The girls barreled out of the building, and Roni shouted, “Call 911!” She turned Quincy over, but he was deadweight, out cold, his lips darker than normal. “Ohgod, nonono! Quincy, wake up! Please wake up!”

The girls were talking frantically into their phones as Penny dropped to her knees and grabbed his arm, checking his pulse. “I got a pulse!” she yelled, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Dixie shouted, “Is he breathing?” with the phone pressed to her ear.

“I don’t know!” Roni said, tears blurring her vision as she lowered her ear to his mouth. “A little, but just barely. Hurry. Please hurry!”

“Do you know what drugs he took?” Dixie asked.

“No!” she said angrily. “He wouldn’t take any! Please, hurry!”

As Dixie rattled off Quincy’s drug history, Diesel and Tracey sprinted down the driveway from the clubhouse. The other girls shouted, calling out Quincy’s name, trying to rouse him.

Roni cradled him against her chest, rocking forward and back, chanting, “Don’tdiedon’t­diedon’tdie.” Everything else turned to white noise as she pleaded with him to wake up. Tracey tried to pull her off him as Diesel sank down beside him, but she fought to hold on. “No. He needs me!”

“Step back or he’ll die,” Diesel barked.

Roni fell back on her hands, tears flooding down her cheeks. Gemma and Penny crouched between her and Quincy, sirens blaring in the distance.

“Let Diesel check him out,” Gemma said. “He’s going to be okay, but you need to give Diesel space.”

“What’d he take?” Diesel demanded.

“I don’t know. Don’t let him die! Please help him!” Roni pleaded, pushing to her feet as motorcycles and trucks roared into the driveway.

Tires screeched, and Truman, Bullet, Bones, Bear, Scott, and Jed bolted toward them.

“Babies in the truck!” Bones shouted to Sarah on his way to Quincy.

There was shouting and cursing. The girls tried to console Roni, but she fought them, needing to get to him, unable to think past the prayers and Please don’t dies running through her head.

“He’s not breathing! Starting compressions!” Bones hollered as he started CPR.

“No!” Roni’s knees gave out, and she crumpled to the ground, sobbing.

“Goddamn it!” Truman turned with fire and fear in his eyes and shouted, “When did he start using again?”

“He didn’t! He wouldn’t!” Roni insisted. “I know he wouldn’t.”

“He’s breathing again!” someone hollered as the ambulance arrived, and then there was a flurry of activity and Quincy was loaded onto a stretcher and into the ambulance.

“Can I go with him? I want to go with him,” Roni pleaded frantically, but she was ignored.

As the ambulance doors were closed, she heard an EMT say, “He’s not breathing.”

Roni grabbed ahold of Penny, a crushing sensation making it hard to drag air into her own lungs. Penny embraced her, and then other arms circled them, everyone talking all at once. “He’ll be okay.” “Let’s get to the hospital.” “Everything’s going to be all right.”

As Truman and Gemma helped her into their truck, all Roni could think about was the EMT’s last words. If Quincy didn’t make it, she didn’t know how anything would ever be okay again.