Chapter 12
Anika
My legs threaten to give out, but Patch wraps his arm around me to keep me upright. He keeps me moving even when I want to give up and fall.
“I can hear the ocean,” he says.
“I’m so tired,” I tell him.
“I know you are. Once we get to the water, I’ll find a phone.” I nod my head and let him lead me. He keeps checking behind us to make sure no one is following us. Thankfully, no one has so far.
We keep walking until the dirt turns to sand. Then I see the water. The sparkling ocean in front of us. It looks so inviting. So beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the ocean in that way. I glance up at Patch as he looks around the area.
“There’s a store over there. I’m gonna use the phone.”
“I can’t make it,” I tell him.
“You have to.”
“It’ll look suspicious if I go in there like this,” I tell him. Luckily, we’re at a spot that not many people seem to be. There’s a small store off to the side, but that’s it. I can see people further down the beach, but this must be a private area.
“Okay. Stay here. If you see anything off, you yell.” I nod my head as he lets go of me and walks toward the store. Instead of sitting here, I walk toward the water. Water. It can wash away everything. All the sins from the hell we were held in. Everything. It will wash away everything.
I walk closer and feel the water hit my feet. A slight smile curls my lips as I walk in further and further. I keep going as the waves hit me and pull me under. I let them. I let them sweep me away. I let them take me. My mind is in a fog. I feel like I’m floating. And maybe I am.
It seems like I’m lost in this tranquil place forever when I’m being yanked out of it.
I pry my eyes open to see Patch. He has me in his arms, carrying me out of the water.
Tears spill down my cheeks as he carries me back up the beach and behind some big boulders.
He sits down with me in his lap and sighs.
“The guys are on the way. They’ll be here in no time,” he tells me.
“Why did you do it?”
“You tryin’ to leave me already?”
“It was peaceful.”
“You would have drowned.”
“I don’t care anymore, Patch,” I admit to him.
“You might not, but I do.” His words wrap around my heart and hold steady. He cares? About me? I let my eyes close as he keeps me tucked against him. The sun beats down on us, but I feel safe in his arms. I let that feeling drift through me.
I don’t know how long I’ve lain like this. I don’t know how long we’ve been here, but the sun is slowly going down.
“I used to love the sunset.”
“What changed?” he asks.
“What they did.” He doesn’t say a word; he knows. He knows what they did to us. He was there.
After a little while of silence, I hear someone calling his name. Patch sits up straighter and listens intently before shifting me out of his lap and onto the sand. He stands to his feet and glances around, looking like he’s ready for a fight, but he’s in no shape for that.
“Patch?” I hear the voice closer this time.
“Over here,” he calls out. In seconds, we’re surrounded by the guys from the club. They look at him, then to me, and back to him. They’re confused as I try to stand on my feet. Patch wraps his arm around me to keep me on my feet next to him.
“What the hell happened?” Kal asks. I remember him.
“Not here,” Patch tells him. He nods his head and motions for us to follow him, but my legs refuse to work.
Patch tries to lift me in his arms once more and almost goes down with me.
I hear one of the guys curse before moving toward me.
I’m too tired, too weak to protest, although I don’t want any of them touching me.
“He won’t hurt you,” Patch says. I nod my head as Bouncer lifts me in his arms and carries me like a baby.
He walks through the tree line and out the other side to a waiting truck.
Patch climbs in and then motions for Bouncer to hand me over.
He does, setting me in the seat next to him.
I move to climb into his lap and wrap my arms around his neck.
I need to know he’s real. I need to know that he’s here with me, just like he said he’d be.
“It’s okay now.”
“No, it’s not.”
“I promise, I’ll find them.”
“What if they come back?”
“They aren’t that stupid,” he says softly. I nod my head and rest it against his chest, listening to his heart beat. It thuds against my ear and lulls me into a sense of peace.
The ride takes a while, but I force my eyes to stay open until I know we’re safe. When we get back to the clubhouse, I see guys outside with guns standing ready.
“We locked down the clubhouse,” Kal says to Patch.
“Good.” That’s all he can manage to say.
The truck pulls up near the doors and comes to a stop. The guys jump out, and Bouncer comes around to my side. I shift out of Patch’s lap and let Bouncer lift me once more. I see Kal helping Patch out of the truck as tears burn the back of my eyes.
Bouncer carries me inside and straight down the hall toward the rooms. I don’t say anything. I just let him carry me.
He walks into one of the rooms and lays me on the bed when another man comes in behind him, followed by a woman.
“We didn’t know if you’d prefer a male or female doctor,” he says.
“Female,” I whisper. Bouncer nods his head, and the other man leaves the room.
“He’ll check out Patch. I’ll be right outside if you need me,” he tells me. I nod my head before looking to the doctor. She’s pulling things out of her bag and setting them up.
Before I know it, she’s checked me over. She’s cleaned me up and applied medicine to my wounds.
“You were raped,” she says as if I didn’t know that. I nod my head. “I’d suggest taking the morning-after pill just to be safe.” She pulls one from her bag and offers it to me along with a glass of water. I take it and pop it into my mouth before she offers me more pills.
“These are for pain and an antibiotic. You need them both,” she says. I nod and take them without any hesitation.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. It’s my job. I’m here if you want to talk about any of this. I know a good counselor who will help you through the trauma.” I don’t want to talk about it, but I do nod my head anyway to make her feel better.
She stands from the chair she was sitting in, leaving me with pain meds and antibiotics. She tells me that she’ll be back in a few days to recheck me, and I agree. Then I watch her leave the room before Bouncer walks back in.
“You good? Need anything?”
“No.”
“You want to see Patch?” Shame of what happened claws at my insides as I shake my head. I can’t see him. Not after what they made him do to me. Not after what he watched them do to me. How can I look him in the eye?
“Can you call my friend, Ellie?”
“Of course. You want to talk to her?”
“No. Just tell her I’m okay, please. Tell her not to worry.”
“She’s gonna worry, sweetheart.”
“Is she allowed here?”
“She can come if you want her here.”
“I’d like that,” I tell him as my eyes flutter closed.
“I’ll get her here.” That’s the last thing I hear before I fall asleep.