Chapter Five
I can feel eyes on me as I walk towards the trash can, but I resolutely ignore the stares.
I'm just placing the last of the rubbish in the trash when someone shoulder checks me, hard.
The force put behind it sends me crashing to floor.
When I land my whole left side erupts in a fiery pain leaving me gasping for breath as black dots start to dance in front of my eyes, fuck, not good.
I glance up and spot the blonde bitch from yesterday. I shouldn’t be surprised.
The black spots dancing in front of my eyes are starting to get bigger as I hear a rush of heavy footsteps heading my way and Jax falls to his knees heavily next to me.
"Are you ok Little Star?" He asks, his concerned eyes running all over my face.
I'm trying to concentrate on breathing, so I can answer him but the pain is so overwhelming that I’m not successful. Somewhere near me I can hear angry yelling although I can't make out what's being said over my rasping breaths.
"What's wrong with her?" I hear Kai ask panic evident in his voice.
My heart melts slightly at the sound of it.
"A fall like that shouldn't have caused her to have a reaction like this should it?" Kai questions again, looking around at what I can only assume are the other guys.
Any small movement is causing me an enormous amount of pain. I can't even turn my head to check to see if I'm alright. The only reason I can tell who is talking is because I already recognise their voices.
"No, it shouldn't." Levi states quietly before something seems to click. He leans forward to say something before being interrupted by Hunter.
"What the fuck is wrong? Why hasn't she gotten up? Is she alright? Sweetheart, are you alright?" The questions are fired rapidly at whoever will listen.
The others are in shock for a few moments seemingly unprepared for the amount of words that just came out of the man who usually says so few.
"Sage, were you hurt before she pushed you over?" Levi questions me. His question earns the immediate attention of the rest of the guys.
He knows.
Levi stares into my eyes and I know I can't hide this from them, I really can't. I very slowly nod my head. All of their eyes widen and they stare down at me with worried expressions. Even Kai's usual mirth isn't present in his eyes, I miss it. The black spots have started to take over completely.
"No hospitals." I rasp, panicking, I know I'm about to fade into unconsciousness and I cannot risk them taking me to a hospital.
I see Hunters eyes go wide; he must see something in my eyes that tells him of the importance of my request because he slowly nods. It seems that was all I needed to let the darkness overtake me completely. I vaguely hear panicked shouts as I go under.
Levi
We’re all watching Sage walk away when I spot a fake blonde with far too much make up on, make her way over to her. She's also the same fake blond that Hunter has said no to over a dozen times since we started at this school yesterday.
Dumb blonde will not take no for an answer.
I watch as if in slow motion as the blonde violently shoulder checks her. I'm about to get up and rush over to her when a sudden and intense pain erupts on my left side, leaving me breathless for a few moments before it fades, the phantom ache still there.
Glancing around at my brothers, I see that they too are clutching their left sides with various looks of pain and shock. Why does this keep happening? I don't understand and it's driving my analytical brain crazy. I have to know the answer.
I'm jolted out of my thoughts as I see Jax sprint past me heading for a crumpled Sage.
She still hasn't gotten up and should have by now, something is wrong.
I sprint over and seeing that Jax is taking care of Sage, I head towards Hunter who is currently giving the blonde a glare so fierce it surprises me that she hasn't already run away. Kai isn't much better and is currently cursing her out and extremely colourfully at that.
"Calm down. Come on Sage needs us." I place a hand on both of their shoulders.
As soon as my words have penetrated their anger they turn back around a sprint towards Sage, not giving the gaping blond a second more of the attention she so obviously craves.
"A fall like that shouldn't have caused a reaction like this should it?" Kai asks, his worried gaze flitting over each of us as he kneels on the other side of her opposite Jax, I frown.
"No, it shouldn't." I say simply. I stare down at Sage my mind spinning with thoughts.
She’s kept her left arm close to her body at all times today.
In our class together, whenever she moved a flash of pain would pass over her stunning features.
