Chapter One #2
“No problem.” She reached up and hit something on the side of the screen that displayed his heart rhythm, heart rate, and more information that he didn’t understand.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” She lifted a wired remote into his view.
“There are controls on the bed, but this will be easier for you for a bit. Here are the bed controls, the TV controls, and a button to call for me. If I’m not available, one of the other nurses will come check on you.
Let us know if you need anything. I mean anything.
You should get as much rest as you can. The more you rest, the better you will heal. ”
Spider nodded as she put the controller in his hand.
“Is there anything else I can do for you right now?”
“What happened? How bad is it?”
Kristina shook her head.
“I don’t know the details. I only have the instructions on how to care for you. Your doctor will have more answers when he comes to see you.” She smiled at him one more time then stepped out of his line of sight. A moment later the shush of the door opening told him she’d left.
He didn’t like that answer but he knew he wasn’t going to get a better one, at least not from her. He felt around hitting buttons on the remote at random until something happened. First the TV came on.
“Need some help?” Raven stepped up to the side of the bed where Kristina had been.
“Please. I want to sit up some.”
“Want me to do it for you or put your hand on the button so you can stop it when you’re ready?”
“Just do it for now. I’ll figure out the controls soon enough.”
The top of the bed slowly tilted upward. Then the pain got worse.
“That’s enough,” he said when the bed hit about a forty-five-degree angle.
The weight on his chest seemed to be heavier, but he could still breathe, and he could see who else was there.
Fletch sat sideways on the bench seat under the window, his legs stretched out in front of him as if he’d been there for a while and he didn’t plan to go anywhere.
Seeing his best friend, he didn’t know if he should be grateful or worried.
It had to be bad to have pulled Fletch away from Craven’s Creek for this long.
He usually couldn’t be gone more than a day or two without planning weeks in advance.
Spider thought it was stifling but Fletch just shrugged and said it was the price of being one of only a couple of attorneys in the area.
“Fuck. It’s got to be bad if you’re here.”
Fletch pressed his lips together, glanced around the room then focused on Raven as he tilted the top of his head toward the door.
“Taylynn and I are going to go down to the cafeteria and get some coffee. I need to call Jersey and let everyone at home know you’re awake. Anyone in particular you want me to reach out to or anything you want me to tell someone?”
Spider started to shake his head but remembered the collar around his neck. “No. Not that I can think of.”
Raven put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed then released him. Taylynn squeezed his hand, then leaned down and kissed his cheek.
“So glad to see you awake,” she said before she released his hand. She met her old man at the foot of the bed and together they left.
Spider waited until the door swung shut to look back to Fletch.
“Tell me.”
Fletch sighed, then swung his legs off the bench seat and stood.
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Leaving the clubhouse for a ride. I was headed to West Yellowstone. Next thing I remember was waking up hurting. I wasn’t awake long, though, then I woke a little bit ago.”
“I don’t have a lot of information, but from what we’ve been able to find out there was some road construction.
Somewhere in there, someone’s accelerator got stuck, they hit the car in front of them, pushing them into the one in front of them and so on.
There were more than ten vehicles involved and you had the misfortune of being somewhere in the middle.
” Fletch shook his head slowly. “Three people were killed, a dozen more injured. You’re lucky to be alive. ”
Spider blinked a couple times, then a yawn surprised him. Suddenly he was so tired he could barely hold his eyes open. But why? He’d been awake for all of ten, maybe fifteen minutes. How could he be sleepy again already?
“Sleep. You’ve got a lot to heal. I’ll be here when you wake up again,” Fletch said, laying his hand on Spider’s right leg over the thin blanket that covered him.
Spider wanted to argue. He wanted to tell him that he wanted answers, not sleep, but the darkness overtook him again.
****
The next time Spider woke, Fletch sat next to his bed while Delilah lay curled in the window seat where Fletch had been before, Hawkeye in a chair not far from his girl.
He didn’t say anything but scanned the room and wondered how long he would have to be there.
