Angel Page 16

  Firstly, Grey’s Anatomy or some shit like that shows the relatives of really sick people being put in a cute little room with a table, flowers and the obligatory box of tissues. That is bullshit.

  I was sat in a grey, windowless box that had a few leaflets on a side table, which had been used to mop up coffee by the looks of it. There was no air, no fucking fresh air, and if you happened to have more than four people care about you then you were screwed. They wouldn’t all fit.

  Mom was sobbing and every time a fresh bout of tears attacked her, she lost a bit more of her strength, but bless her, she was right beside me, consoling me. Our arms were wrapped around each other’s and we were fighting our way through the uncomfortable wait together.

  I was still covered in blood and it made me want to scrape my own skin off because I didn’t know whose blood was whose. The first gush of blood that pumped through the holes in Throttle’s body reminded me of Chopper. Blood had this warm, unusual consistency about it. It was the one thing that kept us alive and it felt like nothing else on earth. Not water, not paint, nothing. The smell of it didn’t turn my stomach until I realized I’d tarnished the perfectly clean blood of my dad with that of Throttle’s. It was like a poison trying to get into my skin. After throwing a small tantrum about the blood, one of the sisters gave me some scrubs to wear, but it was still ground into the grooves of my skin, into my finger prints, and I could see it.

  So, there was nothing to do but wait.

  Davis was in surgery having a bullet removed from his back. He was already injured and covered in blood so it was hard to tell how much damage the bullet had done, but it entered his back, close to his spine, and didn’t come out again. If he hadn’t been on the back of the motorcycle, it could have been me. I could have been lying somewhere in that hospital being operated on.

  My dad had simply hit the tree and then nothing. There was no movement. He was trapped under the motorcycle and… stayed, just lying there.

  My brain was like a damn VCR playback and I couldn’t stop it from going over what had happened.

  I raced over to my dad and Davis, but I only heard one of them screaming and wailing. It was Davis so at least I knew he was alive. My dad, though… The engine of the BMW kept going and the spinning rear wheel came to a slow stop as I skidded on the ground, cursing my weak female body. There was no way I was going to lift that motorcycle off him without help.

  I did the obligatory, “Dad, can you hear me?” thing and was met with a groan.

  “Thank fuck. Stay with me, Dad.”

  “Cell. Wolf. Waiting in town,” he managed to whisper and then coughed. The action hurt him a lot, and when he breathed again, his teeth were red. He was fucking bleeding somewhere inside. I tried to lever the motorcycle off his leg, but even moving it an inch caused him to cry out in pain.

  I moved him as carefully as a I could and when his cut fell open, I saw a glint of silver hanging at his throat. My angel wings pendant. Throughout it all, my dad had needed that connection with me. Knowing I’d torn that from my own neck and discarded it, burned. “My wings,” I whispered.

  “Focus,” he winced. “Make the call or-”

  There was no or. Where my dad was concerned, the man who’d saved me and loved me unconditionally, there was no or.

  Pulling his cell from his cut, I searched the contacts, found Wolf and pressed my bloody fingers to the screen to initiate the call. “You need to hurry up! Dad’s hurt and I can’t get the bike off him and, Davis has been shot. I can’t help him either. We need to get them to a hospital.” My voice showed all the signs of the despair I could no longer hide and I was desperate for someone to come and help me.

  “Fuck!” That was all he said before he hung up.

  I sat and cradled my dad’s head, talking to him about absolute shit while he stared back into my eyes. Eyes I could see were drifting in and out of focus. Ten minutes later, a jeep came bouncing along the access road, driven by Gears and screeched to a halt when it arrived at the carnage.

  Declan jumped out and came straight at me. “Get that off him!”

  A couple of my Sentinel brothers leaped from the back and began to lift the motorcycle off my dad. I could see he was deteriorating rapidly and I had no idea where the nearest hospital was.

