As afraid of being killed as she was, Dahlia was even more terrified of Keegan being killed. Because the only thing worse than dying was having to live without him. Especially so soon after she'd gotten him back. He looked like he was in terrible shape and she knew that was a horrible sign. Even if he could survive it as is, there was more coming that he'd have to somehow get through, and the odds didn't look good at all.
He opened his eyes and she watched him smirk, clearly trying to get her to relax, but it was hard, seeing him that way. She couldn't get her hands to stop shaking, and she knew what she should be doing. She should be searching the boat for some sort of medical supplies, or at the very least, a first aid kit and fix, not only him, but the rest of them up so they'd be in a little better condition once they got to land. She should be making herself useful, but she couldn't. Her heart was pounding too quickly for her too think practically.
Dahlia watched him wince and groan in pain, and a silence fell over them, like, no matter how hard he tried to make it look like it wasn't a huge deal, they both knew it was bad but neither of them wanted to say it. Then his eyes came back to hers and she held them. “Babe, I’m fine. It was nothing.” He smirked, but she couldn't believe him. He'd been coughing up blood. It sure as hell didn't look like nothing. “We missed one of those fuckers, he shot me and I shot him back. I'll be fine.” He said and something about the way he said it told her it was a lie, but she figured maybe it was just the I'll be fine part that felt fake.
Dahlia could tell he was having a hard time breathing and she bit her lip hard, swallowing back scared, frustrated tears before leaning down, placing a hand on his cheek and kissing his lips gently. "Don't lie to me. You sure as hell don't look fine." She breathed, pulling away and standing, feeling lightheaded and weak-kneed "I'll be right back." Suddenly all the pain in her body was back, both from Tristan, and from the shot between her shoulders, but she forced herself to swallow it.
Dahlia turned away from him and the first thing she did was look out over the water at the boats chasing them, trying to gauge if she even had time to try and clean everyone up a bit. The boats looked like they were falling back though so, figuring it would be worth it, she sighed and moved as quickly as she could, managing to find some supplies. There wasn't much, but she did find some bandages and two bottles of alcohol.
By the time she got back to Keegan and sat next to him again, the wound in her shoulders was almost unbearable. It was less than a centimeter from her spine, meaning every small move she made sent waves of pain down her back, especially when using her arms, but she just gritted her teeth and ignored it. "We've got a minute." She sighed, helping him sit up a little before pulling off his shirt. There were two other shots. One in his shoulder and one in his leg, but she started with the one in his chest.
She could remember doing this before, when she was younger, still living in New York. Her brother had been fucking around with the local gangs and had come home on more than one occasion with a bullet in his skin, and she'd been a sobbing, shaking mess then and hadn't known what to do, but he'd talked her through it while she watched him fix himself up, or had to do it for him if he was in too bad of shape to manage.
"This will sting." She warned him, holding his eyes before setting about cleaning the wounds with the alcohol and applying the bandages she'd found. She didn't bother taking the bullets out. Not yet. She knew if she tried to find them, it could take more time than they had and could make his bleeding worse. It didn't take long, and when she was done, she pulled over the duffel bag he'd ran for and dug into it, pulling out a baggie of coke and tossing it into his lap. "Now get back on your fucking feet and don't you dare die on me Keegan." She smirked, kissing his lips before standing and grabbing the remainder of her supplies, carrying them up to where Nate and Kenna were. "I don't care how invincible you think you are K, you're going to sit the fuck down and let me at least clean and bandage that bullet in your shoulder before all this shit gets worse."
She forced her friend to sit and sat down behind her, pulling her shirt off so she could see the shot, working through her own pain and glancing up at Nate. "You can keep talking to her, just pretend I'm not here." She said before smirking and returning her attention to Kenna's shoulder.
Nate watched as the boats slowly disappeared, but he wasn't stupid. He knew they hadn't given up. They were probably tracking them, ready to move and intercept them as soon as it looked like they were heading towards a dock. He knew things could get a hell of a lot worse and he was pissed beyond belief that it was all because if Austen and Tristan. Next time he saw either one of them, he wasn't going to hesitate. He'd put a bullet in their heads.
Kenna turned to him then stand he pulled his attention off the shrinking boats and turned it to her. She looked bad. Like everything was just starting to hit her. “This won’t end until they’re dead.” She breathed and he knew that. He had full intentions to kill both Jack and Kai, he just wanted to wait until the odds were a little more even. They'd never play fair and him and Keegan would never be ready, but there were better situations to fight them in than trapped on the ocean. “Maybe it’s best if I go back…alone.” She said and he sighed. That was a terrible idea. “He won’t kill me Nathan, because watching me suffer will give him enough satisfaction to keep me alive and kill the three of you.” She said and he hated seeing the tears in her eyes.
“As much as I love to think we can win this we can’t.” he breathed and he watched as her tears managed to break free and fall. “That was a very small amount of what he can do and we're already fucked up, just from that.” She said and he sighed, running his fingers through his hair, glancing out at the water. He tried to think of the best way to say what he wanted to say, letting silence hang between them for a long minute.
Dahlia's voice pulled him from his thoughts and he glanced at her, watching as she forced Kenna to sit before sitting cross-legged behind her to clean the shot in her shoulder. Well at least one of them was thinking rationally and being useful. Keegan wasn't exactly in the shape to, Kenna was starting to fall apart, and he had to try and pull her back together.
Dahlia glanced up at him and he held her eyes for a second. "You can keep talking to her, just pretend I'm not here." She said and he nodded and turned his attention back on Kenna.
"Baby," he sighed, crouching in front of her, placing a hand on the back of her neck so she had to look him in the eye, doing as Dahlia said and speaking to her like they were the only two in the room. "You're not going anywhere." He shook his head. "You and I both know Kai's not going to be satisfied with just you. He wants us all to go down." He shrugged, speaking calmly, but firmly. "You're not going anywhere because he's not going to stop if he gets you back. This isn't just about getting you back, this is about pride. Those assholes are pissed that Keegan and I managed to beat them at their own fucked up game and they're not going to stop until the two of us, and maybe even Dahlia, are dead. No matter what you say or do."
He shook his head. "If you go back, we're still going to end up dead and you'll be wishing you were dead. I'd rather die fighting to be with you than give you up and end up dead anyway. I'm not losing you." He smirked softly. "We've made it this far, it's kind of pointless to give up now." He shrugged and leaned forward, kissing her lips reassuringly. "You're stronger than that babe, don't give up." He breathed against her lips before pulling away and placing a kiss on her forehead.