How long this accident would mess with the lives of all the Angels.
He reached for the remote, wanting to sit up a little more.
The movement must have caught Fletch’s attention because he stood and set one hand on Spider’s shoulder.
“How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?”
“I want to sit up more,” Spider said, his dry throat making his voice rough. He reached toward the table extended over the foot of the bed, then winced as something in his chest sent a sharp pain through his entire torso. He grimaced and let his head fall back against the mattress.
“Tell me when,” Fletch said, hitting the button to lift the head of the bed.
“When,” Spider said when the pain increased. He wasn’t upright but he was closer, and right now, that mattered. It gave him a better view of what was going on around him, at least. “How long was I out?”
“A couple hours.”
“Did I miss the doctor? I want someone to tell me all of it.” The stiff foam collar was still on his neck, so if he had, they hadn’t removed it. Maybe they’d been waiting until he woke?
“No, he usually makes rounds sometime in the next hour or so.”
“Tell me what you know.” Spider trusted all of the Angels, or he wouldn’t be one of them, but Fletch was his closest friend, both in the club and out of it.
“Are you sure? It’s a lot. Stop me when it gets to be too much.”
“Just tell me.” Spider scowled at Fletch, wondering why his friend was so reluctant to tell him.
“Lots of cuts and bruises, a couple broken ribs. Complex fracture of your left tibia.” Fletch swallowed and looked away. Spider could tell there was more, something his friend didn’t want to tell him.
“What else?”
“There was a brain bleed. It resolved itself in a couple of days, but because of the brain bleed they didn’t want to take you into surgery.
They also wanted to wait for some of the swelling in your leg to subside before they tried to fix it.
The blood thinners needed for the surgery would have made the brain bleed worse.
They did what they could for your leg, but by the time they were able to get in to try and fix the break, it had become infected. ”
Spider watched his friend’s face. The way Fletch paused and looked away told him whatever was coming next, it wouldn’t be good.
“The surgeons did everything they could, but they couldn’t save the leg.”
No. that couldn’t be right. Spider wiggled the toes on both feet—he could still feel them both.
Still not believing Fletch, though not seeing why his buddy would lie, Spider tried to look down at his legs.
He shoved at the table extending over his bed, ignoring the sharp pains shooting through his torso.
Fletch must have realized what he was doing because he moved the table down to the end of the bed, then reached for the blanket that came up to mid chest on Spider.
“Are you sure you’re ready to see? You’re all bandaged up right now, but I’ll help if you want.”
“I need to see.” Spider’s chest was tight. He had a hard time getting enough air. He didn’t know if it was the broken ribs or something else and, in the moment, he didn’t care.
Fletch took the edge of the blanket and folded it back, until the bandaged end of Spider’s left leg had been revealed. He laid the blanket he’d just peeled back onto the end of the bed and moved back up to Spider’s side.
Spider winced and reached for the button to lift his head a bit more.
He needed to see and with the fucking collar on, he could barely look down at his lap.
He clenched his teeth and ignored the throbbing in his chest as the bed moved him more upright.
When he could see better, he stopped the bed and stared at his legs, or what was left of them.
Something was off about his right leg.
“What’s that?” he said through clenched teeth. As he waved one hand toward his foot.
“Oh, sorry. Broken tibia. They said you were pinned between vehicles.” Fletch’s voice sounded as if just the idea of it caused him pain.
Spider didn’t look up. Instead, he stared at the bandages where the rest of his left leg used to be.
His mouth went dry. He pulled his upper lip between his teeth and bit down as he tried to keep from thinking about what this would mean.
He would never ride a bike again. How could he? That was the foot you shifted with. Without his left foot, he could never get out of first gear.
“They said there are really good prosthetics now. You’ll need to heal first, but they said they’ll get you set up with one as soon as possible.”
Spider nodded, hearing his friend but still staring at his leg. He reached for the blanket to cover his legs back up. Healing and getting out of here was first. He would deal with the rest later.