Twenty-Three
W hen we arrived at the hospital, we met up with Torch and Micro, who both greeted their President and VP like brothers. Torch then nodded at me, and winked, and Micro reached out to touch my shoulder, and then rethought it when we all heard a low growl from Reacher, like a wolf, protecting his mate. It was actually pretty sexy, and they all just took it in their stride, like it wasn’t kinda weird.
“They’re just preparing some shit in there, and Has is waiting by his door. For a guy who said he didn’t like Ice, he’s been there a lot, like even when he’s not scheduled to be.”
Maybe Has-Been had the hots for Ice, I mean, stranger things could happen. I wasn’t sure how it would be looked at in a biker club, but it was kinda cute. Maybe all that protesting was about him hiding his real feelings.
Reacher told the guys to go get some rest, but they both stayed where they were.
“Respectfully, Pres, I think we’d both like to be here when he wakes up. Even if they don’t let us all in.” I think I warmed to both of them a little more in that moment.
Torch hadn’t voted against me, so I liked him more than many of the others as it was. Micro had been on the fence about it, and abstained from voting, but he’d looked like he felt bad about even that much. In fact, only a few had vehemently opposed us, but it was how club politics worked. The majority didn’t win; it was all or nothing. All for or all against.
We piled into the lift to head up to the floor of the hospital where Ice was being treated. Reacher moved us into the corner of the lift, so that he stood between me and his brothers, like somehow they’d do something to me if he didn’t do that. It was nice; possessive, and kinda weird, but having someone care that much about me or my safety was pretty special.
When we reached intensive care, we were redirected through a doorway into the unit that specialised in detox treatments, and to another reception area.
“I’m Jacob Anderson. I understand that Ice is being woken up?”
The nurse frowned, and then her expression evened out.
“Oh. Mr Silver. Silver … is that why you call him Ice?”
Torch barked out a laugh, and lifted a hand in apology.
“Yeah, let’s go with that.”
She took in the number of us standing waiting, and shook her head.
“We can’t let you all in. They’re just administering to him now, but when they’re ready to let someone in, we can let two of you in. Maximum.”
Reacher turned to stare at me, regret on his face.
“I’ll be safe out here with the boys. You both need to be in there.”
Stitch patted my shoulder, and then raised his eyebrows at the glare he received from Reacher.
“I’m hardly groping her, am I, brother?”
I fought the smile that threatened to spread across my face.
“Isn’t he cute though, when he’s so territorial? It’s pretty hot too.”
I received three answers of no, and one growl from Reacher, as my response, then the nurse sighed.
“So who’s going in?”
Reacher pointed to himself and Stitch, and she nodded, asking them to wait. She disappeared off to check on their progress in Ice’s room.
Reacher dragged me away from the others.
“Please don’t go anywhere. Wait here for me. I don’t know what kind of danger you’re in from those bastards, but you’re safest here. Torch and Micro will keep you safe while I’m in there, and Has-been is around here somewhere too apparently.”
“As least they’re not some of the ones who literally hate me, so I’ll be fine, Reacher. I won’t run, I promise.”
He gripped the back of my neck.
“None of them hate you, woman. They’re just concerned about the threat of the cartel, especially this close to Tori bringing mafia our way. It’ll all be fine, and I’ll make sure of it. Don’t leave their side at all. You need a piss, they go with you and wait outside the door. Got it?”
I giggled at my protective beast of a man. Nothing and nobody would keep me from being with him, I knew that more with every second I spent with him. He was meant for me, but it didn’t mean I didn’t like winding him up a bit now and then.
“Sure they shouldn’t wait inside with me?”
His grip tightened. “Don’t even fucking joke about that. I’d have to kill them for it.”
He pressed his lips against mine, more of a mark of possession than it was a caress, or gesture of affection, then he dragged me back to the two bikers waiting on the seats.
“Brothers, keep her safe for me. I’m relying on you.”
They nodded, and Torch pointed to the seat between the two of them.
“Sit here, love. Nobody will touch you.”
“That means you, as well.” Reacher pointed at Torch, then Micro.
“You only touch her if it’s to save her life. Got it?”
They both looked bemused. “Geez, Pres. I’m flattered by the way you see us, I mean, we’re not predators or horny teenagers. I think you can chill out.” Torch was grinning, but sobered up. “Just tell Ice we’re all here for him, yeah?”
