with a small, sad smile as she looked at both of them.
"I'll go and let Roy know what happened. Until I'm back, you two stay here and make sure no one comes to finish the job." Rob told the two enforcers. "Just for a moment stop and think about what I told you. You know that it's true. We can't do any mistakes now. Beck wouldn't have let us either."
"You are right." Andre admitted with a sigh.
"We'll stay here. Go, tell Roy what happened." Adam told him. Rob nodded before walking out of the hospital. He made his way to the car and sat down inside before punching the steering wheel and letting his stored emotions out. He didn't allow himself to do that in front of the others. He needed to stay rational. But now, at least for a short moment, he could allow himself to cry out of anger and joy.
The two were left standing in front of Beck's hospital room's door while the girls went inside.
The moment Jade walked inside, she saw Beck lying in his bed, his eyes closed and his chest slowly rising and lowering with every small breath he takes. She immediately remembered what happened barely hours ago. How he threw himself in front of her, knowing that he would be shot; that it could have killed him. Jade knew that he only survived by a miracle. That he only survived because the bullet didn't hit him a little bit more to the right. Her father didn't throw himself in front of his wife to protect her. He didn't throw himself in front of his daughter to try and shield her from the gunfire. Yet, each one of the guys did so, shielding someone they cared about. Beck protected her. Andre protected Tori. Adam protected Cat. Rob jumped in front of Adam and Cat just to make sure nothing happened to them. Jade realized that moment that they weren't liars. They weren't cold heated as her father was. She realized that Beck had told the truth the whole time. That he honestly loved her.
Tears again made their way down her cheek at the thoughts, quilt overcoming her. She wished the bullets had hit her instead of him. She wished it was her life that was on the verge instead of his. She felt a hand on her shoulder as she turned around and saw Cat standing next to her. Cat put a chair next to Jade's and sat down, wrapping both arms around her. She didn't say a word, and words weren't necessary. She learned that from Adam a long time ago. Actions always spoke louder than any words of any language. She let Jade cry her tears out silently. She knew that it was hard to talk about such things. She understood.
Tori watched the scene, a small smile forming on her face. Jade had surrounded herself with an nearly impenetrable wall, letting nobody in except Tori herself. But now, she slowly began to open up again. She slowly let people in again. She allowed them to get to know the real her. And more importantly, she allowed them to comfort her when she needed it.
Tori slowly left the room, wanting to check how Andre and Adam were. She saw the two leaning against the wall with their head down.
"Are you guys okay?" She asked in a concerned voice. They both rose their heads, just enough to look at her. She walked over to Andre and wrapped her arms around his neck, knowing that he had almost lost his best friend. He hugged her back, holding back his tears as much as he could.
"It's okay to cry." Tori whispered to him. Andre let it go that moment, tears freely flowing down onto Tori's shoulder and neck. There was no doubt, the guys were all close. It couldn't have left them unfazed, no matter how much they try to act like it did. After a minute, they separated. Tori turned her head to look at Adam, who still kept a stoic expression. She walked in front of him, getting his attention.
"What about you?" She asked.
"I'm fine." Adam asked.
"No, you are not." Andre told him with a laugh. "Sorry, man. But after all those years, I know when you are acting it out." He said as he wiped away his own tears. Adam let out a small chuckle himself.
"You are right. I'm not." He said, a single tear making its way down his right cheek. Before he could wipe it away, he felt two arms around his neck.
"Beck's lucky to have friends like you." Tori told him. He hugged her back for a moment, allowing himself that one moment of comfort.
"Thank you, Tori." He told her in a warm voice as they separated.
"Beck got what?" Mr. West gasped, Rob delivering the news to him.
"He got shot because he protected Jade. He took the bullets for her. He's stable tough." Rob finished.
"They…they tried to shoot Jade?" Roy asked, his voice shaky as his hands were trembling.
"Yes. And if it hadn't been for him, they would have succeeded." Rob said.
Roy flipped over his desk in anger, letting out a loud, primal scream filled with rage.
"I managed to calm Andre and Adam down so they don't do anything stupid. Any you shouldn't either. We can't make any mistakes, Roy. That's exactly what the Canaos want." Rob told him.
"I'll call Dominique and let him now. As soon as he takes the cuffs off, we will strike back." Roy told him.
"Good. We need to stay smart. If we act out of anger, we are fucked." Rob said. Rob let out a laugh, looking at the young man.
"With every day that passes you become more like your father, Rob." Roy said, calming down slowly. "He would also always take control and stay calm when I would go crazy. It's what made us successful."
"I'm glad to hear that." Rob said, old memories coming up.
By now, Tori and Cat were both asleep on one of the sofas, Cat having sat down in Tori's lap so they could have enough space. Jade told them they could leave, but neither would. She looked through the glass of the door and saw that Andre and Adam were still standing there, talking about something. She walked back to her chair that was next to Beck's bed and sat down again, taking his hand into hers and giving it a light squeeze. She fell asleep a few minutes later, fatigue finally overwhelming her.
"I always knew it would happen one day and still…" Andre said as he looked at his friend.
"I know what you mean. The day went so well. We let our guard down. For one moment we let it down and shit happened." Adam said.
"At least Beck's alive. It could have been much worse."
"If it had ended up worse, neither you nor I would be standing here." Adam said with a small smile.
"No, we would be at one of their places raising hell and probably end up shot. Or in some Golero blood." Andre joked.
"You think it was them?"
"I do. I even have an idea who fired the bullets."
"If it was Pete, I'm going to screw his head off." Adam said. Andre only nodded.
"He knows where the hangouts are. That treacherous son of a bitch will pay, I promise you that."
"Don't worry, we'll make sure of that."
Jade woke up later, looking around and remembering where she was. She looked at the clock. It was six AM. She had slept for two hours only. Still, she was wide awake when she noticed that someone was giving her hand a squeeze. She turned her head looked at Beck. He was looking at her with his brown eyes, a smile forming on the edge of his lips. She almost broke again when she heard his voice.
"Thank god you're safe." Beck told her before she wrapped both arms around him and crashed her lips on his.