36. Miles
Thirty-Six
Miles
My first breath tears through me, the pain moving over my collarbone. My eyes stay closed while the pain moves and my body adjusts to it.
My left hand twitches at my side, but I can’t fully lift it off the bed.
I open my eyes, the smell of antiseptic hits me, and the beeping of the machine to my left. I’m in the hospital. Fuck! How bad did it get for me to end up here?
I try to move a little, but my whole right side is killing me, to the point my eyes start to get blurry.
I have no idea how long I’ve been here, but one thing I do know is that my body hasn’t recovered from it all.
I glance over and smile when I see Sadie sleeping on the couch.
My brothers found her, but how long did it take? The last thing I remember is telling them to go and I’ll talk them through everything. Then it all goes blank.
“You look like shit,” I smile, turning to Mason at the door.
“Look in the mirror, I look the same as you.” I joke with him, making him laugh as he walks into the room.
“Yeah, but I don’t look like I’ve been through a round with Mike Tyson.” He looks over at Sadie. “She’s not left the hospital, even though she needs to sleep." Mason turns back to me and looks me over. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“What happened?” I ask, still not able to remember anything.
“We left, got to the warehouse, heard Cain in our ear saying he’s lost visual, then we lost connection with him.
Got to the warehouse, worked through it, got a few of the men, found Sadie…
A guy was trying to rape her, but we stopped it before anything happened.
” I look over at Sadie; some fucking asshole tried to…
I stop the thought before rage fully hits me, because I’m not sure if my body can handle it at the moment.
“Do you have him?” I ask, it’ll be nice to watch Mason beat him to death.
“They ran, looks like it’s a man and woman who run this fucked up business.” He stops and shakes his head. “You’ve been out for a week, man.”
What? It must have been bad if Doc couldn’t do anything to help me.
“Lincoln…”
“She was there too, she’s safe. I think she’s going to need a lot of therapy, but she's alive.” Mason looks over his shoulder, when Cain walks in.
“Morning sleeping beauty.” He looks over at Sadie and smiles. “How are you feeling?”
“Good…”
“Liar,” Mason cuts me off.
“I feel like shit, and I’m finding it hard to move my left hand.” I go to try and lift it again but nothing.
“The doctor said it will take a few days to get back to normal.” He places his hand on my leg and pats it a few times. “Don’t scare me like that again.”
“So, what happened? Mason told me about the warehouse, but how did I end up here?”
“The bullets were worse than we all thought, and you blacked out on us, you stopped breathing. I had to do CPR on you for a while, you’ve been in and out for a while, but now the doctor said you’re all clear.
So, you can get back to work.” Cain smiles, I know he’s joking, but the moment I can I’m going to find the assholes who ran.
“Do you know who they are?” I ask.
“No. We got swabs from Sadie, got it from under nails, but can’t find them on any system. But I’m waiting for my best hacker to get back,” Cain tells me, and I give him a nod, because he knows me well enough that the moment I can get movement in my hand I’m going to be working on this.
“You have a plan?” I look between Mason and Cain.
“I do.” He opens his jacket and pulls out an envelope and hands it to Mason.
“Fuck off.” Mason takes the envelope from him, and I laugh. He’s like a child in a candy shop. “I’m back on the job.” He opens it and reads his mission.
“You’re back in business. Go get some answers.
We have to find them before they start business again.
We’ve buried this system of theirs, but they can start again.
Find out everything about them, I don’t care who you hurt to get them.
” Mason smiles, I think this is what he’s been waiting for, to do what he loves the most, and have fun with his baseball bat. Cain looks over at Sadie and smiles.
“Morning.” He looks at me and smiles, Cain and Mason leave, and for a moment Sadie and I just stare at each other.
“How are you?” I ask her, and she wipes the tears away from her cheek.
“You scared me.” She gets up and walks over to the bed and sits down.
“It seems to be what everyone is saying. At least I know I’d be missed if…” she quickly places her hand over my mouth.
“Don’t think like that. I’m just happy you’re finally awake.” She leans down and gives me a soft kiss, and I place my hand on the side of her face.
She pulls away slightly and I say, “You can still walk away if this…”
“I like being here, plus I have my very own security team when I need it.” She smiles and I would laugh if it didn’t hurt so much. “How much is everything hurting?”
“Every time I breathe it hurts.” I turn to the door and smile as my parents walk through.
My mom runs over to the bed and cups my face. “You… I’m so happy you’re awake.” She starts crying, and I try to hug her but still find it hard to lift my hand up.
“Mom, I’m good. I mean you might have to make me some cookies for a while, maybe even an apple pie just to make me feel better,” I joke, and this makes her laugh.
“Well good to know you still have your appetite." My dad places his hand on my leg giving it a pat.
“I’m always hungry.” I nod as Hayden and Declan join us with pizza boxes in their hands.
“Thought we'd do dinner at the hospital.” Hayden places the boxes on the tray.
“I always wanted to try a new restaurant, I’ve never been here before, and it seems nice.” Declan looks at me and smiles. “The company is a little rough around the edges, though,” Declan jokes about our makeshift restaurant for the night making everyone laugh.
“I look amazing,” I tell him, trying to sit up a little, and Sadie tries to help me.
I glance at everyone in the room, laugh and smile and it looks like it’s the first time they’ve all smiled for a while.
I have my family, and I have a girl who I’ve been obsessed with since the moment I saw her. Now she’s mine and no one is taking her from me.
I might have shut down the company, but the people behind it are still out there, and as a family we will find them, and they will pay for everything they have done.