Chapter 83
BLAIZE
Everly and Elijah were both dead. Hawke saw their bodies and might’ve given them a final, life ending wound while the FBI wasn’t looking.
Hunter informed me that when I went to get Kadence, her father showed up.
Apparently, Everly reached out to him and said I was trafficking his daughter.
Imagine his surprise when he arrived at a strip club in a mid-sized town in Washington.
She wasn’t going to tell him anything until I went silent. Then she told him everything.
Apparently, the fucker realized how he fucked up when she vanished.
He might’ve found us and saved her, but it doesn’t make up for the years of abuse.
Being a father shouldn’t have been fucking rocket science, regardless if he was mourning the loss of his son.
She lost a brother, a mother, and him all in the same span of time.
And all the while, she was hurting inside, while he was neglecting his daughter because he didn’t know how to act.
“I’m looking for Kadence’s family,” a short, blonde woman in a white coat said.
“Her name is Caden,” her father said, bitterness lacing his tongue.
“No. It’s Kadence. Soon to be Matthews. It’s the name she chose for herself. Do not disrespect her,” I growled at him. “I’m her girlfriend. Is she okay?”
“I’m Dr. Windham. I’ll be taking care of her,” she said, taking my hand, ignoring Kadence’s father.
He looked dumbfounded, but said nothing as he listened with a curious ear.
“She is in the ICU right now. The first forty-eight hours are critical. She has deep stab wounds, one that penetrated her lung, causing a hemothorax. We fixed it. She had several bruised ribs and hematomas on her torso and chest, but they will heal on their own. We ran a rape kit, but it came ba—”
“She was assaulted,” I told her. “You won’t find Elijah’s fluids because his sister did it. Forced oral sex and fingering. The blood is from the stab wound on her thigh.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because they did it in front of me. They wanted to hurt me, and the only way to do that is through her. I love her.”
Dr. Windham nodded her head. “I’m sorry you had to endure that. I’m not sure how she will react with the mental and emotional trauma, but physically, she will heal. She is being moved to a room in the morning, but she can’t have visitors at this time.”
I needed to see her. “Can I see her? Even if it’s just for a second. Please.”
“Only for a second.”
The doctor walked me to the ICU floor, leaving her father behind.
The waiting room was filled with people who love Kadence, but only me and her father were allowed in the ICU waiting room.
The tension was thick, and we had yet to speak.
Speaking to him without seeing Kadence would annoy me, and I was already on the verge of cutting his head off.
I didn’t know what he was going to say or what he was going to do when we were alone and out of a hospital wing.
The doctor opened the ICU room door, and I stepped inside. My heart tugged seeing Kadence attached to machines with a tube down her throat. She looked peaceful, but I knew she wasn't.
I slowly stepped up to her and my hand lifted, but I stopped before I touched her.
This was my fault. I was the reason she was assaulted, beaten and stabbed.
I couldn’t lose her—not in life, not in death.
She completed me. She made my life better.
I knew finding love after loss would be difficult, but she made it easy.
I was the one who made things complicated.
My hand dragged across her face slightly, and she didn't move. I moved the strands of hair from her face and brought my lips to her forehead. My lips lingered for a moment before I pulled myself back up. “I’ll be waiting for you, princess. I love you. Please don’t leave me.”
I slowly back out of the room, taking a deep, shaky breath. The adrenaline finally wore off, and I winced. Worrying about Kadence, I forgot Elijah stabbed me. It might be serious, but I’d have Doc patch me up.
“Thank you,” I told the doctor.
“Of course. She is a lucky girl. She’s a fighter.” She had no idea.
“Yes. Yes, she is.”
Walking back to the ICU, her father was on the phone.
When he saw me, he hung up and walked towards me.
I really didn’t want to talk to him, but I knew the two of us needed to have a conversation.
I lifted my finger to his face, walking into the regular waiting room.
I looked for Doc, seeing him with Annika and Hunter.
Everyone at the club had been worried sick about me and Kadence, more so Kadence than me.
“Doc,” I called him, and everyone looked at me. “Only Doc, Hunter, and Hawke. I’ll update you in a few.”
The three of them walked towards me, and Hunter pulled me into her arms. “Is she okay?” she asked.
I lifted my head, brushing away my tears. “She is for the most part. Everly raped her. Oral and her fingers.”
“Good God,” Hawke growled.
“Doc, I need your assistance,” I told him as I looked at him. He should know me by now. I didn’t say anything as I lifted my shirt up and three pairs of eyes grew.
“Goddamnit, Blaize,” Doc cursed, grabbing my arm and dragging me into an empty hospital room. Thankfully, he had connections here or this wouldn't end well for us. “I’m tired of your shit.”
“Kadence was more important than a superficial wound.” Doc moved his hands dramatically like he wanted to choke me. He dealt with my bullshit for years now. Why was he surprised?
Everything would slowly get back to normal, but now I just needed my queen to wake up.