Chapter Twenty-Six
Spencer
“Doc! Get over here!” Oh, good grief. What now?
When I turn around, I see Shade running over to me but the double glass doors have just closed and I can’t hear him. As soon as they open up again, all I hear is, “Grinder’s down.”
This whole time, I’ve been on EMT mode; assessing, planning, caring, with my adrenaline running rampant in my veins. Boner’s like a true brother to Grinder and not giving one hundred percent of my attention to him would have been a great betrayal.
But this? He was fine. Grinder was fine. What did I miss?
I turn back to the doctors as we rush Boner to a station, letting go of the ramp on the stretcher. “You got this?” Of course they do, but I can’t help asking the question.
“Go and grab a stretcher if you need one.” I nod to Dr. Mercer and do exactly what she says, running back to the entrance and grabbing the nearest gurney just as the doors are fully open again.
“What happened?” My head feels light just thinking that Grinder may not be okay.
“Don’t know. He just got off his bike and fell to the ground.” Shade pushes people away, making room for me as he tells me…well, not much.
“Did he hit his head?” Grinder’s lying on his back, eyes closed.
I check his head first, careful not to move his neck.
Then I pat down his entire upper body but can’t find anything.
“Was he shot?” That can’t be right, no way he’s bleeding for an hour and a half all the while riding his bike like a fucking lunatic.
“Spenny?” The sound of Parker’s voice does not bode well for me or Grinder.
“What?” Our gazes collide, and when she looks down at the bike seat, I see it. Blood. “Shit!”
My hands roam all around him, checking the vital parts of his body, but I can’t find a fucking thing. Except blood. There’s blood everywhere.
“Psycho, grab me that collar hanging from the stretcher.” He’s on the phone, probably with Mac, but he hears.
Snatching the collar in flight, I quickly wrap it around Grinder’s neck.
“Come on, help me lift him.” Hoops and Shade both lift up their brother while I hold his neck still and we place him gently on the gurney.
I strap him in and then we’re flying through the double doors again, Parker following behind us.
“Fuck, where is that blood coming from?” Shade mumbles, letting go of the ramp just as two ER docs take over, but I follow.
“I’ll keep you posted!” Parker calls out as we leave both Hoops and Shade in the middle of the E.R. looking distraught and lost. It’s cute but I don’t have time to coddle them.
“Sweetheart, I’m going to need your help.” Parker makes a face like I just stuck her tongue in lime juice.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna work. Sweetheart? No.”
“Duly noted.” Not that it’s an issue, it’s just the common thing around these parts, but I’ll adjust.
“What do you need, Spenny?” Yeah, like that’s any better but…I kinda like it.
“Stay with Boner? When Grinder wakes up he’s gonna need an update and nobody wants a bull in the E.R. looking for his best friend.” She snort laughs and it’s the cutest thing ever.
“Fine. But if there’s anything, I don’t give a fuck what Grinder does, I want you to call my name and I’ll run over here.” She raises a brow at me and it feels a lot like a scolding from an adult.
“I promise.” Then she hugs me, surprising the fuck out of me, but I get over it quickly and squeeze her around the shoulders with my hand at the back of her head.
“Fuck, you need to get checked out, too.” I mean, she should be fine but still…
I can’t believe she drove the whole way with dried blood stuck to her hair.
“I’m fine. I’d kill for a shower, though, and a big old bag of take-out.” I hand her my phone.
“Order something, they’ll deliver to the front of the hospital.”
“Cool beans.” She takes my phone then hops up on her tippy-toes and kisses my cheek. “You’re all right, Spenny. I kinda love ya.” I grin and shake my head, not having the time to respond before she’s hopping down to station five where they’re working on Boner.
“Got it!” The doctor’s voice gets my attention so I run back behind the closed curtains.
“Oh, good Lord.” To say I wasn’t expecting this view is an understatement.
“Yup, shot in the ass. Haven’t seen that in a while.” I smile at Dr. Rowe and try really hard not to laugh. It would be highly inappropriate, but holy hell, I really want to.
On cue, Grinder wakes up, his body turned to the side, the collar gone and the doc’s face up close and personal with my boyfriend’s ass cheek.
“What the fuck?” So eloquent, he is.
