Chapter 22 #2
“No.” My body grows taunt as I watch him gently press the cool metal to her body, moving it around and listening to different areas.
He pushes up his sleeve as he puts two fingers to her wrist, watching his watch as he counts her pulse.
“Pulse is good and her lungs sound good,” Doc mutters.
I can’t tell if he’s talking to me or himself as he takes out an otoscope, looking in her ear that’s facing him.
“I don’t see blood or any signs of damage.
” He moves on to her nose, which has a small trickle of blood coming out of it that’s half dried at this point.
“Small nosebleed.” He puts the otoscope back in the bag and pulls out a pair of gloves and snaps them on before gently pushing on her face that’s bruising and swelling before our eyes.
“I can’t be certain since she’s not awake to tell me where it hurts and how bad, but going off the severe bruising around her cheek and eye along with the nosebleed, and her being unconscious still, I’m going to guess her cheekbone is fractured and she has a severe concussion. ”
“Let me take him,” Evan whispers, coming up behind me with her arms outstretched toward Cormac.
My body is wound tight as I watch Doc move down Aisling’s body, checking out her stomach, arms, and legs.
I know I need to be with her, but I can’t let my baby go.
No one prepares you for the internal struggle when it comes to your woman and your child hurting.
It’s like your heart is ripping in half trying to be in two places at once.
“It’s okay, Hash. He’s sleeping. I’ll be right over here. I won’t leave the room, I promise. Go be with Aisling. She needs you right now.”
I reluctantly pass a sleeping Cormac off to Evan. I feel empty the second he’s out of my arms.
I crouch down next to Doc. “You think she’s going to be okay?”
“I do,” he assures me. “I think she’s going to be hurting for a while. I’d like to get an X-ray on her to confirm the fractured cheekbone and see if any bone fragments have moved.”
“Is it normal for her to be out this long?”
“She’s been out since you found her, correct?” Doc asks, pinning his assessing gaze my way over his glasses.
“Yeah. It was here within about thirty minutes of her calling me, so it had to have happened sometime between me hanging up the phone with her and me getting here.”
“If her concussion is severe, like I think it is, then it’s normal for her to be out this long.
I’d like her brought back to the clubhouse so I can observe her overnight.
I may call in a favor with a friend at the hospital to do an MRI of her brain to check for damage.
I’ll determine that from how she is acting when she wakes up. ”
Shit.
X-rays, MRIs, what’s next?
I should have been here.
Instead, I left for the night and didn’t come back after everything was done at the clubhouse, and I fucking should have.
“Don’t,” Cain’s stern voice sounds throughout the room. “Don’t take this on. It’s not your fault.”
“I should have been here,” I growl, my anger rising as I shoot up to stand and face Cain.
“We can play the what-if game all you want, brother, but it doesn’t change the fact that what happened here tonight is not your fault. We’re going to find who did this. You have my word.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that I should have fucking been here. My woman and my kid were left unprotected because of me.” I jam my finger into my chest.
Just as Cain opens his mouth to speak, Aisling whimpers from the floor, drawing all the attention in the room to her.
I dive onto the floor, my knees sliding on the wood as I come to a stop next to her. “Aisling,” I say, relief coursing through my veins.
Her eyes slowly open halfway and close, repeating the process until she slowly opens them fully. Her big blue eyes are staring up at me, disoriented and confusion swirling in the depths of them.
She slowly begins to move her body, stretching out on the floor from the fetal position she was in before moving to lie flat on her back.
“Hey, baby doll,” I whisper, my hand coming up to gently cup the side of her good cheek. “How are you feeling?”
Aisling stares at me for a moment, almost as if she’s struggling to focus.
“You came,” she croaks.
“Of course I came,” I tell her, my stomach coming up in my throat. “I’ll always come for you.”
“Is Cormac okay?” she asks, trying to sit up, but Doc and I quickly move to block her at the same time.
“He’s good, baby. Evan has him, and he’s sleeping,” I assure her.
“Good.” Her eyes start to flutter closed. “I did everything I could to make sure nothing touched him.”
“I know you did. You did such a good job, baby doll. You’re so strong. So fucking strong.”
“Tired,” she says, her voice soft and just above a whisper.
“Sleep. I got it from here,” I tell her before she’s out again. I turn to Doc, worried as fuck that she had passed out again. “Is that normal?”
“Yeah,” Doc answers. “Head injuries take a lot out of the body. Its natural response is to sleep and heal.”
“Am I safe to pick her up and put her in the car?” I ask, wondering how in the fuck I’m going to get her back to the clubhouse.
“I’d say so. If the kid is riding in the same vehicle, I don’t want her in the backseat if there isn’t enough room for her to lie down. I don’t want her sitting upright just yet. I’d recommend laying the passenger seat all the way back and setting her in that.”
I nod, relieved that he’s giving the okay for her to come home with me. “Thanks, Doc.” I turn to Evan. “Can you put the bags in her car? I’ll load Cormac in and get her.”
“How about Cain carries the bags and I load Cormac while you get Aisling in the car?” Evan suggests reading me that I don’t want to let either of them out of my sight.
It’s an internal battle I’ve been having with myself that I wouldn’t wish on any of my brothers. No one should ever be forced to choose between their child and their woman when they both need you.
Cyrus pops his head in the room, looking around. “She wake up?”
“Briefly. We’re going back to the clubhouse. What do you need help with out there?”
“Nothing,” Cyrus says. “Everything is wrapped up. I’ll bring a few of the brothers back with me tomorrow to clean up. Shit is everywhere.”
“Thanks, brother,” I tell him.
I’m going to need to find a way to pay him back big time.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cyrus says before he’s gone again.
