DAX
The first thought that entered my head was why the fuck was I in so much goddamn pain?
My body felt like it had gotten flattened by a steam roller and then the devil danced on it as he laughed in my face, sending me back to the world of the living as punishment.
For what, I didn’t have a fucking clue. Once I got past the wall of pain, I was able to hear machines humming, someone or more than one person snoring, and the soft clacking of someone typing on a computer.
I wanted to open my eyes, but it just seemed like so much work, so instead I tried to shift my body to see if that would make things more comfortable.
A wave of pain flooded my body causing a whimper to pass my lips.
I tried to turn my head toward her voice but it hurt too much, and I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.
“Can’t you see how much pain she’s in, put her back under, this is torture,” a voice, that sounded a lot like Eagle’s, snarled.
“We’ve been over this already. I have to be able to check and see if she has any brain damage.
She lost a lot of blood and her heart stopped twice during surgery.
There is no way to tell what ramifications there are from that and the only way to test is to lower the pain meds,” the nurse, Dani, snapped, making me want to grin.
“Look, she’s grinning at the fact you just scolded me, is that good enough for you?” Eagle pointed out. “Trust me when I tell you that is the most normal thing for her to be happy about.”
Dani sighed and I felt two fingers slip into each of my hands. “Try and grab my fingers as hard as you can Dax.”
I could do that easily with my right, but when it came to my left, I grunted in pain and broke out into a sweat. “That’s very good, now can you wiggle your toes? Excellent.”
“Has she done enough tricks for you, lady?” Void growled.
“You know, you really should be nicer to me. I don’t have to allow you to be in here, you’re not family and there are six of you that keep coming in and out of this room when it should only be two at the most. This is the ICU, you know.”
I was liking Nurse Dani more and more.
“Alright, Dax, I’m going to turn your pain meds back up and I’ll check back in with you later, sleep now.”
“We have to move her, now!” Weston bellowed, pulling me out of the darkness. “I don’t care what I have to sign. I’m her medical proxy and her power of attorney. She cannot stay here or they will kill her. Do you get that?”
“Sir, I understand your concern, seeing as your companions apprehended an impostor of our staff, but this patient is still critical. It’s only been three days since her surgery and it’s much too soon to try and transport her anywhere,” a voice I didn’t know answered in a snooty tone.
“This is where I’m telling you I don’t give a fuck what you think. Your hospital failed to keep her safe, so we are going to take her where we know she will get the best care and security. Now sign the goddamn papers or I will destroy you and this hospital,” Wes threatened.
What did it say about me, that in my twisted little heart, that was the most romantic thing I’d ever heard in my life?
“Give me a few moments and I’ll get things pulled together. Do you have a destination you wish me to send her paperwork to?”
“No need,” Sprocket interjected. “Print off everything you have, and we’ll hand it over to those that need it. And be quick about it.”
The need to know what was going on made me restless and my right arm shifted toward the voices, as if I could reach out to them.
“Easy there, little rebel,” Sprocket whispered, his lips brushing my forehead. “We’re going to get you out of here and somewhere safe, I promise. You just keep fighting to get better. We have everything else handled.”
With an epic amount of effort, I was able to open my eyes and took in a blurry vision of Sprocket’s face.
It took blinking a few times, but I was finally able to get them clearly and I noticed his battered face.
I tried to lift my hand, but it felt like it weighed the same as a ton of bricks.
He saw what I was doing and took my hand in his, lifting it to his face.
I was able to stroke my thumb against his cheek but that was about it.
“I’m fine, nothing to worry yourself about.” He smiled and kissed the back of my hand. “You have no idea how good it is to see those beautiful eyes of yours. Now be good and go back to sleep, it’s the best thing to get you better.”
Licking my lips, I felt how cracked they were and how chalky my mouth felt, like the Sahara Desert had relocated without me knowing.
“Hey, Wes, can you grab the ice chips?” Sprocket asked.
“Fuck, they all melted. I’ll be right back,” Wes said, followed by quickly moving footsteps.
