CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN

          THE BRUNETTE WASN'T FULLY CONSCIOUS AS HER HEAD LOLLED TO THE SIDE, HER VISION HAZY AND UNFOCUSED AS SOME STRANGER FLASHES A LIGHT INTO HER FACE. The harshness of it left spots dancing in her eyes, making it even harder to make sense of what was happening around her. Her body felt disconnected, numb except for the searing pain in her shoulder.

Lucy could hear muffled voices as hurried footsteps surrounded her along with urgent shouts and the rustle of equipment. The pain was almost too much to bear, her shoulder throbbing like it was on fire, but her mind was too foggy to process it fully.

A voice, close to her, whispered something but she couldn't make out the words. She then felt a pressure against her shoulder, someone working quickly but it felt distant. A painful moan escaped her mouth and she felt another hand stick a needle into her hand. Her head was pounding into the worst headache she had ever experienced and if she were honest she wanted to die.

The cool air of the warehouse, the flashing lights, the pounding headache. They all faded into one heavy blur as she fought to stay conscious. Her eyelids drooped, too heavy to keep open.

The woman felt herself slipping away, like she was drifting outside of her own body and floating above the chaos that had become her life. It was as if she was watching everything from a distance. Lucy had heard about this before, of people experiencing death when they'd just float up and watch it go by like a horror film. 

The brunette saw herself lying there, motionless and in a pool of her own blood. Her skin was sickly pale and her chest barely moved. EMT's worked on her frantically, one pressing against her shoulder to stop the bleeding and another inserting and IV into her limp arm to get fluids going. It felt surreal, like this wasn't her life.

Her gaze shifted across the room and landed on Rio. He was unconscious, sprawled out a few feet away from where she lay with EMT's surrounding him too. His face was ashen and his body unnaturally still. The medics worked with urgency, their gloved hands covered in blood as they tried to save his life. 

None of this was real and she was going to wake up. 

At least, she hoped so.

And then her eyes found Turner, who stood off to the side and removed from the scene with a grim face as he spoke on the phone. The blue glow of the screen lit up his bruised features in the dim warehouse as his gaze flickered between her and Rio. He watched the medics work on them with intensity. 

There was something cold, almost detached about the way he stood there, like this was just another day for him. Another deal. Another tragedy.

Everything started to blur again. She wanted to scream, to shout, to tell them to save Rio but the words were stuck in her throat. And then, slowly, the scene slipped away, fading into darkness once more.

The darkness pulled her under but it wasn't peaceful. The haze was filled with flashes, blurry images of hospital lights, the sterile smell of antiseptic and the distant hum of machines beeping. Every now and then, there were muffled voices, but nothing she could grasp onto.

Time didn't seem to exist, it was endless, heavy and suffocating.

Then, after what had felt like an eternity did the world come back into focus. Very slowly and very painfully.

Lucy's eyes fluttered open, her vision swimming as blurry shapes sharpened into sterile white tiles above her. The rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor filled the air, each sound pulling her further out of the haze. Her body felt like lead, weighed down by exhaustion and a dull, throbbing pain that radiated from her shoulder. She blinked, trying to piece together her surroundings, her thoughts sluggish and strange.

It took her a moment before she became aware of someone sitting beside her bed. At first, she thought it might have been Rio but as her vision fully cleared she realised it was Turner. He sat leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, his gaze fixed on her with an expression she couldn't quite read.

"Welcome back, Moreau." he said quietly, his voice steady but lacking warmth. "You've been out for a while."

Lucy's throat was dry and when she tried to speak, it came out as a raspy croak. "Where...?"

"You're in the hospital." Turner answered, cutting her off. "You lost a lot of blood. They had to operate."

Her mind raced as fragments of the shooting, the warehouse, and the madness snapped back into place. Panic tightened in her chest, breath caught in her throat. "Rio?" she rasped, her voice barely above a whisper, laced with fear and desperation.

Turner hesitated before he said. "He's alive. But he hasn't woken up yet. Still in recovery last I checked."