I crouch down next to Aisling as I sneak one hand under her neck until her head rests in the cradle of my arm and the other one sneaks under her knees. I carefully pick her up in one easy swoop.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Cain and Evan follow me out with Evan in between both of us.
Aisling stirs in my arms as I make my way down the hall.
“Lachlan,” she mumbles, sounding out of it still.
“Right here, baby doll.”
“Where are we going?” Her tone is soft, with no fight left in it.
And that pisses me the fuck off.
The only time she should sound like that is after I’ve made her come, not because some piece of shit punched her face in.
“Back to the clubhouse. Go back to sleep. I’ve got you,” I tell her, my voice low as I try to mask the rage I’m feeling.
“Kay…” Her eyes fully close.
By the time we make it out front, Cyrus is already surveying the neighborhood, seeing nothing but dark, but we know firsthand the devil always comes out of the shadows as Prez puts the bags in the trunk and opens the doors for Evan and me.
I wait for him to lay the seat back before laying Aisling down in it.
“Put this around her neck so her head isn’t bobbing all over the place. I’ve seen how all of you drive.” Doc pins me with a look as he hands me a neck pillow. “I’ll follow you guys back.”
“Hey,” I call to Cyrus. His eyes briefly move to me to let me know he heard me but quickly go back to watching everything around us. “When you were wrapping things up did you happen to see Frigg?”
“Frigg?” Cyrus asks, sounding confused.
“The cat.”
“Didn’t see a cat.” Cyrus shakes his head. “Sorry, brother.”
“It’s not your fault. She’s probably spooked.”
I look between the house and a sleeping Aisling, knowing as soon as she wakes up again her second question is going to be if Frigg is okay.
I don’t want to be the person that tells her I don’t know.
“Goddammit,” I growl as I slam the car door shut.
“I’ll watch them, don’t worry,” Evan says as Cain snorts as I walk past him.
“Don’t fucking start.”
“It’s funny when it’s not happening to you,” he says with a smirk. “Go find the fucking cat. I want to get home.”
I jog back into the house, looking at it for the first time as I try to find a cat carrier.
Jesus Christ, Cyrus wasn’t lying.
Her place is trashed.
What the fuck were they looking for?
She’s going to freak out when she sees the state of this. I know she worked hard to get what she has. I’m going to replace every last thing and more.
“Frigg,” I call, hoping the cat will come to me.
I’ve never been a cat guy and, to be honest, Frigg side-eyes the fuck out of me anytime I’m here. It’s been like that from the first day I met her.
I look around the trashed living room, hoping to see her cat carrier but come up empty.
“Where would you put a cat carrier, Aisling?” I mumble to myself as I walk around the place, glass crunching under my boots with each step I take.
I open up the closest near the front door, finding it on the floor next to some shoes. I pull it out and set it down in the hall and open the door, hoping it will come.
Is that how you catch a cat?
Fuck.
I’m going to give her five minutes, and if she doesn’t come, I’ll tell Aisling I tried. I hope she didn’t escape through the shattered door before Cyrus had a chance to wrap it up. Aisling would be devastated.
I’ll buy her a new fucking cat that looks just like Frigg if that happens because I’m not going to be the one to deliver another blow after the night she just had.
I look around with my hands on my hips like a goddamn idiot for expecting her to come out and get in her crate.
She probably needs food and stuff, right?
Leaving the crate where it is on the floor, I head into the kitchen to find food. I don’t need to open any cabinets to find what I’m looking for because every single one of them is wide open with everything that was on the shelves thrown across the counters and floor.
I flex my fists as I try to bury my rage at least until we get back to the clubhouse. The itch to hit something is strong, and I’m not about to cause any more damage to my girl’s place.
I pick up a few cans of cat food scattered across the floor. As I stack them on top of each other, the metal tops make a clinging sound.
I turn around as I hear rustling behind me.
Frigg was hiding in the pantry, only emerging when she sees her cans of food in my hand. Her eyes are wide and spooked.
“Hey, pretty girl.” I stick my hand out, hoping she will come to me. “Can you come here? Your mom would love it if you came with me.”
Nothing.
“Can I pick you up?” I ask as I slowly step toward her.
She backtracks, hissing at me.
“Please, Frigg. I’ve had a shit fucking night and all I want to do is get your mom and brother somewhere safe,” I say as I try to reason with the devil.
I take another step. This time she doesn’t move or hiss as her wide eyes track my every move.
“That’s it... just stay right there…” I swoop in and grab Frigg as I wrap my arm around her, finding her to be heavier than I expected.
I test the weight of her as I raise her up and down, earning me a side eye. She has to weigh close to twenty pounds.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. You think I want to do this anymore than you do?” I tell Frigg as I place her in her carrier and close the door. “Let’s go.”
I lock the front door behind me even though I shouldn’t bother because anyone can just walk on in at this point.
“It’s about goddamn time,” Prez says as he rounds the car, heading for his bike. “They’re both still passed out.”
It’s a good thing for Cormac, but even though Doc assured me Aisling is going to be fine, it still makes me uneasy.
“Evan is going to drive the car back. Cyrus and I will lead with you taking up the rear and Doc behind you.”
I jerk my head at him, tension radiating throughout my body at the thought of letting someone else drive my woman and kid around.
“I promise I won’t speed, Hash. I can’t go faster than what Cain and Cyrus are doing, anyway.”
I exhale loudly. “I know. Let’s go.”
Our pipes roar in the night as we fire up our bikes and peel out of Aisling’s neighborhood in a line.
The taillights of Aisling’s car guide my way home because if it weren’t for them, I would be hunting.
Whoever fucking did this is a dead man.