Page 20 of Catch My Fall

“And her name?”

“Sierra Hudson. Please don’t let her die.” My voice cracks at the last part as unwanted tears sting the back of my eyes.

“We’ll do our best, Sir, but you have to let go of her now,” the nurse tells me and it’s only then that I’ve been holding Sierra’s hand the whole time.

Her hand slips from mine and dangles weakly off the end of the stretcher, the loss of her skin from mine instant.

I slow to a halt as they wheel her out of sight and I slump against the wall, my hands and clothes covered in her blood, and mine.

What the fuck did they do to her to make her bleed so fucking much?

Bleeding is never a good sign, but vaginal bleeding? That’s a whole different ballgame entirely. There are a multitude of reasons for that, none of those thoughts I want to entertain.

I reach behind my head and wince, pulling my hand away to see it coated in my blood.

“Sir, are you alright?” one of the nurses asks. “That looks like a nasty cut to your head. Let’s get you patched up, okay?”

With no sign of any major damage to my brain or my skull but a mild case of concussion, I’m stitched up in no time. And after refusing to be kept in overnight for observation, I head into the ER waiting room. I’ll be here all night regardless, because I’m never letting her out of my sight again.

Gage paces backs and forth, talking in hushed voices to Max. His head snaps up when he spots me.

“Alec!” Gage marches towards me. “I called Rafe. He, Reese and Della are on their way. Viola’s minding the children. I was at the club when Max called me, he filled me in.”

I shake my head slowly, blowing out a breath. “Fuck, Gage…”

He takes me by surprise when he pulls me in for a hug, clapping me on the back, holding onto me tightly. I’m so shocked it takes me a good few seconds to reciprocate.

He pulls back. “Is she okay?”

I sigh. “She’s not good, man. You should’ve seen her, I… I’ve never seen anyone so broken. She’s covered in cuts and bruises, old and new. She’s so thin it’s like they’ve barely fed her, and she’s bleeding vaginally, I don’t know why.”

The panicked expression on his face morphs into a mix of sadness and anger as he listens to every word.

I saw a lot of things during my time in the Marines, but nothing prepared me for what I witnessed today. I never anticipated how it would fuck me up to see the woman I love in that state.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“I’ll be fine, I’m more worried about Sierra.”

“She’ll be alright, Al. She’s made it this far, she’s strong,” Max reassures.

“What about Austin?” Gage asks.

“He managed to slip away.”

He huffs out a frustrated sigh. “Fuck.”

“Ollie?” I ask Max. “Is he still alive?”

“He was shot and had a number of broken bones. My guys brought him in about ten minutes ago,” Max replies. “He’s lost a lot of blood, but from what I could tell, the bullet didn’t puncture anything major. Now, I’ve got to run. I’m posting a few of my guys to stand guard. You need anything, you ask them. And should the cops come knocking, tell them it’s a Federal investigation.”

I extend my hand to him. “Thank you again for your help.”

“No problem, man,” he says, shaking my hand before doing the same to Gage and then disappearing out the double doors.

Gage turns to me. “Tell me everything that happened.”

∞∞∞

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