Chapter 36
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
Willow
I’m sure I hear my name. I’m certain that it’s Haze calling me, but it sounds far away. I can’t move, nor can I open my eyes. I’m trapped.
Am I dead? Maybe I am. That would make sense.
The crash.
The guns.
The screaming.
Then there was the noise of the truck as I flew through the air and then crash landed. Everything went dark after that.
“Baby, it’s me, stay with me. I’m here—”
I love the sound of his voice. Not when he’s in panic mode, but when he’s being the sweet, kind, beautifully possessive man I know him to be. Yes, that’s when I love him the most. And when he’s being cheeky and calling me ridiculous pet names. Little One. Ugh, how I long for him.
“Pulse is weak… there’s a lot of blood… don’t worry about me, I’m fine, it’s her we need to worry about…”
I love you, Austin Dawson.
I will always love you.
Haze
I pace across the waiting room. Trying to forget about the last couple of hours when I pulled my wife out of a car wreck, only to find her battered and bruised and barely alive.
The impact was a lot on her body, and she’s got several injuries.
We don’t know if there’s anything internal yet, but Casey, Pipe’s ol’ lady, is a paramedic and she’s trying to get information for us.
I slide down against the wall, unsure where to put myself.
I need to see her.
My beautiful wife got out of an impossible situation. Her injuries told us both her hands and feet were bound, but she still managed to kill two people. From what we know, Clare/Jane had no weapon and was strangled, and the big fat guy Willow shot had a gun.
My girl defended herself like the little warrior she is. Then she broke out, stole a truck and gunned it.
I don’t think I fully appreciated just how badass my ol’ lady really is.
“Hazey?” Nova says. I look up from my crouched position against the wall. “You want some coffee?”
I shake my head.
“Then can you at least see a doctor? You’ve been shot.”
“It’s a flesh wound, it’ll be fine.”
“Not if the bullet is still in there.”
“It isn’t, I checked.”
“Save your breath,” Sawyer says, coming to stand next to my cousin. “He won’t listen.”
“Like a true Dawson — pigheaded as well as stubborn. If you get an infection, you’ll have more to worry about than a flesh wound.”
“I can’t be goin’ anywhere. I need to be here for Willow,” I say, gritting my teeth.
“Yes, you do,” Nova says gently. “But you also need to take care of yourself, too. She won’t want you with gangrene and a limp arm oozing with puss and—”
“Eww.” Sawyer winces. “Gross.”
“I like to keep it real,” Nova states. “And wounds like that are just begging for an infection.”
“The little lady’s right,” Sawyer says. “And seriously, after what Willow did to those fuckers back there, I’m not sure you wanna get on her bad side.”
My mouth twitches. She really is a badass bitch.
“Oh my god, did you hear what she did?” Nova bounces on her toes. “I mean, who takes down their captors when their hands and feet are bound? She’s totally my fucking hero.”
“Aww, I thought I was your hero,” says Sawyer.
She gives him a little rub on the shoulder with her hand and pouts. “In your dreams, pretty boy.”
Sawyer puts a hand over his heart. “I’m wounded.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I mutter.
“Just trying to lighten the mood,” Nova says.
“Here.” I look up and Brew is handing me a flask. “Brought some medicine.”
I sniff the container. It’s whiskey. Thank Christ.
I take a big chug, not even feeling the burn, and close my eyes. Man, that feels good. Numbing the pain could be good, but then again, I don’t want to be intoxicated when Willow comes around. I need to be alert and ready. I hand it back, and Brew side eyes me.
“What?” I say.
“She’s strong, bro. She’ll make it.”
“She hit the ground hard. I… I couldn’t wake her.”
“It’s called concussion, you’ve had it a million times, along with a few broken bones, she’ll come out of this, you know she will,” he says.
I shake my head. “And what if she doesn’t? She was so small in my arms. I lied to her—”
“Because you were protecting her,” Nova says, sliding down to sit next to me. “Because you love her, and she knows that.”
This isn’t a pity party, and none of this is about me.
It’s about Willow and her recovery. But the thought crosses my mind…
What if she doesn’t want to reconcile after this?
Could I blame her if she didn’t? I’m partly to blame for her getting into this mess when I could’ve been upfront in the beginning.
“Nova’s right,” Sawyer says. “Gotta stop feelin’ sorry for yourself and see what we all see — that you and Willow are meant to be together.”
He’s right. We are. But it should be me in the hospital, not her. Not my precious angel.