Reacher
L eaving her with them didn’t sit well with me, even though I knew I could trust them to behave. I hoped that she’d still be there when I returned. The trouble with her was her conscience. It kept making her believe that she was wrong for me, or bad for me, or the club. If she left me though, I’d hunt her to the end of the fucking earth, to drag her back to my fucking bed.
“Mr Anderson?”
“Reacher, please.”
The doctor introduced himself as Dr Patel, and I think he was the guy who’d phoned me that day, but I didn’t bother to ask.
“Mr Silver is coming around. I should warn you, however, he’s not going to be very chatty for a while though. He’s been under heavy sedation for several days, and he did almost die. The blood loss was severe, and although we’re confident he should be intact, you can expect some memory loss, and confusion about the events that put him in here.”
Shit . I nodded, seeing Stitch doing the same, from the corner of my eye.
“We can talk to him though?”
The doctor nodded. “I’d like to ask to you to please only spend a few minutes with him, at least if you’re expecting him to talk or stay conscious. He’ll be in and out of it for a while, and he needs to rest.”
“What about his detox?” Stitch prompted, folding his arms, like they might protect him from the doctor’s response.
“Well, we saw some visible signs during his time under sedation; shivers, sweating, and I imagine there was some vivid dreaming going on, all part of the body trying to cope with the loss of whatever it is he’s normally taking.”
Jesus. “So he was trapped in nightmares, and unable to awake, because of this shit you were pumping him with?”
Stitch shot me a glare, and I got the point loud and clear. Don’t take out my anger on the doctor. I held up a hand.
“Sorry. I’m just… it’s been a long few days worrying about him. I know you’ve all been doing a great job of keeping him as well as you can.”
The doctor nodded again. “I’ll check back in a little while, to see how he’s doing. Now that he’s going to be awake, and the detox is past the worst, I can’t see any reason he’ll have to stay in much longer. As long as he continues to heal well.”
That was music to my fucking ears.
“We can go in now?”
He stepped aside, and let us enter Ice’s room. The steady beep of his heart rate was a welcome sound. More so though, was the sight of his eyes, open, and staring at the ceiling.
A nurse was still fussing over him.
“Just a few minutes, gents.”
She backed out of the room, and we stepped up on either side of our fallen brother.
His eyes went from the ceiling to mine, then he blinked a few times, looking the other way, seeing Stitch standing there.
He blinked a few more times, like his eyes were dry or sore.
“Hey, brother.”
He swallowed. “Hi,” his voice was almost just a breath. It sounded like he had a sore throat, but then, he’d had tubes down there for long enough that it’d probably hurt for a while.
He tried clearing his throat, and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Sorry.” His voice was no louder, but I didn’t want him to keep trying.
“Don’t worry, Ice. We can hear you just fine.”
“You’re going to be fine, brother.” Stitch leaned over him. “We’re all here for you.”
Ice blinked again, letting out a slow breath.
“Really… fucked… up.”
I glanced at Stitch with a frown.
“Are you saying you fucked up? You didn’t. You couldn’t have seen this coming, brother.”
His heart rate was a little faster, but I didn’t know if that was because he was awake, and talking, or if there was something else going on.
“My… fault…” His croaky voice was barely audible, but we both caught his words.
“What was? Ice, don’t keep trying to talk. Just answer one question for me.” Stitch rested a hand on Ice’s shoulder.
“Please.” Ice squeezed his eyes shut again, and a tear dropped from one. Jesus .
“Are you in pain?”
He blinked groggily at me, his head twitching to the side a little.
“No… yeah… used to… it…”
I looked at Stitch again. Was this normal? Was he even in the fucking room with us right now?
“What does that mean?”
Stitch sighed, waving a hand in the air at me.
“Shelve that for a moment. Ice, look at me, brother.”
Ice’s eyes moved again, but I noticed that no other part of him moved at all, just his eyes. Couldn’t he move? Was there damage we didn’t know about? That the doctors didn’t know about yet?
“Ice, did you see who did this? Was it the cartel?”
Ice’s eyes widened, and his breath caught. His heart was racing now. Jesus .
“Calm down, brother. You’re safe here.”
“I’m… sorry…” He stared at the ceiling again, but there was another tear. Was it just some reaction to waking up, or the detox? Or was he actually crying?
I glanced at Stitch worriedly. None of this seemed like the man we knew, and it scared the hell out of me.
