Chapter 49 Oak
Oak
Everyone’s here.
And it fucking hurts to see them all in pain.
“Is Slater okay?” Nora asks me with concern in a soft voice.
She sits beside me while our mom sits next to her.
Connor, who had been sitting on my opposite side now has his head resting on my lap.
I glance down at the kid, a kid who was forced to become a man, and my heart aches.
He’s already suffered too much. And seeing him try to hold himself together and not break down and cry when I told him about his sister nearly broke me.
But what killed me was when he finally broke, and he crashed himself into me, trusting me, and didn’t want to let go.
He reminded me so much of a child then. A child he was never allowed to be.
Even in his sleep he holds my hand in his.
Truth be told I don’t know if Slater is okay.
I just know what happened to Grace with the social worker triggered something with him.
One man suffering from PTSD to another can tell when one’s triggered.
Slater has his past kept under lock and key.
We all know he grew up in foster care but that’s the only thing he’s divulged with us.
Something happened to him. None of us know what.
“Will he?” My sister asks again and I blink at her.
“Will he be okay?” She begins chipping on her fingernails.
A coping mechanism ever since that night nine years ago.
I asked her about it once. Why she chips away at her nails until they’re down to the nubs.
She said she’d only answer if I ever told her why I twitch my fingers.
We never did answer each other. The wounds were too fresh then for the both of us.
How can I tell my sister my fingers twitch in remembrance of my brothers, how it was the last thing I saw moving on their bodies?
It stuck with me, the twitch of the fingers.
Just as the chipping has stuck with her.
“Slater will be okay.” But I don’t sound the least bit convincing.
Nora nods her head, chipping away at her fingers some more. “He’ll be okay,” she assures the both of us but her chipped fingernails say otherwise.
Crow, the man who has had his eyes on Nora since the moment he’s arrived, crosses over in the waiting room and crouches down in front of her.
Ever so gently he pries her fingers apart. Shockingly, she allows him, all the while her breath is in her throat. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
Nora swallows. “I’m not-”
He lays her fingers in his hand and inspects her nails. She was getting close to the nub. And soon when the nub wouldn’t be enough, she would’ve torn at her skin.
Then in a voice with pure conviction and strength he says to her, no, promises her, “He’ll be okay. Grace will be okay. And so will you.”
Nora breathes. And I notice how her breaths are nice and even. How her hand isn’t trembling in his. How her body is lax and eyes vulnerable. The only other man she’s ever this comfortable around is me.
He inches closer to her and she lets him. “Have I ever lied to you?”
“No,” she responds softly.
“Then don’t hurt yourself. Everything will be okay.
” He squeezes her fingers with a gentle smile and as he goes to release her she tightens her fingers in his hand.
And I swear for the first time in my life I see Crow freeze.
He stares down at her fingers in his hand with a mixture of disbelief, wonderment, awe and relief.
And fuck. I know that look.
He’s in love with her.
“Thanks, Blake.” Her voice is as soft as a feather but to look at him her voice saying his name lands a grand impact.
“Anytime, Nor,” he promises her. “Anytime at all.” She nods her head at him with an even softer smile. A smile I haven’t seen from her since she had a crush on a boy in the eleventh grade.
And I realize just as Grace has brought me back to life, bringing back pieces of the man I was before war, Crow is doing the same for Nora.
She releases him then but he doesn’t stray far from her. He keeps an eye on her, like her own watchful protector.
Nico comes up to me after he finishes his quick conversation with Snake. Snake sends a nod my way and I know the job is done. I send him a nod back.
Careful not to wrinkle his suit he pinches his slacks before bending down.
He unbuttons his suit and gives me a level look.
“As far as I’m concerned what you confessed to on the phone earlier never happened.
” He casts a look over his shoulder to Snake who gives a wicked smirk.
When Nico’s eyes meet mine again he winks at me.
“It’s amazing how certain people just disappear.
And that’s all it is, Oak. A disappearance. ”
I don’t know how the fucker Snake accomplished it but he did. I glance back at him with his arm slung around Alice’s waist. She leans into him, his body completely supporting hers. But when her eyes meet mine she gives a subtle nod of her head with the smallest smile. And it’s then that I know.
