Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Pen
I pace in the emergency waiting room while Dom remains outside, making more calls.
I can’t believe the hospital staff—namely the nurse at the emergency room desk, won’t allow me or Dom in the room with Callum.
Even though we showed her our credentials and explained how we are his bodyguards, she still refused us entry.
Dom strides back inside, a scowl carved deep across his face. “Tobias, the rest of the team and the band, along with Dante, are on their way. So are some of Dean’s men that he is pulling off of other jobs.”
“Why?” I ask, since Harper Security isn’t currently employed by Warrior Black or LC Records. Dom and I used to work for Dean—as did the rest of the band’s current security team.
However, once Tobias and John became romantically involved with two of the band members, they left Harper Security and formed their own group solely to provide security for Warrior Black.
Not much later, Fig joined them. Then Jordan not long after that.
Dom and I both took a permanent sabbatical a year ago to be on tour with the band, and Dean knows we aren’t coming back.
As if those defections from Harper Security weren’t enough, Ron swayed the band’s label to hire Tobias’s new team and terminate the contract with Dean Harper. So the fact that Dean is sending men raises all kinds of questions.
“Dante brought him in—or should I say Ron made the choice. They think we aren’t handling the security properly and want Dean’s input,” Dom growls.
“That’s bullshit,” I grunt out. “What does Tobias say?”
“Tobias isn’t happy either that Dante pulled Dean into this, but he has no say. Dante has the backing of the record label’s higher-ups.”
I expel a long exhale, contemplating what kind of conflict will ensue when Tobias and Dean go head-to-head on this matter. “All I care about right now is if Callum is okay—Christ! I can’t stand here and not know if he needs us,” I blurt out.
Nurse Ratchet at the desk stares at me with open hostility, but I don’t give a fuck. I open my mouth to tell her to shove it, but Dom holds up a hand to shut me up. He walks over to the desk, leans in and whispers something, and her face goes pale and she starts nodding.
Dom turns, grins wide at me and says, “Let’s go.”
“What did you say to the woman?”
“I told her that if something happens to Callum while we’re out here, it’s going to be her ass and her job on the line. The lawsuit we’ll bring down on the hospital will be nothing compared to what she will lose,” he says with a grin.
I chuckle. “Dom does it again.”
I follow him down the wide corridor, peeking between the curtains, until we come to the last cubicle on the left.
Dom sweeps open the curtain that separates the space from the walkway, and there, lying in the bed, is Callum.
An IV is hooked up to his right arm—but his left arm is in a splint.
A heart monitor bleeps in the background and the blood pressure cuff is wrapped around his biceps groans and expands.
He also has a nasal canula in his nostrils for oxygen. His poor face has been cleaned and a few of the scrapes have been bandaged, and his nose is taped across the bridge… But the swelling… Jesus Christ.
My heart aches at the sight of this beautiful, sweet man, unconscious and injured.
Even though my trepidation about his feelings for us is a warning to check my emotions, my affection for the bass player grows stronger every time I’m with him.
I just wish I knew what was going through Callum’s head when he left us and if he’ll ever want to be with Dom and me.
“Jesus.” I walk over to the left side of the bed, while Dom moves to the right. We each tentatively touch a hand. “Who in the hell could have done this to him?” I look to Dom for answers.
“I don’t know, babe. But fuck, I promise you I’ll find out who’s behind Callum’s attack.”
“If you two are going to remain in here, you need to be quiet and stop swearing. We have sick kids that can hear all this. You’re talking loudly, and it isn’t helping them or their parents.
” A male nurse stands by the curtain. Despite being shorter than Dom and me, the glare he levels at us is fierce.
“Now, I need to take Mr. Fitz’s vitals, so please stand aside. ”
“You know who we are?” Dom’s pointed glower at the nurse is equally stern. My eyes drop down to the name badge clipped to the nurse’s dark blue scrub shirt. It reads Lyric. Unusual.
“I do.” Lyric lifts his chin in defiance.
“Then you know who he is,” Dom pushes.
“I do,” Lyric repeats, his unnaturally blue—almost violet, almond-shaped eyes home in on Callum. “He’s the bassist for the rock band, Warrior Black. I’m a fan.”
“Then, you know what happened to Mr. Fitz, and why we have to take extra precautions on who comes in here,” Dom explains firmly.
“Yes.” Lyric’s jaw tenses as he shifts the electronic note book from his right arm to his left. “But that’s not my call. You need to take it up with the head charge nurse and the head of security.”
“A call has been made. But I want to be perfectly clear with you, until Mr. Fitz leaves this hospital, you are the only nurse that will be able to enter his room.”
“But…” The nurse’s eyes widen in surprise, then narrow seconds later. He’s not happy to hear that order. “I need to talk to Mrs. Gavin, she’s in charge.”
“That’s fine,” Dom continues, not caring if the nurse likes his command or not. “Now which doctor will be tending to Mr. Fitz?” Dom’s eyes never waver from Lyric’s face.
