5. Dallas
DALLAS
“Chaaaaar!”
I heard Deac grunt somewhere to my left.
“Char! She’s here!”
“Come on, big boy,” she said with a grunt, “let’s get you over here.”
“Deac! Deacooooon!”
“Shut the fuck up,” the man groaned.
“There,” Char said as I planted face first into something soft, “bed for you both.”
I snorted into her sheets. “Chaaaaar!”
“Jesus,” she said breathlessly as something fluttered against my body, “the hell did she inject you guys with?”
Drool dripped from my lips. “Char!”
“Shut the fuck up,” Deac grunted.
Fucking hell, that woman came from out of nowhere. She dropped down onto my shoulders like a goddamn spider monkey, and the next thing I knew, it was hard to walk.
“Fucking Christ,” Deac whispered.
“You guys stay put!” Char called out from somewhere. “I’m whipping up some food and drinks! You guys need something on your stomachs!”
“Chaaaaaar!” I yelled with a grunt as I tried to push myself up. “We have to go! It isn’t safe!”
“Shut up,” Deac groaned.
He smacked my face with a pillow and sent me flying back down to the bed.
I tried to get my bearings, but it was hard.
The room was spinning. The ceiling seemed to tilt on its own axis.
And despite how I tried to gather my thoughts, they kept scurrying in all sorts of directions while smells gathered beneath my nose from the kitchen.
I heard someone chopping something. At least, I thought they were chopping something.
“Char,” I whispered as I stared up at the ceiling.
“What—”
Deac grunted as the bed shifted.
“What happened to her?”
I furrowed my brow. “Huh?”
“Char—what?”
I turned my heavy head toward Deac, who was still face down on the mattress.
“Deac,” I whispered.
He groaned as he rolled himself over. “Talk gotta… Char, with the—place.”
Char’s giggle filled the air around us. “I’m okay, she’s gone, and we have to get you guys better before we head back.”
“Plug—call,” Deac said groggily.
“Sh-sh-sh-sh,” she said, hushing him softly, “just drink. Here.”
I heard Deac gulping for his fucking life before her beautiful presence hovered over me.
“Here, this’ll help,” she said as she cupped her hand beneath my head.
She lifted my lips to the bowl to drink and the beautiful liquid that crashed into my mouth made me realize why the hell Deac was gulping. Goddamn it, the woman could cook. Even on the fly, under pressure, the vegetable soup was amazing.
“God,” I groaned as my lips released the bowl.
“There we go,” Char said as she laid my head back down, “theeeere we go.”
She smoothed her thumb along my cheek, catching a stray drop of broth as I gazed up at her. Those icy blue eyes smiled down at me, and not a hint of distress was seen in them. She didn’t look hurt. No bleeding. No bruises. No tear stains anywhere.
“Char,” I said breathlessly.
“Get some rest,” she said as she pulled a sheet over my body, “you guys will have to sleep the rest of it off.”
“Plug,” Deac grunted.
Char giggled. “I’ll make sure to get in touch with the guys and tell them what’s happened.”
I wanted to respond. I wanted to tell her that if she just sat on my face for a little bit, I’d wake up and get us home.
But all that happened were my eyes fluttering closed.
Time passed in a haze with Deac’s snores jerking me awake only for the injection to pull me back under into darkness.
However, when I came to for the umpteenth time, I heard her voice chattering away.
That angelic voice I loved so much.
“Yes, Rat, I promise we’re fine. Uh huh. She drugged them good. Yeah, in my bed. Uh huh. They should be. Sure, yeah. Well, I mean, if you put it that way.”
Put it what way?
“I mean, yeah, I can drive. I don’t know if I can get them into the van, though.”
I wanted to stay awake, but darkness drowned me out. That was until I felt my body drop to a cold, hard surface.
“Goddamn it,” Deac muttered.
“Hey, you got them in the right order this time,” I said as I turned over.
“Huh?”
And the last thing that I heard was a motorcycle engine revving before I came to laying on the floor of our clubhouse living room.
With a blinding light shining in my eyes.
“Jesus fuck,” I said as I reached my arm out.
“There he is,” a familiar voice said.
“Dallas, can you hear me?” Deac asked.
I waved my hand around. “Where—what—uh?—”
“Don’t move too quickly,” the voice said as I felt pressure on my shoulders.
The spotting in my eyes from the harsh light faded away, and I found myself looking up into our doctor’s face.
“Ah, I thought I recognized you,” I murmured.
The doctor snickered as he eased me back to the floor. “Just take it slow.”
Deac hovered over me. “Good to see you awake.”
I gave him a thumbs up. “Good to see you upright.”
“Follow my finger with your eyes, Dallas,” the doctor said.
I did as he asked, but I didn’t stop talking. “Where’s Char?”
“Just do what the doctor says,” Deac said.
