Sixteen
I stayed with her, and maybe that was a mistake, but we were in a bubble of happiness, and I really didn’t want to ever leave it, especially to go back to tiptoeing around a bunch of guys who could be the killer I survived before.
When I checked in with the club in the morning, I didn’t expect to hear what I heard, but then the flurry of panicked messages I found, when I switched my phone back on, should have hinted at it. I just figured they were worried for me, but that wasn’t even the biggest issue in the end.
“What? When? Is she okay?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and Grace had paused in the doorway, as we were both leaving her house.
“What’s happened?”
I led her outside, letting her lock up, while I peppered Stitch with questions, before confirming I’d be back at the clubhouse asap. When he told me to head to the hospital instead, I knew shit was worse than it had appeared.
“Babe, can you take me to work with you?”
I shoved my phone in my pocket, as we pulled away in that posh car of hers, that smelled brand fucking new.
“To the hospital?” She looked nervous about it, and I guess that made sense, since she had no context at all.
“Yeah, a friend uh… one of the old ladies, was admitted after an accident. I need to be with my brothers right now.”
“Oh god! Of course, do you know which department?” I didn’t have a clue, but I checked in with Stitch, and by the time we were parking up at the hospital, I had a better idea of where to go, but ICU was the last fucking place I wanted to see anytime soon, especially for the Pres’s fucking old lady.
“What the hell happened?!” I hissed at Ryder, as I entered the waiting room and saw him waiting with Stitch, while Stitch argued with the lady at the reception desk.
Ryder looked exhausted and worried.
“We think the killer struck again. He fucking ran her down with a car, man. It’s a wonder she’s even alive. Jesus, Reacher saw it happen, and he tried to take the hit for her, but it happened so fast. He’s a mess. He’s a fucking mess, Torch.”
Jesus fuck. “Where’s Tori, and the VP’s old lady? Shouldn’t they all be somewhere safe?” Should mine? I mean, me and Grace weren’t there yet, but I fucking wanted that to be our future. Would she even be willing to be tied to me permanently though?
“Fuck’s sake! Okay, they say only one of us can wait here for Reacher, so I’m gonna take the first shift. You guys get back to the clubhouse and make sure the other women are safe. Get Ice to contact me as soon as he finds anything, and if anyone acts like they know more than they should, put their lights out and lock them up for us.” Whoa. That wasn’t something I ever expected Stitch to say. The guy was as laid back as they come, usually our peacekeeper, but not right now.
“Wait. Do we know what Ally’s state is? Is she gonna pull through?” Stitch sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“All I know is that she needed emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen, and she has broken bones and a head injury, but these fuckers won’t tell me anything, and that’s all I got from about thirty seconds with the Pres. We need to find the asshole who did this, and make them pay for every last moment they’re breathing, got it? Get with Ice and Has. They’re working together with Grease. I need answers, and I don’t wanna be telling Reacher we don’t know shit, the next time he pops his head out, right? Go. Now.”
Fuck me. Stitch was serious as hell right now, and who could blame him? This crap had gone on long enough, and no amount of begging would save the culprit now, nor would it have before this. Come after us, but don’t fucking touch our women.
“Let’s go, brother. I have the van.” I followed Ryder outside, and when both of our phones buzzed, we froze, and I reckon his heart probably lurched in his chest, just like mine did. Please don’t be bad news. Please don’t be the worst news a man could receive.
CallToArms: FULL LOCKDOWN. Nobody leaves on pain of death. I fucking mean it.
Shit . I met Ryder’s eyes, and he gave me a grim nod.
“This is it, man. We find this fucker once and for all, or we die trying.”
The whole way back to the clubhouse, I let the disturbing fact sink in that I didn’t even wanna fucking be there anymore. It felt less and less like home every day, because who knew who had it in for us, and who knew if we’d figure it out before one of us fucking died.
