True Me (Fallen Brethren MC #6)

Chapter Twenty-One

Cash

P ULLING UP AT the hospital , Crow doesn’t hesitate to pull up right in front of the main door. I jump out of the SUV after carefully removing Rebel’s legs from my lap. Moving to the other door, I open it for Eagle as he carefully adjusts her in his arms before getting out. Doc has already rushed inside the hospital to get help as a stretcher is rolled out to us. Eagle lays Rebel down as several nurses and a few doctors rush back in the hospital shouting all sorts of medical terms I don’t understand as Eagle and I rush behind her before we’re stopped by a nurse.

“You can’t go back there. You need to wait out here until someone comes to get you,” she states as I continue to rush past her until she grabs my arm and holds me in place.

“Let me fuckin’ go! She needs us and can’t be back there alone,” I yell out, my voice hard and cold which doesn’t do anything to her as she continues to glare at me.

“You can’t go back there, Sir. If I have to tell you again, I’ll call security and ban you from the hospital. Then you won’t be able to see her at all. For now, you need to fill out her paperwork and take care of that while the doctors are performing their initial exam,” the nurse states as if her word is law around here.

“You’re not gonna stop me from goin’ back there with my ol’ lady. We deserve to be back there with her and there is no reason we can’t be. What the fuck would you do if we rode in an ambulance with her?” I yell, getting up in her face as rage consumes me.

“You’d still be escorted out here to the waiting room and told to wait until a member of the staff came out to tell you it was okay to go back with her. There are no exceptions to the rule and just because you’re a biker doesn’t give you any special treatment,” the nurse states, her voice getting even colder than it was before.

“Fuck!” I roar out causing several people to turn and stare at me as Eagle walks over and pulls me away from the nurse and into a corner.

“Cash, you have to calm down and keep your head on straight. If you don’t, you won’t be here when Rebel needs us the most. While I’d love to have time with her to myself, I don’t want it to be because you couldn’t keep your head on straight. Until she’s healed, we’re gonna have to be at our strongest and ensure we give her everythin’ she needs. That includes here in the hospital because this is when she’ll be her most vulnerable and weakest. Especially when we don’t know all the damage that’s been done to her at this point,” Eagle tells me, his voice barely above a whisper as he looks at me without the glare he’s been sporting since he pulled up to the cabin with the rest of the club.

“What’s goin’ on?” Hawk asks us as he walks up and stands right next to his brother.

“Nothin’. That bitch won’t let us go back with Rebel. She fuckin’ needs us and we can’t be with her,” I growl out, glaring at the nurse who’s taken a seat behind the desk in the waiting room.

“You’ll be with her soon. Let them do what they have to do so you can get back with her quicker,” Hawk returns as Crow and several other members of the club show up and surround us as we stand in the hallway.

“She doesn’t need to be in there all alone, Hawk. That’s the fuckin’ point I’m tryin’ to make,” I growl out as I look at him and then the other members of the club.

“Doc is with her. Rebel isn’t alone. He’ll make sure she gets the best care possible with him at her back. You know him. Trust in Doc to do his job and Rebel will be in a room very soon so you and Eagle can sit with her,” Reaper says as he wraps an arm around my shoulders and leads me to a chair in the waiting room.

Once I’m in a seat, Reaper sits on one side of mine while Eagle takes the other one. Neither one of them leave my side as we sit back and wait for any news on our girl. All I can think about is Rebel. The images of her broken and battered body will haunt me for the rest of my days and I know without a doubt Eagle and I will do everything in our power to ensure she never has to go through the pain of this ever again. Before long, Chad will no longer breathe the same air as Rebel and Fawn will be nothing but a distant memory. Or nightmare if you really think about it. Fawn is a bitch and I hope the ol’ ladies of the club torture her and make her pay for every sin she’s ever committed. Not just the ones against Rebel but against every single person she’s ever hurt or manipulated throughout her life.

I t feels as if we’ve been sitting in this waiting room on these hard as fuck chairs for an eternity. My ass is numb and it’s still nothing compared to the pain our girl is living through right at this moment. Well, I’m hoping she no longer feels the pain because they’ve given her pain medicine to take it all away from her. That’s my ultimate wish for her since I can’t do anything else to help ease her pain or take any of this away from her. Rebel is definitely going to have a long road ahead of her in the upcoming weeks and months. Especially when it comes to her mental health. I can’t imagine how horrible the nightmares will be for her.