She tried to hide it, but her beautiful, normally bright grey eyes were dulled with pain.
It's then that it all clicks together, and I lean over to ask her if I’m right but before I can say anything, I'm interrupted by a panicking Hunter.
"What the fuck is wrong? Why hasn't she gotten up? Is she alright? Sweetheart, are you alright?"
The questions are fired rapidly at us. I just stare at him in shock.
That is, honest to fuck, the most I have heard him say in one sentence, about or to anyone other than the rest of our brothers. He really cares for her already. A quick glance around at my brothers tells me that we all do. We're going to need to discuss this later.
Dismissing him for a moment knowing that I have a much more important question to ask, I lean over Sage slightly, so I can see her properly.
"Sage, Darling were you hurt before she pushed you over?"
I feel the other guys snap to attention in the small circle of protection we've created around her, but I watch Sage as an array of emotions cross her pretty face. The one that disturbs me the most though is the look of defeat.
I stare into her eyes, hoping she can see the sincerity in mine.
Hoping she can see that she can trust me.
I see the resolve cross her features before she nods slightly, once.
My brothers all stiffen, our jaws clenching, we know from her behaviour that her injury wasn’t simply an accident like tripping and falling down the stairs.
My god I hope we are wrong though.
The minute she tells Hunter no hospitals though, the sickening feeling churning in my stomach gets worse.
I knew there was something wrong with her this morning.
Why didn't I just ask her? You know why idiot, she's skittish enough as it is, a question like that would have sent her running.
I remember how it was for me and my brothers before we left for the military at seventeen with a parental signature.
We managed to catch our father when he was drunk but in a calm enough mood, he signed without really knowing what he was signing and by the next morning he had forgotten signing anything.
Our father didn't care and even if he did with the amount of shit we had on him he wouldn't have said anything anyway.
A year and a half later we then got selected to join a secret undercover branch of the military that deals with threats to national security or even security of an individual person and now we take jobs all over the world.
We have a vast range of skills and are trained in multiple different things that can be applied to a variety of different missions.
It was during training that we met and bonded with Hunter and Jax.
You are urged to create teams during training, although in most cases the people on your teams are just work colleagues and sometimes friends if you’re lucky.
Most people select teammates for their teams with skills that complement their own.
Our team though has grown as close as family, due to similar backgrounds and experiences.
I am extremely proud to call these men my brothers.
Sometimes it is necessary to join with other teams if a mission is more complicated than what was first thought, although that doesn’t happen often.
I'm brought out of my thoughts with the guys panicked yelling.
I glance down towards the only person that could make highly trained military men forget their training, just in time to see Sage's eyes roll into the back of her head.
I'm not too proud to admit that I join my brothers in panicking. There's just something about her that calls to me, to us.
Hunter regains his composure quicker than the rest of us and I watch as he ever so gently, more gently than I have ever seen him be before, picks her up bridal style and cradles her to his chest. Even though she is passed out a grimace of pain appears on her face as he moves her.
I hear Hunter muttering what seems to be a constant stream of apologies as he walks out of the cafeteria, Maverick striding quickly after him, with Jax leading a still panicking Kai, his arm around his shoulders speeding after them.
Kai has the hardest time out of all of us seeing women hurt. He was the one who found our mom. We all hate it but for Kai he gets stuck in a memory. It's been a while since he’s been pulled into the horrific memory.
Muttering starts up around me as my brothers leave with Sage, and I remember that the incident happened in the cafeteria. I ignore the muttering voices and race out to follow my brothers, only a few seconds behind.
Please for the love of all that is holy, please, please let her be ok.
I need her.
Hunter
I'm the first one to snap out of the panic that Sage induced when she passed out. Moving incredibly carefully, I gently scoop my arm underneath her knees and one behind her head and gently lift her off the floor. Cringing when I notice her grimace of pain.
"I'm sorry Sweetheart, just a little bit longer and we will get you checked out and more comfortable." I say as softly as my rough voice will allow me.