“Get the doc.” He disappeared, and I leaned closer to Ice, taking hold of his hand, which felt cool to the touch.
“Brother, relax. You’re safe, and none of this is your fault, okay? The cartel are after Alicia. This isn’t because of you or anything you did.”
His eyes fixed on me, but it seemed like focusing on me was a struggle for him. The doc did warn us he’d be out of it, but being told that, and seeing what my brother had been reduced to, were two very different things.
“My… fault… told them… didn’t mean to…” His voice sounded like every word physically hurt him.
“Brother, don’t try to talk. We can do this later.”
The nurse walked back in. “Doctor is on his way. What’s… are you upsetting him?” She had noted the rapid heart rate, and checked Ice’s pulse, like she had to prove the machines wrong.
She leaned over Ice so he could see her, speaking in a low calm voice.
“Try to breathe, Mr Silver.”
“Ice,” I reminded her, and she nodded.
“Ice… breathe with me, don’t try to speak.”
She turned to me then. “You’ll wait outside please.” I squeezed his hand once, and backed up, leaving the room, and heading for the waiting area.
Stitch watched me approach.
“What the fuck was that? He wasn’t just incoherent. He was… I don’t know what that was.”
I stared at the room we’d left, seeing the doctor appear and head inside, the door closing.
“He’s afraid, and he thinks he caused whatever happened to him. I’m starting to wonder if he found the cartel himself, and this is just a coincidence of epic proportions.”
Stitch cursed, running a hand through his hair.
“Like he’s been buying from them?”
I desperately hoped that the answer to that question was no. Unfortunately, until Ice was up to speaking, and making a little more sense, we wouldn’t have the answer to that question. All we had was more shit to worry about, and no plan of action to keep our people safe.
Ally approached me then. “Are you okay?”
Was I? I had no fucking idea. I hauled her against my chest, because I needed the comfort that she provided, just by existing, just by being in my arms. I rested my chin against the top of her head.
“I’m gonna send the boys home to rest. They’ve been here most of the day.” Stitch disappeared, and a few moments later we heard Torch and Micro leaving, both looking exhausted, and demoralised.
“This can’t be it, man. He has to get better, because that guy in there? That’s not Ice. That’s… Jesus … there was no sign of the man we know.” Did I sound fucking defeated? How else was I supposed to sound, or feel, when I felt like we’d just been talking to a frightened fucking child, rather than the man we knew so well?
Stitch went off to find coffee for us, and Ally led me back to those crappy plastic seats to sit down.
She held one of my hands, and stroked it with her thumb.
“I’m sorry it didn’t go well.”
I watched her thumb moving against my skin, taking comfort from her touch, because I needed something to soothe the shock of how broken Ice had seemed.
“He… it wasn’t just that he was afraid. I think he blames himself for it, and there might even be more to his story than we know, but he’s not up to telling us right now.”
Ally sighed. “I’m so sorry, if it is because of me, but I’ll help no matter what. Do you want me to make contact with Raoul?”
Did my blood boil in my veins just at the mention of that fucker’s name? The last thing I wanted was my woman near that fucker. There was no way that’d help the situation, or any situation at all. Ever.
“Hell no. At least, not until we know what we plan to do. If he gets any idea of where you are, he might come for you. I want to be ready if that happens. I plan to peel the skin from his fucking body, while I listen to his screams.”
Stitch cursed as he approached with coffees.
“You want to keep your fucking voice down, Reacher? You’ll scare the staff here, and they already think we’re barbarians.”
He passed coffee to each of us, and disappeared again to get his. He was right though, this wasn’t the place for statements like that.
“Ally, I need to make something clear to you, and I need to say it in a way that won’t terrify the staff here. I hate the fact that any other man has been near you. I hate the fact that I wasn’t your first, and your only. To say I want to destroy your previous lovers is an understatement. Most of all, this bastard Raoul, who hurt you, and caused all this shit… that guy I want to take apart, but I need to hold back what I want to say right now. Just know that whatever the worst is that you can picture… that’s what I’m going to do, and then some.”
She shuddered, and when I met her eyes again, I could see it wasn’t shock or horror, or disgust. She was fucking turned on by my words. By how I wanted to kill every man who’d ever touched her. My fucking old lady. I would kill for her, and I’d die for her. I hoped I wouldn’t have to do the latter for a few years at least. A hundred would never be enough, but I’d settle for a few years if that was all I’d get.