I’d never heard Wes so stressed before. We’d been through a hell of a lot in our lives, but I’d never heard that tone before. Sprocket reached out and smoothed my forehead where it had furrowed.
“You scared the shit out of us, little rebel, and some are dealing with it better than others. That is nothing for you to worry about though, we’re handling things, and once we get you to the private medical care that we have lined up, things will be even better.
They only let two of us stay in here after six and then let them back in at seven in the morning.
At this new place, we will all be able to stay with you around the clock and I know that will help soothe some ruffled feathers,” Sprocket chattered.
It was comforting to have him here and so relaxed about everything that’s going on.
Weston’s face appeared behind Sprocket, and it immediately set me on guard.
It looked like he hadn’t shaved in days, his hair was all over the place, and his shirt had seen better days.
Then his eyes locked onto mine and they had a viciousness that I’d never seen before in them.
“Welcome back, my heart, you had us a little worried there,” Wes murmured, as he held out an ice chip and let it melt on my lips a minute before slipping it onto my tongue.
I couldn’t help but hum at how wonderful it felt to have that cold water slide down my throat. He gave me a few more the next time, and I savored them like they were the best candy I’d ever had in my life.
“Thank you,” I rasped, but it was cut short when I tried to take a deep breath in and groaned. “What—happened?” This time I took shorter breaths and that seemed to go better.
Sprocket and Wes looked at each other, then back at me. They better not fucking lie to me, half dead or not, I would whoop their asses.
“Calm down, Dax,” Wes warned, looking at something over my head. “We need you to stay calm. Stress isn’t good for you right now. So as long as you can keep your cool, we’ll give you the Cliff Notes version.”
I glared at him but nodded.
“The Mad Dogs hit us, somehow they got inside information about the location, and they had help getting smuggled into the meeting. You were shot in the shoulder, the back on your right side so it missed your heart, and then got nicked by a bullet on your neck when saving Eagle’s life,” Sprocket explained.
“We dealt with the matter while Void got you to the hospital. Then last night there was another assassination attempt, but your boy, Wes, here handled it before anything could happen. It seems they want to take out Two Tricks while you’re still laid up. ”
“How many losses?” I asked.
Wes’s shoulders slumped. “We lost five, mostly underlings, except for Oscar. We did however take out about fifty of the Mad Dogs’ crew and with a surprise attack like that, I’d say we did pretty well.”
Shifting my eyes back to the ceiling I closed them, taking in everything that they told me.
I’d been reckless in being so open about the meeting.
I should have done it at a different location that could have been guarded better.
Hell, what I really should have done was just had a small meeting with the underbosses and people who really needed to know and let it leak out to the rest of the Empire.
This was my fault—four good men and a friend died from my mistake.
I knew better than that, but I was pissed and let it rule my judgment.
A hand cupped my cheek, causing me to open my eyes and meet Sprocket’s gaze.
“Don’t. I can feel you beating yourself up and I won’t allow you to do that.
It happened, learn from it and do better.
Everyone makes choices day in and day out, some work—some don’t.
Is it tragic that we lost good people—yes.
Just don’t turn your back on them or their families.
This won’t go away just because you feel bad about it or want to run away, you need to get better and show those fuckers that they messed with the wrong woman. ”
“Don’t go soft on us now, little demon,” Void added, coming to stand on the left side of my bed. “It’s time to go, they’re going to knock you out again so you’re not in too much pain during transport. We’ll all be there when you wake up again, alright?”
“Okay,” I answered, giving him a weak smile.
Void leaned down and brushed his lips to mine before he stepped back for a nurse to inject something into my IV.
“You know this is a terrible idea, right?” she asked me.
“I trust them with my life. They won’t let anything bad happen to me,” I stated, and the moment I said it, I knew it was true.
The last thing I saw was the nurse looking at the wall of men staring her down and I smirked as I slipped back into unconsciousness.