I look up as Casey comes busting through the doors, looking around for me. I stand as she makes her way over. “She’s going to be okay,” Casey says.
I close my eyes, my brother gripping me by the shoulder because I could very well topple over.
“While she isn’t completely out of the woods, the injuries aren’t life threatening.
A broken collarbone, smashed knee, concussion, and some bruising.
She was lucky, there were no major organs damaged, or head trauma,” she goes on.
“I shouldn’t really be discussing this with you until her doctor comes out, but I wanted you to know. She’s going to be okay.”
“When can I see her?” I ask as Max and Cameron come racing over.
I haven’t said much to Sinclair, but he orchestrated an entire search, so I’ve cut him some slack.
Not much, but some. I’ve never seen him look as pale as a sheet, but somewhere deep down I know he thought he was doing the right thing.
As did I. That’s still no excuse for his comments to Max, who honestly has been a rock for Willow since he’s been back. I’m glad they’ve made amends.
“The doc will be out soon. Act surprised,” she says, squeezing me on the arm, and I wince. “And you really should get that shoulder looked at pronto.”
“Thanks, Case, appreciate it,” I say as she nods and takes off.
Logan approaches, pulling me into a hug. “Told ya.”
I feel my throat thickening. Nope. I’m not gonna lose it. Not in front of my brothers or MC.
When the doc finally comes out half a century later, only immediate family are allowed.
“Dad, Haze needs to go first,” Max says.
Cameron steps back. “For what it’s worth…” He clears his throat. “I’m sorry.”
I give him a chin lift. “I guess we both did things we shouldn’t have done, but what matters is Willow is gonna be okay.”
“She did good,” Max goes on. “She’s a warrior.”
I turn away before my emotions get the better of me. I don’t want to waste time standing around when I can be with her. When I get to the room, the nurse looks up, then tells me to come in.
“Ten minutes, then she needs to rest,” she tells me.
I give her a chin lift.
Willows awake, groggy, but awake. She smiles softly. “Austin?”
She looks like a train wreck, and there’s wires and a monitor next to her. Bruising is starting to show under both her eyes, and she has numerous cuts, plus her arm is in a cast, and her leg is elevated.
I rush to her side, careful to not crush her when I fold my arms around her tiny body and rest my head in the crook of her neck. “I love you so much. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have left when I was mad at you. We said we’d never do that if we gave things another try.”
“But I lied to you,” I whisper. “And I’m so sorry.”
“You can beg on your hands and knees later.” I glance up, and she smiles. “I missed you.”
“Fuck, baby, I missed you, too. You took down both your kidnappers,” I say, brushing the hair out of her eyes. “That was so ballsy.”
“I guess I’m a ballsy kinda gal.” She glances at the blood on my shirt. “Haze?”
“I got shot.”
“Oh, my god! What?”
“It’s okay, just a flesh wound, the bullet isn’t lodged in there or anythin’,” I say. “I couldn’t rest until I knew you were okay.”
“You dumbass,” she sighs.
My eyebrows pique. “I can tell you’re already gettin’ better.”
“Kiss me.”
I don’t hesitate, my lips finding hers. It’s tender and soft. I don’t want to hurt her.
“Never gonna let you go ever again,” I tell her when I pull back. “Or do anythin’ that makes you mad with me.”
“I am pretty bad ass when you think about it,” she muses.
“Oh, there’s no question.”
“You should’ve seen what I had to do to escape Clare. Oh, and she’s the Rooftop Killer, but she said something about pinning it on Connor, we have to check on him—”
“The cops already did,” I say. “And he barely had a pulse.”
“How did you know?”
“Hally put some pieces together, then when the boys went through the security footage once they knew Clare — whose real name is Jane—”
“Was,” she corrects me.
I grin. “Was. Stalked Connor, then left him for dead with a suicide note confessing to the murders.”
“Is he gonna make it?”
“I don’t know, honey, but what matters right now is you restin’ up.”
Her eyes flutter closed. “Thank you for coming for me.”
“I’ll always come for you,” I tell her. “But you barely needed me.”
“If only I’d made it out, that stupid tire deflator ruined my getaway.”
I kiss the top of her head. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. Pickin’ up some stranger?”
She yawns. “She wasn’t a stranger, but yeah, she was certainly a good actress.”
I stare at her pretty face, her eyes fluttering closed. She’s exhausted, and rightly so. “I love you,” I whisper. “You came back to me.”
“I’ll always come back to you.”
There’s no other place for me in this life without her in it.
This time, I’m gonna be a better man.