  The brothers loaded him in first, followed by Davis, and when I saw Stomper and Torch go to get Throttle’s body, I nearly lost it completely. “Leave him to rot!” I screamed.

  They looked at Declan for guidance, who stopped everything to attend to me. “Baby, are you hurt?”

  “No. Just my dad and Davis.”

  “Okay, we’re going to get them some help right now. Torch has some medical supplies in the back, but we can’t leave Throttle out there in the open.”

  “I don’t want that fucker near my dad.”

  He wiped his thumb under my eye and it came back bloody. I listened as he took out his phone and told someone where Throttle’s body was and to come deal with it.

  That was the last I saw of Throttle until I closed my eyes. He was there then, every fucking time I closed them for longer than a blink.

  It was also the last I saw of Wolf. After my brothers helped get me, my dad, and Davis inside the hospital, he disappeared with the jeep.

  A lifetime later, a doctor and nurse appeared in the room and it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the place. Mom went from sobbing to barely breathing, and we gripped each other’s hands so tight they were nearly fused together.

  “Thank you for waiting at such a difficult time. Patient care takes priority over talking to the family when we’re working to stabilize them.” I watched as he came and took a seat next to us and knew then it was bad news. “Your husband is alive. He suffered a lot of internal injuries, mostly to his liver and spleen. The spleen we’ve removed and the liver has been repaired as much as we can at the moment. He’s in recovery, but the next forty-eight hours will be critical. He also suffered a shattered pelvis, which gave us some added complications. I’d like to ask you to wait another hour or so before you see him. Give my team time to monitor him as he comes off the anesthetic, and once he’s a little more with it, we’ll come and get you and your daughter.”

  Mom broke down again. The relief was just too much for her. The nurses waited as we hugged and cried together, breathing easier for just that moment because he was still with us.

  “Thank you, doctor. We’ll wait right here.” I looked at the clock. “One hour.” I wanted it made clear that if they didn’t come and get us we were going to see my dad no more delays.

  As he was about to turn and leave, I remembered Davis. “Can I ask how my friend is doing?”

  “Are you family?”

  “Kind of.”

  “I’m really sorry but unless you’re family I can’t discuss his condition with you.”

  “I’m his fiancé,” I blurted out and the doctor smiled, no doubt having heard that lame excuse before.

  “Mr. Peters has suffered life changing injuries. When he’s awake, I’ll see to it that he knows his fianceé is here. I must warn you, though, as he was the victim of a gun shot wound, I’m legally bound to inform the police.”

  I nodded. Davis was in a bad way, we were close, but I’d never taken the time to ask about his family and I had no idea if he had one, what his family situation looked like. I’d have to ask one of the Sentinels to track them down.

  The next time anyone really spoke was when the doctor came back and told us Dad was awake and they’d moved him to a side room. Finally, we were clear to go and see him.

  He looked awful, but I was thankful he was breathing. The man who had always been a big hero for me, a big brute of a man who would slay any dragon to protect me, was lying in a bed nearly the same color as the sterile sheets draped over him. Dad had drips and drains and all kinds of stuff coming out of his body and electronic contraptions hanging off cages by his bedside.

  Mom was almost delirious when she first got into the room. I
watched as she rushed to his bedside and took his hand. The minute they connected skin to skin, the machine keeping an eye on his heart rate sped up. Their love for each other floored me as his eyelids fluttered and his head drooped to the side to find her. Dad was breathing into an oxygen mask and I could see his chest rising quicker at finally being within reach of his soul’s other half.

  “You old coot,” she whispered. There were tears flowing down her cheeks. “Next time send one of the others. Scratch that, no next time. I’ll kill you myself if you ever do anything that stupid again.”

  “Button…” His voice was tiny from behind the plastic mask. Hearing him speak was just amazing, but hearing him use his pet name for her was something else. I had to turn away. I felt like I was intruding.

  “You saved our Angel,” she whispered and kissed his hand before fiercely gripping it with her own palm.

