Claim Me Captain! I'm Addicted to You!-Chapter 412: Bullseye (2)

Nick’s POV

"Where’s Oliver?!" My voice tore through the hallway, sharp enough to rattle the nurses scrambling around the emergency wing. One of them pointed to the operating room corridor, eyes wide with fear. I didn’t waste a second.

We sprinted.

Oliver’s team was gathered outside the double doors. Cold chairs, colder air, and faces that looked like they’d aged ten years in an hour.

Ria and Heidi were standing together, both pale, both crying. His men looked ready to tear the walls down with their bare hands if it meant getting answers.

Heidi stepped toward us first, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "They’re operating on him now," she whispered. "He... he got shot twice by Dante Gambino." Her voice cracked. "And Irene... she was shot multiple times, too. Dante as well."

My stomach dropped. "How did this even happen?"

Heidi inhaled shakily. "Oliver left to meet the police. We went back to Irene’s room after eating. When we got there... the two officers assigned outside were slumped on the bench. At first, we thought they were just resting, but—" she swallowed hard, "they’d been shot with silencers. No one heard anything."

Ria continued in a trembling voice, "Irene was gone. Kidnapped. But Oliver was still outside the hospital; he and the guys spotted Dante and his men by the service exit. They were dressed as police and hospital staff... waiting."

My fists curled tight as she spoke.

"Oliver shot the tires of their vehicle to stop them," Heidi said, her tone breaking. "Dante tried to drag Irene away, but she slipped off the stretcher. Oliver was closing in when Dante shot him. But I think Oliver was able to hit him as well. I am not so sure; everything happened so fast." She looked down, shoulders shaking. "Irene grabbed a gun from one of Dante’s fallen men and shot him. Dante fired back before he went down. They were all taken into the OR. Some of his men died on the scene. Others are being treated in the ER."

Beside me, Vicky’s voice came out small and trembling. "I-Is Oliver badly hurt?"

Heidi squeezed her hand gently. "We don’t know yet. But the hospital reacted fast. They were already alerted about Irene’s disappearance, so they rushed everyone inside immediately. Oliver was unconscious when they brought him into the operating room."

"Oh my God..." Vicky choked, covering her mouth as tears poured down her cheeks.

Her knees buckled, and Liam and I caught her before she hit the ground. We helped her onto a bench, and I signaled one of my men to get water immediately. Her entire body was shaking.

Ria spoke softly, trying to steady everyone’s nerves. "No updates yet means one thing: both Oliver and Irene are still alive, still fighting."

Then footsteps thundered behind us.

We all turned.

The arresting police officers strode toward us, still in their tactical vests, faces grim. "All of Dante’s men have been taken into custody," he reported. "The injured ones are under guard in the ER. The rest are in a secure holding area. Any updates here?"

He looked directly at Heidi and Ria, knowing they were Oliver’s people.

Heidi shook her head. "None yet. Everyone’s still inside."

Silence fell over the hallway, thick, heavy, and suffocating, as we waited for the doors to open and prayed for good news.

The officer gave a tight nod. "I’ll leave my men here. As soon as the doctors finish with Dante Gambino and two of his men in surgery, they’ll be handcuffed to their beds. Update me onc—"

He never finished.

The operating room doors burst open with a metallic clatter that made all of us flinch.

A doctor stepped out... and then another appeared not far behind him.

Vicky gasped, loud, sharp, terrified, and bolted forward. "Please—please tell me Oliver Morris is alive!" she begged, voice cracking as she clutched the edge of the doctor’s coat.

But the doctor only frowned in confusion. "He’s not my patient."

Vicky spun toward the other doctor. "Is he—?"

"Not mine, either," he said gently, glancing toward his colleague. Then he nodded for the first doctor to speak. "Doc, you go first."

The first doctor cleared his throat. "Any family of Dante Gambino?"

The police officer stepped forward immediately. "He’s under our custody. He has no living family and is under a warrant of arrest."

The doctor nodded once. "Mr. Dante Gambino has passed away."

His words blurred instantly, fading into a distant, muffled echo as my chest tightened and my knees buckled. Liam and Vicky grabbed me, one on each side, keeping me from collapsing onto the sterile white floor.

"Nick," Liam uttered.

I closed my eyes briefly, rubbing my temple hard, trying to pull myself back into the moment, back to the doctor’s voice.

"...five gunshot wounds... we couldn’t stop the bleeding in time before he went into cardiac arrest..."

Dante was dead.

Jay was dead. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The two men who are after Georgia and my family are gone.

We are finally safe.

But the victory felt hollow. Bitter. Because it was soaked in the blood of the man I trusted most. My best friend. My brother in every way that mattered.

And we still didn’t know if he was alive or if he would make it.

The second doctor stepped forward. "Any family of Mrs. Irene Lam?"

"She’s under our custody, too," the officer answered again.

The doctor nodded. "Mrs. Lam is in critical condition. She lost a tremendous amount of blood, and her chart shows she miscarried yesterday." His voice softened. "Thankfully, none of today’s gunshot wounds hit vital organs. We’re closing her up now. She’ll be transferred to the ICU shortly and may need additional transfusions."

Ria let out a shaky sob beside me. Heidi pressed her hands to her mouth.

But before any of us could reply, before we could even breathe—

The double doors swung open again.

Another doctor emerged... and the entire hallway went silent.

Every heart stopped.

Every eye locked onto him.

Because this doctor could be the one who can give us an answer about Oliver.