Snake and Alice had taken care of Steven Alexander’s body by burning it.
And Snake had his crew come in and clean up the scene of the crime.
They took care of it.
I breathe a little easier.
“Thanks, Nico.”
A long sigh expels as I run the rough pad of my fingers over my face.
I feel my mother’s worried yet caring eyes on me before I turn my head to meet hers. She reaches across the back of the chair to extend her hand and with my long wingspan I meet her the rest of the way. She clutches her fingers in mine, giving me a firm reassuring squeeze.
“I’m sorry, mom,” I choke out.
She squeezes my fingers harder, tears pricking those loving eyes of hers. “My dear sweet boy, stop apologizing for what has already been forgiven.”
I swallow back the tears yet the guilt doesn’t go down as easy. “But I should have-”
“I have my son back,” my mom says hoarsely.
“All I’ve ever wanted for you was to realize your worth in this world.
And you found that, Ethan. You found that with Grace and I can never thank her enough.
But it takes the strength of the person within to do what you have done.
It is not easy to ask for help nor is it easy to see it through, but you are doing it my sweet boy, and there is nothing on this earth that makes me happier.
” It’s the rawness in her voice that strikes me down to my core.
I see the pride in her eyes. And it feels monumental, to have my mom proud of me.
The PTSD I suffer and the depression I have will always be a battle I will have to fight, but it’s a battle I don’t have to fight alone.
I know that now.
I see the light that I have denied myself.
And I have all these people to thank for that.
“I love you, mom.”
A tear falls from her eye as she smiles. “I love you, too, my sweet boy. Always have, always will.”
My smile back to her is full of love. As our hands release I see the nurse who helped me earlier, Trevor, coming down the hallway with a doctor by his side. His eyes meet mine and he says something to the doctor before pointing in my direction.
This is it.
This is where I learn the fate of my woman.
Everyone stands to attention as the doctor and Trevor make their way to our takeover in the waiting room.
Connor stirs awake in my lap, eyes blinking against the harsh hospital lights. He sits himself up, letting go of my hand in the process but stays close to me.
I wrap my arm around the little guy, protecting him in the only way I know how.
Trevor stands before the doctor and I as he introduces us, “Dr. Ambrose this is Oak, Gracie Mae’s husband.” Trevor shoots me a look to not argue with him and I don’t. I subtly nod my head, hoping my eyes convey all the thanks I have.
Dr. Ambrose, an older man who looks to be in his mid fifties but keeps himself in physical shape stands before me with a stoic expression.
His eyes, a pale green with flecks of gold stay unwaveringly on mine.
“Your wife suffered quite a few injuries, Oak,” he tells me bluntly in a voice that’s monotonous.
“Internal bleeding was our main concern. The bullet lodged in her calf missed major arteries but tore through the tendon. She’ll have to attend physical therapy to regain full strength in her left leg.
The bullet in her shoulder shattered her collarbone.
We went ahead and reconstructed, physical therapy will be needed for that as well.
As for her head, she suffered quite a few blows leading to a concussion.
Under all the stress her body has been under and all the surgeries we’ve had to perform we advise on keeping her here for the next five days under observation.
After, when we see she’s healthy and her vitals are stronger, she can go home with you. ”
I can’t seem to get past hearing how she’s alive.
My woman survived.
My fighter is alive.
Tears press at the back of my eyes and I’m not ashamed to let them fall. My entire upper body falls with relief, as if the weight of the world has been released from my shoulders. My heart is filled with warmth and light as my soul feels restored.
“Can I see her?” I croak desperately.
Dr. Ambrose nods his head. “Family only for the time being. She’s still groggy from the anesthesia and may continue to be so for a few hours.
Tomorrow we can allow friends visiting. I don’t want to overwhelm her with too much stimulation right after surgery.
” I nod my head, not being able to trust my voice.
“If you have any concerns please do ask me at any time. I’ll be making sure your wife is as comfortable as possible as we are getting her better,” he informs me and for the first time tonight I believe in his words.
She’s alive.
The love of my fucking life is alive.
Connor jumps up out of his seat and starts pulling at my hand with a beaming smile one his face. “Can we go see her, please? I want to see my sister. I need to see her.”