  With some effort, he reached up with a tube-laden hand, removed his mask and looked at me. “No, Button, she saved me.”

  The emotion that I’d buried sitting in that waiting room rushed forward. With no control over my own limbs or bodily reactions, I stepped closer to the bed and took his other hand. “I’m so sorry, Dad. It was all my fault. If I hadn’t left—”

  “Hush now. I should’ve been honest with you a long time ago. I was just being bone headed. I should be the one saying sorry. If I’d known you felt that guilt over fucking Chopper…”

  “I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d…” I couldn’t finish the words, so leaned down instead to kiss his hand and rest my cheek against it. It was the most caring and heartfelt kiss I’d ever given him. I knew he cared for me. He used to hug away my tears when I had skinned knees, but I’d never just kissed him for no reason, or just because with affection. We had a bond, but I’d never acted on that parent/child connection he’d given me.

  As I carried on crying, I felt him remove his hand and run his fingers affectionately through my hair. “Stop this nonsense.”

  “I’ll give you two a moment and go tell the boys you’re in one piece,” my mom said, quietly leaving so we could have our moment.

  When I didn’t stop and pull myself together, he reached down for my chin and made me face him. As he smiled at me, he fumbled and wiped his fingers under my eyes to dry my tears for me.

  “Finding you was the second best day of my life, Angel.” I knew that falling in love with his wife would always be his first. “We weren’t blessed with a baby. That magic never happened for us. Your mom wanted to do something about that, but I’m a big believer in God only giving us what we can handle. When I laid eyes on you in that trailer, I knew he’d been saving us for something bigger. God had someone special in mind for us—you. An angel from heaven.”

  I cried a bit harder at his revelation, but let him continue.

  “A lot of shit happened after Chopper died and Wolf, well, he’ll tell you his own story, but I’m sorry I didn’t tell you all this a long time ago. You’ve been the apple of my eye since I spotted you hoarding food on the quiet from the pantry three days after I brought you home. None of this is on you. Throttle turned out to be a bad seed and none of us spotted that. I tried to keep you two apart and he may have pulled one over on me and my brothers, but he didn’t fool you. He was never good enough for you.”

  “I feel like I’ve never said thank you for the life you gave me.”

  “Every time you smiled at me, gave me some of your sass or snuck off to work on an engine, that was thanks enough. I couldn’t have been gifted with a better grease monkey if Vix had popped out a boy holding a goddamn spanner.”

  I laughed at his phrase. It was completely true. Even though there was no blood between us, I would always be his child, following in his footsteps and shadow.

  “I think I’m gonna be laid up a while. You may not like this, but Wolf is the one I’m entrusting your care to.”

  “Dad!”

  “Do your incapacitated old man a favor and play nice. Razor is still out there, your mom will be here with me for the foreseeable and I’ll sleep better knowing you’re protected. Besides, you and he have some sorting out to do and it should have been sorted a long time ago.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “You can. I don’t doubt it. But you just did something that no person should ever have to do and Wolf can help that settle easier than I can.”

  “His dad?”

  “His dad.” My dad confirmed that he knew more about Declan and his past than I first thought. “Now, this old man is getting tired. Sit with me while I rest my eyes.”

  I kissed his hand again, trying to convey some confirmation that I was agreeing to his plan. I wasn’t sure yet how I was going to deal with Wolf, but I wasn’t prepared to worry my dad about that now.

  As I put his oxygen mask back on, he closed his eyes, and I looked at the man who had come into my life and saved me. I was honored to have been able to return the favor and would do it again in a heartbeat for those I loved. When he was breathing softly, I continued to watch him peacefully, thanking God that he was healing. Seeing him and talking to him had calmed me, but I still felt hungry for Razor’s demise. Nothing could satiate the need for that.

  My mom tiptoed back in and kissed the back of my head. “Time for you to go get cleaned up, Angel. You need some rest.”