Grace
A fter I’d completed my rounds, I made my way to ICU to check and see if I could find Torch. He wasn’t there, but there was one of the bikers sitting in the waiting area, with his head in his hands, and I couldn’t keep myself from stopping by. When I stopped in front of him and he lifted his head, I realised I’d seen him before, but I couldn’t place him, and had probably never been introduced. A patch on the front of his cut said ‘VP’, but that was all I could discern, apart from the fact that he was worried sick.
“Hi,” I said lamely, wondering what the hell I was doing, bothering him in his hour of suffering.
“Hey, uh doc… has there been any change?”
He was looking at me with such hope that I felt ten times worse about disturbing him, because, of course, I knew nothing.
“Sorry, I don’t know. I’m Grace, uh Doctor Adams, I treated Torch when he was here.”
His eyes widened then, and he stood up, reaching out to shake my hand.
“Of course, sorry, I blanked out for a minute, but yeah, you took great care of our boy, thanks. I’m Stitch.” Stitch? They all had such weird names, and I’d never thought to ask what any of them mean.
“Is it… the lady in ICU, she’s your uh-”
“President’s old lady, Alicia, she was hit by a car, but they won’t tell me much, and he hasn’t left her side since she came out of surgery.” I nodded, glancing at the reception to see Rita sitting there. I knew her vaguely, from when I’d been covering in ICU. She rolled her eyes at me, but I knew she’d talk to me, if I asked her anything.
“Let me see what I can find out for you, Stitch. No promises though, okay?”
He sighed, offering me a grateful smile.
“Thank you, honestly, I’m just praying here, ya know?”
I leaned on the desk to see Rita, and she smirked at me.
“You’re begging info for that biker guy? Guess it’s true what they say.”
“What? What do they say?”
She winked at me. “Just that you’re friends with the club now, but you should know that’s not necessarily a good thing. They’re criminals, you know.”
I glanced at Stitch again, and shrugged.
“That’s none of my business, Rita, I just wanted to see if I could give him any kind of update? Is he giving you any trouble?”
She shook her head, tapping at her keyboard.
“He’s been as good as gold since the others left. One of them was rather dashing, with this sexy dark hair, but the other? Scary dude with a tattooed head. Who tattoos their head? Insane.” I nearly argued, but I just wanted the information, so I zipped it, even though I wanted to yell at her for judging Torch on his appearance, not knowing what a gentle, sweet guy he really was.
“Okay, so she had…” she rattled off information, and showed me her screen, and I swallowed hard. That was one serious accident this Alicia lady had been in, and I had a feeling it wasn’t the best news to be passing on, but not knowing was often worse than knowing, and I felt like I wanted to help out because these people mattered to Torch.
“Thanks. Can you make sure he receives any updates? The club is like a family, so whichever one of them is here, they’re here because they care.”
Stitch stood up when I returned to him, so I gestured for him to sit and I joined him.
“Okay, so Alicia-”
“Ally… she prefers Ally,” he interjected, rolling his eyes at himself. “Here I am interrupting the first person who’s been willing to tell me anything. Honestly, I’m such a prick, sorry, darlin’.”
I bit my tongue at the moniker, because I was starting to realise the club members just all seemed to do it, and it wasn’t said in a disrespectful way. Sometimes I could get on my high horse about these things, but he genuinely didn’t seem to mean any harm.
“Ally was hit hard enough to break several bones in her legs, and in addition to that, there was damage to her stomach when she was hit, and her spleen was damaged, so it was removed to protect her from rupture. Her head injury has her in a coma, but it’s not looking as severe as it was first thought to be. I mean, head injuries are always a risk, but they’re optimistic that she’ll wake soon, and we’ll know more then. She has a lot of cuts and bruises, but other than the broken bones, her recovery shouldn’t take too long. As long as she wakes up, and has no issues from the injury to her head, the rest should follow. She really was exceptionally lucky.”
Stitch seemed to sag in his seat, his breath rushing out of him in a heavy gust.
“Fuck me, thank you. Thank you for not poncing around with loads of long words, and making me feel like a dick too. I appreciate this, I really do. Poor fucking Reacher must be losing his mind in there. I wish I could let him know I’m still here, ya know?”