A few minutes later, Parker has apparently hopped back to us, her face peeking through the curtains. No doubt she heard Grinder’s voice and just couldn’t help herself. I know because I feel the exact same way.
“Wow. No lube? Savage.” The doc stops his cleaning, grabbing the pituitary rongeur with his hand while staring at Parker.
“Are you family?” Oh shit. He’s about to kick her out.
“Yes, I’m his wife. Well, fiancée, really. I mean, if we’re being technical, I’m his old lady.”
Dr. Rowe looks up at me and I shrug. What the hell am I supposed to say?
“And so is he.” Well, not that.
“Parker.”
“Spenny?”
“They’re mine, they don’t go anywhere.” Oh good grief, Grinder is chiming in. This is not normal. Not even a little bit. However, I don’t know the definition of normal so, again, I just shrug.
“Where’s Boner?” Grinder looks over his shoulder at me, then Parker, then back to me. “I swear to fuck, he better be alive.”
“Spencer, I need you to keep this gentleman calm so I can take this bullet out of his glutes.”
“He’s fine, G. Well, I don’t know if he’s fiiiine per se, but he’s alive. Nobody’s covered his face up with a black plastic bag, so we’re good.” Unbelievable.
“I’ll go check.” I say, raising my hands in surrender like Grinder is some kind of wild animal and I’m just the guy trying not to get myself killed. This is so not normal, the thought running on repeat in my brain.
On my way, Hoops calls out, and when I turn around, I see the worry in his eyes. Two of his men are in the hospital and ultimately, this is on him.
“Grinder’s fine. He apparently got shot in the…ass.” Hoops takes a physical step back, one hand against his mouth, trying really fucking hard not to laugh.
“The ass?”
I nod. “Yes,” I add, just in case he missed it.
“And Boner?” The smile on his face vanishes, the worry swimming in his blue eyes.
“I’m on my way to check on him now. Wanna join?” Parker shoots a hand out from between the curtains and I grab it, giving it a squeeze. I didn’t realize she was so touchy feely but I love it.
Once we reach station five, I notice the blood, the gauze I had used in the car on the way here, but mostly, the empty bed. It’s not necessarily bad. In fact, chances are he’s in surgery. If he’d died, they would have just covered him with a white sheet.
“Hey, Maggie, where did the patient go?” Please don’t say downstairs. Please don’t fucking say downstairs.
“He’s in surgery. The carotid was hit. Just a little, but hit nonetheless.” Fuck.
“What does that mean?” Hoops asks, but his attention is on me. Maggie pats me on the arm and jogs away to another patient.
“It means that they needed the O.R. to make sure they had all the tools on hand. Blood loss and surgical equipment to sew it all back up.” Hoops nods.
It sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? “The fact that his carotid didn’t get completely severed and Grinder was there to contain some of the blood loss helped, but it’s still dangerous.
” Again, Hoops nods, but I can tell it’s taking a toll on him.
And I’m not even telling him the risk of brain swelling or worse: coma or death.
“Thanks.”
He’s about to walk away when I call him back. “Hoops?”
“Yeah?”
“Parker ordered some food. Do you mind letting us know when it’s here? She needs some protein before the adrenaline levels crash. No telling what’ll happen then.”
“On it. I’ll send the others home. I think Psycho wants to be with his old lady.”
I smile. Aleko maybe a crazy fucker, but he’s the most incredible husband Mac could’ve ever dreamed of.
“Yeah, it’ll be awhile.”
So much for telling everyone to go home. Turns out, they’re all in the waiting room looking like a bunch of degenerates with big hearts. Except Mac. She looks fucking amazing.
And Boner’s mother. She sits in the center and we all surround her, giving her our strength as she crochets sleeping beds for the pet rats.
She started as soon as she arrived three hours ago.
It’s a good thing she knows most of what happens in her son’s club or else we all would’ve had to lie to her. I can’t think of anything worse.
Parker and I came here after Grinder fell asleep, the pain meds taking effect a couple of minutes after being administered.
He needed blood. The ride back from the outskirts of Silver City was enough to bring him to dangerous lows.
Parker thought it would be better to be surrounded by family.
I agreed, even though leaving Grinder behind hurt my heart a little.
“I can’t believe you sneaked in Ninja and Bandit.