“Dr. Monroe is on staff in the emergency room,” he says, then adds, “Now, can you let me do my job?”
Dom glances at me, nods and then we both step away from the bed.
We watch the nurse as he checkmarks his name on the dry erase board on the wall.
He then looks over Callum’s IV and the fluid bags—and the lines that connect to Callum’s arm, and then taps something on his electronic pad.
After Lyric registers the blood pressure, he adds more notes.
“We would like to talk to Dr. Monroe,” I say evenly.
There’s no need for me to be demanding, since Dom is doing enough of that.
Lyric starts shaking his head, but I cut him off.
“Reason being, in the next few hours, this emergency room will be inundated with more security and the rest of the band. Trust me, you would rather have us give them the diagnoses in the waiting room than have them badgering you in here.”
The nurse sighs in resignation. “Give me five minutes.”
“Thank you,” I say with a smile.
His eyes drop to my mouth for a beat. I’m not sure if Lyric realizes how hungrily he’s staring at me. There’s a sudden heat at my back, and the nurse’s eyes shift to Dom behind me, before he spins around and leaves.
I turn my head and smirk. “Jealous?” I ask huskily.
“Want me to be?” he says before nipping at my ear. “It’s okay that he appreciates you from afar, as long as there’s no touching what is mine.”
“That’s not fair.” Callum’s croaky voice has Dom and me whirling around and rushing to the bed.
“Hey,” I say, and gently take Callum’s hand.
“What happened?” Callum asks as he slowly moves his eyes around the room.
“Don’t you remember?” Dom asks as he leans in and kisses Callum’s forehead.
Callum tries to shake his head, but groans in pain from the movement. “My brain hurts.”
“I bet it does,” Dom says softly. “Someone attacked you.”
Callum becomes so still, as if moving would bring about the apocalypse. The hand I’m holding tightens into a vise before he says, “I don’t—Yeah… I remember something now. A guy attacked me.”
“You didn’t see his face?” I ask softly.
“No, I didn’t see who. At least I think I didn’t—I can’t remember. Everything in my head is a blur.”
“That’s okay. I’m just glad we got there in time and found you,” Dom says with some measure of relief. But his tone belies what he and I are truly feeling. We are furious.
Not five minutes later, Dr. Monroe comes into the room. The older man spares us a glance before looking at Callum. “Mr. Fitz, I’m glad to see you are awake.”
“How bad are my injuries?” Callum asks with hesitation.
“Well… Your left arm has a hairline. Your nose is broken. The x-rays came back and I’m glad to say that the orbital area around your eyes is intact, but no doubt you’re concussed.
You’ll be swollen for a while, along with the black and blue bruising.
I have scheduled you for a CT scan and an MRI for additional evaluation. ”
“He’s being admitted?” Dom questions.
“Yes,” Dr. Monroe conveys without looking at my partner.
“For how long?” I ask, taking a step closer to the doctor. I can’t stand when a person doesn’t look me straight in the eyes. It feels distrusting.
“Overnight—maybe two. It’ll depend on what the other tests show.” Dr. Monroe finally glances at me, and sneers before he departs the room.
“What the hell?” I turn to Dom, hoping he also saw what I saw from the doctor’s strange behavior. “Did you see that?”
“Yeah,” he admits and returns his attention to Callum, who’s groaning. “Are you in pain?”
“My face and arm hurt,” he admits.
Right then, Lyric walks back into the room with two syringes.
“What’re in those?” Dom rasps out, stepping in front of Lyric right before the nurse reaches the IV stand.
“One is for pain and the other for infection,” Lyric explains, his nostrils flaring with irritation. “Want me to test it out on you first?” He points the capped syringe in Dom’s direction, and my boyfriend quickly moves out of the nurse’s way.
“No thank you,” Dom grates out. He might be a big man, but where needles are concerned, Dom is a scared little boy.
As Lyric drains the syringes into the IV, he tells Callum, “I’ve also added something for the nausea, in case the meds make you feel sick.”
“Thank you,” Callum whispers.
“Yeah, thank you,” I say, but my eyes remain on Callum, whose body relaxes into the bed as he falls asleep.
“I notified hospital security and the charge nurse at the front desk of the impending horde coming in for Mr. Fitz. Hopefully, he’ll be in a room by then,” Lyric tosses over his shoulder as he leaves.
I glance at Dom, who is staring at the curtained doorway.
“He’s a feisty one. Whoever snatches him up will have their hands full,” Dom says, finally cracking a small smile before returning his serious attention to Callum.
I agree with a soft chuckle.
We remain in the emergency room with Callum until hospital staff arrive to take him for his CT scan. Dom goes with him while I wait. Soon after, a porter comes to take me up to the room where they’ll bring Callum after the imaging.
Four and a half hours later, an already long and stressful day gets worse when the room is bombarded by the rest of Warrior Black and their security team. Then it becomes a fuck-of-a-lot worse when Callum’s father shows up, and all hell breaks loose.