Pieces of Me (The Wilder Brothers #9)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

brIAR

E ar-piercing shrieks vibrated in my ears as my eyes shot open, and I realized I was the one making that terrible noise. I closed my eyes again, the bright lights above me far too harsh. There was a beeping sound, people moving all around, but I couldn’t hear anything. Not really. Nothing made sense.

I had been on the bus fighting with Gabriel…and then…what happened?

I finally cracked my eyes open. This time, the lights were not so bright. Or at least, the harshness was not as debilitating. I blinked, trying to get my vision into focus and saw the odd lowered ceiling of what seemed to be a hospital room.

I groaned, my throat sore, and I realized that yes, I was in the hospital. There were people moving about, and I swallowed hard, trying to get my bearings. Only my world titled off axis.

A nurse walked in wearing pink scrubs and a gentle expression as she went to my IV stand.

“What happened?” I croaked as tears slid down my face. My side hurt, as did my arm. Everything hurt.

“You’re awake, Ms. Ashford. That’s good. The doctor will be in here soon to go over everything. You just settle back, okay?”

Her soothing voice grated through the sheer panic. I didn’t want to be told everything was just fine . I wanted to know what had happened. I needed to know. My family was on that bus.

But I couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead, I just tried to fist my hands and let out a shocked gasp.

“You severely sprained your wrist, and you have a few bruises. And you have stitches on your forehead, but you were very lucky, Ms. Ashford. You just rest there. The team will have answers and more information soon. Keep your wrist the way it is, okay? We just need to ensure that you rest.”

She left me then, saying she would be back with some ice chips or something. She might’ve said other things, but I couldn’t track anything.

I looked down at my bandaged wrist, at the splint that shouldn’t be there. It must have been a bad sprain since it felt as if someone had twisted it with their bare hands.

Then images slammed into me.

The bus. The bus had crashed.

But there were multiple buses. Gabriel, the bus driver, and I had been the only ones on ours. But there were others.

The band.

Mal.

I knew it was stupid. I knew that I should probably lie back down, but instead I tried to sit up. Nausea washed over me, but I had to get out of here. Had to get to another room to see my family. I needed my family.

I finally sat up, ignoring the pain in my wrist, and tried to piece together my unraveled thoughts to figure out how to unhook myself from this IV. I wasn’t good with hospitals, and I had no idea what I was doing. Before I could dive into my pure anxiety, somebody filled the doorway.

At the sight of him, my heart lurched as it always did with him. And yet…this time, it was for a completely different reason. I wasn’t the only one making stupid decisions.

Gabriel stood there, leaning on Joshua, who didn’t have a scratch on him. But Gabriel? He had taken the brunt of it. He had covered me with his body and protected me, and now there was a brace on his leg, cuts and scrapes all over his body that had nothing to do with the fight, and he looked exhausted.

“Briar. Oh, thank God, Briar.” His voice, his beautiful voice, broke, and that’s when tears started to sting behind my eyes.

Because Gabriel never broke.

“I told you she was here. Sit down before they get me kicked out of this fucking hospital,” Joshua grumbled as he forced Gabriel into a seat, and I realized that they were dragging an IV pole behind him.

Joshua met my gaze and shook his head. He was doing a decent job of looking put out and unbothered, but I saw the panic in his eyes. “I’m glad you’re awake. I couldn’t get this asshole to stay put. His brothers are on the way here, even though they had to catch a flight, and I’m in charge of keeping him steady.”

I knew Joshua was rambling, because he always did when he was worried, and that scared me more than anything.

I let out a breath, trying to sound my most haughty since it always got a rise out of this Wilder. “Gabriel, you should be laying down.”

“You’re sitting up, and I bet you’re not supposed to either,” he said softly as he leaned forward before cursing under his breath. His hand went to his side, and he sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, maybe a cracked rib instead of a bruised one.” He winced, breathing through his teeth.

“Gabriel,” I said again, tears stinging. “Where are the others? The other buses?” I asked, tears now freely falling. I hadn’t even realized that Gabriel had scooted his chair forward as he wiped tears from my cheeks. Joshua cursed and moved Gabriel back so he was sitting up, before Joshua wiped the rest of my tears.

They were taking care of me, just like they always did because they acted like my brothers, and yet I couldn’t think straight.

“I don’t have any answers,” Joshua whispered. “The buses in the back were fine—the ones with most of the crew. David, Rocky, and I were safe on ours as well.” He paused, his face going pale.

Dread slid over me like ice, and I started to shake.

“Where’s Mal?” I asked, but Gabriel didn’t say anything. Instead, he just looked at me, and there was nothing behind those eyes, just darkness. Just a blankness that spoke volumes.

I couldn’t breathe.

A harried doctor with three nurses stormed into the room and began trying to force Gabriel into a wheelchair, but he held up his hand.

“I’m going to stay here until I know she’s okay.”

“You need to be in bed,” I muttered before looking at the doctor. “I just need to know about my brother. Mal Ashford.”

The doctor moved forward and cleared his throat. “Briar Ashford?”

I blindly reached forward, trying to grab someone’s hand. I only knew it was Gabriel’s because I felt the scrapes on his knuckles.

“I regret to inform you…”

I didn’t know what the man said next.

Joshua was on the ground, having fallen against the wall as his legs gave out, and Gabriel sat there, not saying anything.

But I was screaming again.

Screaming, and screaming.

And then there was nothing.