I nodded, knowing I could help him with that part.
“Was it… was it the same person who attacked Torch?”
Stitch’s eyes widened at me then, and he glanced around the room.
“You guys keeping in touch, like?”
I nodded, knowing my blush gave me away in an instant, as he grinned widely. I had a feeling he was already fully aware of that fact anyway.
“Excellent. He’s not a bad guy, ya know. A bit brash, and kinda reckless, but decent where it counts. And yeah, we think it was. We’re on the case with sniffing this fucker out now though. This shit ends today.”
That sounded pretty final, didn’t it? I stood up again.
“I’ll get a message to Reacher for you, so he knows you’re here with him. Anything else you need me to say?”
He pressed a hand against his heart in response.
“Thank you, darlin’. Just tell him we’ve got him, and there will be one of us here the whole damn time. Also tell him we’re on full lockdown, he’ll know what I mean.”
I nodded, and headed into the ICU, passing through the coded door, and checking the patient list inside the door for Alicia’s room; A Hart was on the board and listed as being in room four, so I headed there, to find a man resting a greying head on his hands against the side of her bed. The poor guy. I tapped on the doorframe, waiting for him to acknowledge my presence.
“Uh Reacher, is it? Stitch asked me to pass on a message,” I said, feeling like I was involved in some kind of clandestine operation, when I was doing nothing wrong. He gestured at me to join him, and I took my first look at the woman he was there for. She was bandaged and hooked up to the relevant machines, but I could see blonde hair, and pale skin, and not much else.
“He’s still out there, doc?”
I nodded, checking the notes for the patient while I was in the room, because I felt like I really should. Suddenly it felt weird being in here, and intruding on his grief.
“He wanted me to let you know he’s there, and that there’ll be one of them there at all times. He also mentioned something about ‘full lockdown’? I assume that makes sense?”
Reacher rubbed a hand over his face, groaning softly.
“Fuck, I should be there with him, but I can’t leave her side, ya know?”
I nodded, replacing Ally’s notes and giving her a visual check as I stood there.
“Torch mentioned some of what’s going on at the club, so I know it’s a difficult time for you all, but they know your place is here with your… your… wife?”
He grinned a little. “Old lady, yeah, and wife.” His smile faded as he looked at her again, his fingers wrapped tightly around hers.
“We were just walking across the road to the clubhouse, and… this fucking car, it just came out of nowhere, and I couldn’t push her aside in time. I really fucking tried. I’d die for her, but I failed,” he was practically whispering by this point.
“The way I see it, you probably saved her life, Reacher, so please go easy on yourself. Right now she needs you to stay strong for her, okay? It sounds like Stitch has things under control.” I sighed then, checking my hair idly with one hand, feeling embarrassed to be speaking to a man I just met so candidly.
“Listen to me, talking to you like I know the club and your people. I don’t, not yet, but I want to.”
Reacher leaned down to kiss Ally’s fingers, and the sweetness of the gesture made my eyes burn with sudden tears. That was love right there. Pure, real, true love. How could someone try to take that away from him? Suddenly I was desperate to help the club in any way I could, to help them put a stop to this monster, to make them safe again.
“Doc? I know Torch was taken with you the moment he laid eyes on you, and I figure from your words that you two are getting close, and I like that. He deserves someone good, especially right now, but I also know that the last thing he’d want, that any of us want, is for you to be in danger. Our women are at risk because this fucker likes to hurt women. He’s not above forcing himself on them, so please, promise me you won’t go to the clubhouse, or take any risks. We need to focus on finding and stopping him, and that means we don’t need to split our focus over watching more people right now.” Oh . I swallowed hard, his words sinking in deep, hitting me right where it hurts. He tutted at me, and shook his head.
“This isn’t me being an asshole, or telling you to stay away from Torch. It’s me asking you to be safe, and not approach any other members of the club, or the clubhouse, until we can make it safe, that’s all. If your address isn’t known by anyone else, let’s keep it that way, huh?”