  When I stood up to hug her goodbye, I squeezed her with all my might and tried to show her how I felt with the words I’d never said before, but came easily now, “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you, too.”

  As I came out of our embrace, I was more thankful than ever that I was in their life, but my appreciative thoughts were cut short when I saw a shadow appear at the window.

  Declan was glaring at me.

  His face was thunderous, like he was ready to murder me on the spot, and when he jerked his head for me to get moving, I didn’t hesitate to comply.

  “Let’s go.”

  Seriously? No greeting. No, ‘glad you’re alive and in one piece.’ Just, ‘let’s go’.

  “I’m going to see Davis first.”

  “You can’t.” Declan hadn’t stopped treading a route to the exit, even as he snapped his order at me. There was no normal conversation and he was so closed off and unreachable we could have been strangers passing in the hospital corridor.

  “I can.” My dad believed I needed protection, and while he was probably right, I was still me, and no one told me what to do.

  Finally, he stopped and addressed me directly. “Davis is in bad shape and isn’t well enough for visitors. When he is, we’ll visit. Now, let’s move.”

  His mannerisms and tone pissed me off. Did I have to write a book or sky write the damn message? Do not tell females what they can and can’t do! Just because you phrase it like an order doesn’t do anything to convince us we should obey.

  “Wolf,” I began and his eyes flashed at me. “Do I look like I have four legs, fur, and a wagging fucking tail?”

  “Rosie.” It was definitely a warning.

  “No. I don’t. So, stop ordering me around like I’m a damn dog. If I want to see my friend, who I rescued, I will.” I figured throwing that in there might remind him of the trauma I’d just been through.

  “Declan,” he whispered menacingly.

  “What?” I snapped impatiently.

  “You call me Declan.”

  “You want to have that argument now?”

  “I’m more than happy to go home. You seem to be the one arguing, Rosie.”

  “I’m not!” I stamped my foot.

  “And stalling,” he decided.

  “My friend was kidnapped and hurt. I want to see that he’s okay.”

  “For fuck's sake,” Declan mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets. “We’ll talk about Davis at home. We’re not doing that here and now.”

  I thought about being all female and mirroring his pose in a childish way, but I couldn’t. My hands flew to my hips in classic bitch mode i
nstead. “I am not like other women. You don’t snap your fingers or go all broody and get what you want.”

  “Okay then, we are doing this here,” he grumbled. “Davis is fucked. The bullet nicked a nerve or some shit in his spine. Right now, lifting his right arm is a challenge, and walking again could be a goddamn miracle. He’s being guarded by a trusted brother. He’s asked for some time before he sees anyone.” I opened my mouth to counter that statement. “Including you. So, I won’t let you force your way in there.”

  My hands slipped off my hips and fell limply down my thighs. I knew Davis was in bad shape, but I didn’t envisage that level of horribleness when the doctor had said ‘life changing’. I was at a loss on how to deal with what was happening to him until the image of Razor and Throttle appeared in my mind. I wanted nothing more than to torture Razor and kill Throttle all over again.

  “Let’s go.” Declan barked his original order at me and then spun on his heels before heading to the exit. I was still dumbstruck over Davis when Declan stopped again and glared at me.

  “Can I say goodbye to the Sentinels?”

  “No.”

  “Who do you think you are?”

  “Someone who’s trying to keep you safe. And in order to keep you safe, I have to get you fucking home!”

  This time my body followed his command. I was getting nowhere fast and I figured I would plot my next move from the house.

  We climbed into the Jeep that had rescued us earlier, only now it was more like the off road vehicle it was intended to be and not a blood-filled, emergency paramedic truck. Someone had been busy and cleaned it. Right now, the only thing in it still covered in blood was me. I desperately needed a shower and some sleep.

  The garage compound was all locked up. To the outside world it seemed deserted until a Carnal brother ran outside, unlocked the gate and waved us through and then re-secured it. “Why is there a Carnal here?”

  “They’re helping keep you and the Sentinels safe.”