“Loba, are you with us, loba?” Cognac whispered, his lips brushing my ear.
My eyes fluttered open and I started to turn my head, but the pull of the bandage and the stitches reminded me to be careful.
“It’s alright, you can move without pulling the stitches, you just need to be gentle,” Cognac assured me as I shifted to meet his gaze.
It would appear that wherever we ended up, I was now in a bed big enough to have them lay beside me like Cognac was doing now. He grinned at me, excitement shining in his eyes as he ran a finger lightly along my cheek.
“What are you so happy about?” I asked, my voice still a little husky.
“Just this, that I get to be right next to you without anyone yelling at me or telling me that I couldn’t fit in your bed. I made sure that we never have that problem again—isn’t that right, Sprocket,” Cognac called over my shoulder.
The bed shifted, and I felt a hand settle tentatively on my left arm. “Yup, big enough the three of us can fit and not run into you while we sleep.”
I wanted to shift my head to look at him, but the effort just seemed so monumental, so instead I slowly opened my hand and wiggled my fingers for his hand.
Quickly, his fingers interlaced with mine and with Cognac’s help I shifted myself to sit up a little higher with a pillow, while the whole back of the bed lifted as well.
“We got all the bells and whistles for this, since you’ll be stuck here for a bit longer,” Cognac explained.
“You guys didn’t have to do all this,” I muttered, glad to finally be able to see my surroundings.
The room looked like any old bedroom but was full of the medical supplies needed, along with two futons and some recliners.
They were all filled with sleeping men at the moment, and it put a smile on my face.
Then a woman walked into the room wearing scrubs, long blond hair up in a ponytail swinging behind her, with an IV bag in her hand.
“Oh, look at you,” she greeted with a bright smile. “We haven’t officially met yet but I’m Dani, your nurse. I took care of you on the day shift and the guys hired me to stay on with you here since I knew the case.”
“Eagle was convinced that you would like her, for some reason,” Cognac added.
She gave him a scolding look and shooed him out of the way as she hooked up the new bag and came to check my vitals. “How is your pain level? I backed off the meds to try and keep you a little more coherent, but if it’s too soon, you let me know. Your body took quite the beating.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” I said with a shrug, letting out a cry, forgetting all about my shoulder. “Fuck.”
The guys who were sleeping sat bolt upright and were out of their chairs in seconds, rushing over to me.
“What’s wrong, what did she do?” Eagle demanded.
Dani huffed and narrowed her gaze at Eagle. “I didn’t do anything. She just shrugged, forgetting about her shoulder. This is the most alert she’s been since the trauma happened. It’s bound to take her a little time to wrap her head around what’s going on in her body.”
Ah this is why Eagle thought I would like her… he was right.
“Everyone take it easy,” I wheezed and then coughed, which I tried to fight, and led me to cough even more.
A dense heart shaped pillow was pressed into my arms. “Hug this as you cough, it will help the pain from your lungs and shoulder. The more stable your body is, the less it will pull at the injuries.”
Tears streamed down my face at the stabbing pain, some of the worst I’d ever experienced.
This was going to be such a bitch to heal, and I was notoriously a terrible patient, it made me super crabby.
Eagle reached out to rest his hand on my knee and I knocked his hand away with my good arm, careful not to knock the IV loose.
“What the fuck are you doing here, anyway?” I snapped. “Didn’t you decide that Nelly was a more important part of your ‘family’ than me? Or did you promise her that you were all-in for having a relationship and back out already?”
Regret flashed over his face, but I didn’t want to hear it, so I turned to Dani instead.
“I think I’d like something for the pain now.”
Dani looked at me with understanding and nodded. “Alright, I’ll be back with the medicine.”
It didn’t take her long to grab the meds from the other room and return. Hands on her hips, she gave the guys a stern look. “I think it’s best if you gave her some space, gentlemen.”
“Except Wes,” I called, watching him walk away.
He paused and then crawled into bed with me, as Dani injected the pain meds into my IV port. “Stay with me… please.”