A wave of relief crashed over her so powerful that it left her trembling. Lucy closed her eyes, feeling the tension slowly drain from her body. The woman swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. Her fingers clenched the hospital blanket, her mind swirling with everything they had been through.

He was alive.

But the thought of him still unconscious and fighting for his life, gnawed at her insides. It wasn't over yet, not until she could see him, touch him and know for sure.

Turner's chair creaked as he leaned back, his eyes sharp and still fixed on her. The silence stretched between them, heavy and uncomfortable. She could feel the accusation hanging between them.

"You know," he started as he clasped his hands together. "Lying during an ongoing investigation is punishable by law."

She opened her eyes, meeting his hard stare but stayed silent.

"You didn't just meet him that night in the bar." Turner's voice was firm, and the accusation in it was impossible to ignore. "You lied to me. You're more involved than you've let on. So why don't you tell me the truth now, before you dig yourself any deeper?"

Lucy clenched her jaw and refused to give him the satisfaction of a response. She knew that anything she would say would only make things worse and she really didn't want to speak with him or anyone else for that matter.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Turner offered her an annoyed smile. He nodded, as if he'd expected her silence all along. "You know," he said, leaning back in his chair with a hint of mockery in his tone. "keeping quiet won't protect you. It won't protect him either."

The words hung heavy in the air and Lucy felt a shiver run down her spine. She could see it clearly, this was a game for him, one where he held all the cards and she was stuck in the middle.

"Don't you have a deal with him?" she retorted, staring at the wall in front of her with a glare on her face.

Turner hummed thoughtfully, his expression a mix of amusement and curiosity. "How deep are you really in this, Lucy? Were you and Rio behind the disappearance of your landlord?"

The question caught her off guard, and she blinked.

"I'd understand if you did." Turner continued, his tone almost casual. "I asked around and discovered he wasn't exactly nice to his female tenants. Tell me, Lucy. Was it self defence? Did he attack you and you got Rio to clean up the mess? You can be honest with me."

Panic surged through her veins, her breath quickening as memories of that night flooded back into her already overwhelmed brain. The fear wrapped around her like a vice and the monitor beside her beeped rapidly, reflecting her escalating heart rate.

Turner leaned in, his gaze unwavering but all she could focus on was the mounting dread twisting in her stomach.

Suddenly, the alarms blared, shrill and demanding attention. A nurse rushed into the room, her expression shifting from concern to urgency as she glanced at the monitor.

"Get out!" she ordered Turner sharply, shooing him away. "You're not helping her. I need space to calm her down."

"She's faking it."

"Get. Out."

Turner opened his mouth to protest but the nurse was already blocking his path, her demeanor authoritative. Lucy could only watch as he backed away, his expression filled with frustration as he couldn't get what he came for as he left the room. The door clicked shut behind him.

The shrill beeping of the monitor began to settle, gradually returning to a steadier rhythm. She took a deep breath, willing herself to focus on the nurse's presence instead of Turner.

The nurse approached the bedside, her expression softening. "It's okay, you're safe now." she said gently, placing a reassuring hand on Lucy's arm. "Just breathe with me. In and out."

Lucy followed the nurse's lead, inhaling deeply through her nose and exhaling slowly through her mouth. With each breath, the panic that had gripped her started to recede as the nurse continued to speak in a low and steady voice.

"Good. You're doing great. Just take your time."

"Thanks," she uttered.

The nurse continued to check the readings on the monitor before turning her attention back to Lucy. "Do you need anything? Water?"

"No, i'm okay." Lucy hesitated, then asked, "Has anyone been to visit?"

The nurse's expression shifted slightly, a hint of sympathy in her eyes. "No one yet, just the doctors for your checks."

Lucy clenched her jaw, a sense of dread pooling in her stomach. So Annie and Ruby probably didn't even know what had happened. The weight of that realisation pressed heavily on her, tightening her chest. "Thank you."

The nurse offered her another sympathetic smile and told her to call her whenever she needed anything before leaving the room. 

As Lucy tried to get comfortable in the hospital bed, she wished Rio had killed Beth when he had the chance.

i rewrote this three times in the span of a few hours but here we are.