Finally, Eagle’s head snaps up and I follow his line of sight. Doc rushes from the back of the emergency room and straight toward us. I stand up so fast it feels as if a dizzying rush consumes me and I hold out my hands in an attempt to steady myself as Eagle latches on to me to help hold me upright. Hawk and Crow stand up with us and keep a hand on my back as Doc stops in front of us.

“What’s goin’ on with her, Doc?” I rush out my words and look him in the eyes.

“It’s not good, guys. Rebel is bein’ prepped for surgery right now. The damage on her ankle is too extensive. I don’t know what they’re gonna do to correct the damage, but I’ll be in the operatin’ room with her. I’m not gonna leave her alone at all. They’ve already set her wrist and have a soft cast on it until she’s out of surgery and can put a hard cast on. A radiologist is currently reading over the x-rays. If her wrist is worse than we believe, we’ll know in the operatin’ room and can fix it there while she’s under anesthesia,” Doc informs us with a frown on his face as he looks between Eagle and myself.

“What about any other damage that’s been done to her?” Eagle asks, his voice shaking with the pent-up emotion he’s been holding in this entire time.

“There’s been no internal damage done to her. The other wounds are superficial and didn’t need any stitches to close them. Thankfully, the cuts weren’t too deep. Her eyes will more than likely be swollen shut for a while. At this point, there’s nothin’ broken and she doesn’t have a brain bleed. We’ll keep an eye on that to ensure nothin’ happens. At the end of the day, Rebel got extremely lucky and I don’t know how long she’ll end up staying in the hospital. As soon as I know the extent of what’s been done to her ankle, I’ll let you all know. For now, we’ll move you all up to the surgical waitin’ room where you can have some space and wait for Rebel to get out of surgery,” Doc informs us as Reaper looks around the room before moving to stand next to us.

“How long will she be in surgery?” I ask as we make our way behind Doc to the second floor of the hospital where the surgical waiting area is.

“That’s undetermined at this point. It all depends on what needs to be done to correct her ankle. You should know at this point that Rebel will have to undergo physical therapy once she’s been approved to put weight on her foot again. It will be hard as hell and she’ll break down and want to give up more often than not,” Doc says, his voice soft as he turns to face us before holding open the door and ushering us inside.

“Please give us news as soon as you’re able to,” Eagle says before he leaves us alone in the room while he rushes back to Rebel.

Eagle and I start pacing the room as everyone else takes seats around the waiting room. The ol’ ladies have shown up, leaving the Prospects at the clubhouse to watch over the assholes who have been locked into the cells in the basement. At this point, I have so much energy to burn off, it might be a good idea to head there and take out all the pain and rage I feel on the stupid fucks who have started this process. Looking at Eagle, I can see his mind is exactly where mine is right now. He wants to do some damage as much as I do. That’s what makes this so incredibly hard right now.

“Not yet, Cash. We’ll get our hands on them once Rebel is out of surgery and we know how she’s doin’. I want to put eyes on her and make sure she’s gonna be okay. We don’t know what’s gonna happen on that operatin’ table so we can’t leave her alone. I don’t give a fuck if Doc is with her or not. Rebel will need us when she wakes up and we can hold her in our arms,” Eagle tells me as he steps up in front of me and starts to pace the room once again while we wait for any news.

“I just need to do somethin’ to get rid of this fuckin’ energy. I’m so consumed by the rage coursin’ through me and I need to get rid of it before we get to see Rebel. The last thing she needs to see is me losin’ my shit instead of bein’ here for her like I should be,” I state, my voice full of rage and the pain I feel that we didn’t get to her sooner than we did and didn’t look at the fucking cabins sooner than me following Chad and figuring out where she was being held.

“I get where you’re comin’ from Cash. If you think I don’t want to leave here right now and bash their fuckin’ heads in, you’d be wrong. That’s exactly where I wanna be right now. Instead, I’m here with you because this is where Rebel needs us to be. We’re gonna stay here and put her first like the men we are,” Eagle says as his brother and dad walk up to us and wait for one of us to explode. It’s not far from the truth if I’m being honest because that’s exactly how I feel right now.

“What’s goin’ on over here?” Hawk questions us as I lean against the wall closest to us and stare off into space when I think of everythin’ goin’ on with Rebel and how the surgery is going. It’s been a while since they wheeled her into the operating room.

“Tryin’ to figure out how to get rid of this fuckin’ rage,” I answer them honestly as I look between the three men standing before me.