” Everyone scoffs at Mac’s comment. As if anyone could stop her husband from doing whatever he wants.
She yawns, leaning her head on Psycho’s shoulder while he holds Gryffin, who’s busy drinking from his bottle.
With big blue eyes travelling all around, assessing the familiar faces, he clutches his breakfast like he’s ready to throw down if anyone comes for it.
Meanwhile, Ninja is curled up on the baby’s stomach, moving up and down with every breath he takes.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Psycho turns to Mac, a frown marring his features.
“Um, because…it’s a hospital?” She’s cute believing he would give a shit.
“And? They’re our children.” Psycho can’t see her but she rolls her eyes so much I’m worried she might hurt herself. “I saw that.”
“You’re full of compost.” It’s my turn to roll my eyes. Their pact to not curse in front of the baby is getting ridiculous.
“Cherry, baby, I know you better than you know yourself. You just rolled your eyes because our rat babies didn’t come from your vagina.” Every. Single. Person in this waiting room groans at Psycho’s comment. The visual is vomit inducing.
“You’re insane.” She smacks his arm and chuckles just as Gryffin grabs his dad’s growing beard and scrunches it, still holding his bottle like a warrior.
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Gray?” At the sound of the doctor’s voice, we all stand, except Psycho because he can’t.
“Yes.”
Fuck, why am I so nervous? I actually do know why…if anything happens to Boner, Grinder will hate himself.
It’s now after nine in the morning and none of us have slept except for Mac and Gryffin. The hospital has already changed shifts, the morning rounds are happening as we speak, probably on the tail end of it.
“Um, okay…” This doctor’s relatively new. I don’t know him very well but he’s got a good reputation.
“We’re all family,” Hoops says, the conviction in his voice leaving no room for questions.
“Yes, they’re all brothers and sisters. How is my son?” Momma Boner, as everyone calls her, stands with her chin held high and her spine like steel.
“Right, so…Felix is stable.” We all let go of a collective sigh, the result of over four hours of waiting.
“We were able to repair the tear in his carotid artery, the vessel supplying blood to the brain.” The nametag on his green scrubs says Ray Martinez and the man looks exhausted as he slides his cap from his head, holding it tight in his hand.
I don’t like it. Bad news is coming, I can feel it, and when Parker wraps her arm around my elbow, I think she does too.
“Right now, he’s in a medically induced coma.
” Shit, okay. That’s not bad, that just means he needs rest. It’s fine.
He’ll be fine. My gaze sweeps around the waiting room and I can see Mac’s eyes watering, Hoops rubbing the top of his head, and Shade turning away from us all.
Psycho looks like he wants to murder someone and, honestly, I wouldn't put it past him.
“He lost a lot of blood and his body went into shock. That kind of stress sometimes causes the brain and body to shut down in an attempt to protect themselves.”
“Do we have a time frame for the induced coma?” I ask, then look at Momma Boner with apologetic eyes.
He’s not my brother, not really, but he’s my boyfriend’s best friend so that makes him important to me.
Momma smiles, then turns her attention back to the doc.
She’s so stoic, holding herself like a mountain that’s been beaten by the elements yet still stands strong.
“We can’t say at this time. We’re monitoring him closely, keeping a close eye on his heart, his breathing, and neurological responses.
” Dr. Martinez places a gentle hand on Momma’s shoulder and speaks softly.
“The next hours and days will tell us how his body is responding to the coma and the trauma he’s been through.
I know this is a lot to take in but I can promise you that he’s surrounded by a competent team watching him around the clock. ”
“Can we see him?” These are her first words and her voice is barely audible, like she’s trying to keep it low or else she’ll lose her shit.
“Yes, but only two at a time. His brother, Diego, is already there.” Momma smiles at that, then nods.
“Please take me to my sons.” I’m in awe of this woman.
“Can I be Momma when I grow up?” Parker whispers as Boner’s mom takes Hoops’s hand in hers, squeezes, then walks away.
“I’m pretty sure you’ll be exactly like her one day.”
Parker snort laughs, then slaps me on the chest, grinning.
“Oh, you poor na?ve soul. I’m too unstable to be like her.” She’s not wrong. “Come on, Spenny, let’s go check on our boyfriend.”