Page 86 of Through The Woods

He arrived and tried to follow after them, but was stopped by the nurses. “Sir, you’ll have to stay out here. Can you tell us what happened?”

He began signing, ‘She’s been hurt—I don’t know if she took something.’ He stopped and his shoulders shook with silent sobs.

“Was she in a car accident?”

He shook his head, clearly growing frustrated by the fact that no one knew what he was trying to communicate.

The nurse gave up her questioning and wrapped an arm around his shoulders before leading him to a private room. Within minutes, another person arrived to translate for him. He signed everything he knew, which was sadly not much. He hadn’t seen Blade—the only people who had were all dead. They assured him that they were doing everything they could to save me and left him alone again.

Where was Twitch?

I wanted to believe that he was okay—I needed him to tell the others who was responsible for this. Why would Joker have left him behind?

The door to the small waiting area flew open and Rooster burst in, wide-eyed and panting. “Gunner told us—is she okay, J?”

He shook his head and lowered it back down to his hands.

Rooster sank down into the chair closest to him. “The guys are right behind me—what the hell happened?”

“Blade happened. He drugged me and—” My voice broke off in a sob, although neither man appeared to hear me.

“It fucking sucks, doesn’t it?”

I jerked my head to the side and saw Axel sitting in a chair a few feet away from Joker and Twitch. “Oh my god, Axel. You’re okay!” I ran over and embraced him.

He laughed. “Yeah, about that. Spoiler alert—I don’t make it.”

The smile faded on my lips. “But, you’re here,” I protested.

“Neve, I am here, but I’m the only one who can hear and see you. What do you think that means?”

“I think it’s a dream. Just some extremely vivid and realistic dream, right? I’ve heard of this happening in times of extreme stress. I’m probably in a coma—that’s it. My brain has imagined this entire situation as a way of coping with my trauma.”

He shook his head and replied, “I don’t think so.”

I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “But they got a pulse. They found a pulse on me! How can you be stuck here if you’re dead?”

He looked around. “Well, maybe it’s a waiting room—get it? Because we’re stuck in an actual waiting room.”

“That can’t be it—dead people don’t have a pulse! Maybe I’m just having a psychotic break brought on by the overdose.” It sounded crazy, even to me, but if it meant I wasn’t dead—well, I would’ve believed in just about anything at this point.

He chuckled to himself. “Alright, let’s go with that. I was never much of a hippie or new-age guy, but I bet we could rustle up some healing crystals down in the gift shop and give ‘em a whirl.”

Rooster paced the room, speaking tersely into his cell phone, while Joker stared a hole through the door. Maybe Axel was right—any minute now, a doctor would come in and tell them that I didn’t make it. The thought was too painful to dwell on—I needed a distraction.

“How’d you know that something was wrong?”

He leaned back and where I expected the chair to squeak, there was silence. “I’ve had a bad feeling about Blade for a while now—obviously, I couldn’t voice that to Charm, seeing as to how I was just some lowly prospect. After the shit he pulled with you at the clubhouse that day, I kept an eye on him and, when the alarms were tripped at the storage building, I told Charm I’d handle it. I expected to see cops swarming the place, but there was nothing. I thought about it and realized that the alarms provided the perfect diversion, leaving you completely alone. I was too late though.”

I mulled over his words. He’d actively gone after the leader of another MC for me. “Why’d you do it?”

He laughed heartily. “Why’d I do it? Neve, you’ve singlehandedly turned this club around. Everything you touch becomes something else—something better. I didn’t get it at first; thought you were just another club whore wannabe. It wasn’t until Twitch mistakenly referred to you as Rae that it clicked though. I always had a soft spot for that girl—she was a fucking mess, but there was just something about her.

“I realized you must be pretty damn special if every member of Charm’s group was willing to vouch for you. When the guys said he was claiming you—well, that just made everything concrete. I respect the hell out of Charm and he’s not a man to fuck with.”

My chest tightened at the mention of his name and I wondered if they’d told him. If I ever woke up again, would he believe that I didn’t willingly use?

The door opened and the men’s heads popped up expectantly as Blade calmly walked in. He was wearing a beanie over his hair, probably trying to cover up where Joker grazed him with the bullet. Axel and I were on our feet instantly. We shouldn’t have worried—he wasn’t able to see us either.

---