“Okay. Well, you can’t get rid of that shit here. This is where you need to be, Cash. Both of you. Rebel is gonna need you to be strong and push down these feelings you have goin’ on inside you and know that there’s a time and place for everythin’ goin’ on. You’ll get your hands on Chad and that other fuck who was gonna hurt your girl. Instead of givin’ them a second of your time right now, you need to focus on Rebel and bein’ there when she wakes up. That’s your job right now and the only one you need to be concerned with,” Crow says, a knowing look on his face as he moves his stare between the three of us until his gaze lands on me and stays there.

“I know this is where we need to be, Crow. It doesn’t change the fact that our ol’ lady was beaten and tortured while we were held in the clubhouse and no one could figure out where the fuck she was. I know everyone in the club tried their hardest to find her or any sign of Chad. But now we’re the ones who had to wait while holdin’ our hands on our asses. Look at the fuckin’ shape she’s in right now, Crow? She’s in surgery and there isn’t a fuckin’ thing I can do about it. I can’t be in that room savin’ her life and bein’ the one to help save her. I have to rely on Doc and anyone else in there with her,” I bark out, gaining the attention of everyone in the room as I look around at everyone because they know it’s the damn truth.

“We all get where you’re comin’ from, Cash. There isn’t a single one of us who doesn’t feel like fuckin’ shit about how long Rebel was gone and what was done to her. Yes, I kept you and Eagle in the clubhouse because I know exactly what would’ve happened if you were out there ridin’ around, Cash. You would’ve taken out everyone and anythin’ standin’ in your way of gettin’ to Rebel. Not to mention, with your head filled beyond capacity with nothin’ but her, you would’ve ended up in the hospital and how the fuck do you think Rebel would have felt knowin’ this is where you were. If you even survived a fuckin’ crash?” Reaper states, standing from his seat next to Alex with a hard and determined look on his face as his gaze goes right through me.

Before anyone else can step in and talk, the door of the waiting room opens to reveal Doc standing in a pair of scrubs and his white lab coat. None of us are used to seeing him like this because this isn’t what he wears when he’s at the clinic he has in town. It’s only when he’s at the hospital that he dresses the way he’s standing in front of us right now.

“How is she?” I rush out, moving to stand in front of her as we look at him and wait for him to give us an update.

“She’s doin’ really good, Cash and Eagle. Rebel made it through surgery really well. The damage wasn’t as extensive as we first thought it would be. She’s got a rod and pins in her ankle, but it could’ve been so much worse considerin’ what caused the injury to begin with. Right now she’s got a soft cast on so we can ensure she doesn’t get an infection where the incision was made or from the original injury where an infection has already set in. She’ll be on antibiotics for that and has already been given her first dose through her IV.

“There wasn’t more damage to her wrist but she’s still in a soft cast. Just for now. In the next few days she’ll be put in a regular one. We want her to wake up before we do that shit. I’ve taken the lead on her care and will oversee everythin’ that happens to her. At this point I believe she’ll be in the hospital for a week. We’ll take it a day at a time until we can talk to Rebel and find out where she is. I’m gonna say right now we might have to consider some kind of therapist or counselor to see her once she gets discharged. Her mental health has to be sucked down the toilet with everythin’ she’s been through. I don’t know if she’ll agree to it, but we’ll have to keep an eye on her and see what happens,” Doc informs us, his voice a whisper when the door opens behind him to let a small family in.

“When can we see her?” Eagle questions Doc as he moves even closer in to our space.

“She’s in recovery right now and will be there for a little while. I’ll take the two of you to the room she’ll be in when she gets brought up. The rest of you will have to wait in the waitin’ room for her floor. No one else will go in Rebel’s room until tomorrow at the very earliest. Honestly, I’d suggest the rest of you go home until tomorrow. Rebel won’t be up for any visitors at this point of her recovery,” Doc says before turning to leave the waiting room with us following him.

Right now I don’t give a fuck what happens with everyone else. If they go home, they leave. I know a few of them will remain here with us because they won’t let us go unprotected. They’ll have two guys at the door and more down the hallway to ensure no one gets close. While Chad and other fucker are being held in our cells, but the loan shark is still out there. If he gets wind that we’re holding his asshole and we don’t have the first clue about who the fucker is or what he’ll do. Especially since we have Chad in our cells too. That’s who he truly wants to get his hands on and maybe we can turn him over to them once we’re done and have had our fun with him. Something to think about or bring to Reaper once Rebel is okay and out of the hospital.