“Good. Now, open your mouth and say ‘ah’.”
I ran through the gamut of tests before the doctor sat back on his haunches.
He looked so graceful, getting up in one fell swoop.
My legs still felt like Jell-O as the doctor and Deac heaved me up from the floor.
I clapped my hands into theirs and my body felt like it was flying, damn near tossing me into the wall.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Deac said as he slammed his shoulder into my chest, “let’s take it easy.”
“Jesus, do you guys chuck pumpkins with those arms or something?”
He chuckled as he patted my chest. “Sounds like you’ve got your wits about you.”
I looked over at him. “Where’s Char?”
He patted my chest. “She’s in the kitchen cooking.”
“Is she okay?”
He shrugged. “Hasn’t said a word since I came to a couple of hours ago. Gauge’s in the kitchen with her, though, in case she needs something.”
Rat came up to my side. “She’s been silent longer than that.”
“What?” Deac and I asked in unison.
“Yeah,” Rat said as he crossed his arms over his chest, “she hasn’t said a word since we got you guys back yesterday.”
My eyes widened. “Yesterday!? How long have we been on that fucking floor?”
Fucking Christ, no wonder my back hurt.
“Look,” Deac said as he placed his hands on my shoulders, “I’ve filled the guys in on what happened, but Char still won’t talk about whatever happened with that woman.”
I dug the heels of my hands into my eyes, trying to shake the last of the lethargy. “Maybe Gauge can?—”
“He’s the one that’s been trying,” Rat said.
I slowly looked over at him. “Gauge can’t get her to talk?”
“Nope,” Plug said as he came up behind me.
Deac studied my face. “I actually hoped you’d try once you woke up. You know, getting her to talk about it.”
“Uh, guys?” Gauge asked as he came out of the kitchen.
“Yeah?” Deac asked.
Gauge grinned as he came up to me. “Nice to see you finally up and about.”
“How is she?” I asked.
He shook his head and shrugged. “Cooking up a fucking storm and not saying a goddamn word.”
“Just a few more minutes and it’ll all be done, everyone!” Char called out.
I cracked my neck. “I know how to deal with this, just give me a few minutes.”
And as I put one foot gingerly in front of the other, I sniffed the air as I waltzed my way into the kitchen.
“Smells good, sweet girl.”
She whipped around and smiled so sweetly up at me. “Hey there, sleepyhead. Feeling any better?”
I walked over to her, hovering over her as I cloaked her in my shadow.
She looked exhausted, despite the smile she clearly worked on her entire life.
I knew it was fake, though. It didn’t quite reach her eyes.
No matter how much she squinted them and curled up the edges of her lips, the well of sorrow behind those icy pools was unmistakable.
I slid my touch up her forearm. I slipped my hand around the spatula she held.
I pulled it from her grasp and placed it on the stovetop where pots boiled and sauces simmered.
I cupped both of her cheeks in my hands. “Did she threaten you?”
Her face sank, but she managed to answer me with a shake of her head.
“Did she hurt you?” I asked as I lowered my voice.
She brought her wrist into my view, and the bruise wrapped around it made me clench my jaw. I had to keep my cool, though. She answered, but I knew it wouldn’t be for long if I made her use words. So I busied my hands that yearned for blood as I stroked my thumb along her pale cheeks.
“Is that woman who we thought she was?” I asked.
And when her eyes welled with tears, I pulled her in for a hug.
“Oh, sweet girl,” I whispered as she nuzzled her face into my chest.
“Now I know why you didn’t wanna tell me,” she choked out.
She tried to shove me away, but I tightened my grip. “Oh no you don’t.”
“I just gotta finish cooking. I gotta—I can’t cry anymore, okay?”
I wrestled her against me. “I’m not letting go.”
“Dallas, cut it out. Things are gonna?—”
I simply dug my heels in, though. “Not while you’re crying. Not like this.”
“Dallas, just let go of me. Ugh, come on!”
I locked my arms and picked her up off her feet.
She kicked them in the air, fighting with me and combatting my every move as I walked her over to the kitchen table.
I placed her on top, her legs parting as my body forced its way between her thighs.
And as I kept my arms clamped around her, I reached my hand up her back, wrapping my hand in the tendrils of her hair, and yanked her head back until her gaze found mine.
“Dallas,” she whimpered with tears in her eyes.
“I’m not letting you go until you’re okay. I’m not ever letting you go until you’re okay.”
The sob that came out of her was small. Just one. Like she’d been holding it behind her teeth for so long that one got away before she could catch it. I felt it against my chest more than heard it. The way her body shuddered once, then went still.
I kept my arms around her and my mouth shut and let her breathe.
She pulled back first. Just enough to look up at me. Her eyes were still wet at the edges, that icy blue gone glassy, and she looked so goddamn tired that something tightened behind my ribs.