Page 88 of Through The Woods

After assuring the bikers that he would bring them up to see me soon, the doctor excused himself. The room was so quiet that each tick of the second hand from the clock on the wall was magnified.

Maybe the doctor was used to treating the bikers—he hadn’t even questioned them about my injuries.

Wasn’t that policy?

Shouldn’t there have been cops swarming the place by now?

“I can’t believe she went back to using,” Blade noted, and Rooster was out of his chair and on him in a second.

He pinned him up against the wall, holding him in place by the throat. “Look, Dick Tracy. Do us all a favor and get the fuck out. You didn’t know shit about Neve. Don’t. You don’t know shit about her. Way I see it, we got bodies back at the clubhouse that tell a much different story. And last time I checked, your ass was missing from our little caravan down south.”

He was already speaking about me in past tense; that didn’t bode well for me coming out of this.

“Rooster,” Charm’s voice was monotone, as if it didn’t matter to him whether Blade lived or died.

Rooster let go of his neck and cut-off before taking a step back. “Fuck this. I need a drink.”

The door rattled as it slammed shut behind him and Blade soon made the excuse of checking on his club before leaving Charm and Joker alone. I looked around and realized that, at some point during the drama, Axel had disappeared.

He’d gone over and left me behind. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Didn’t he have unfinished business? Weren’t spirits supposed to stay behind until it was resolved?

“What’d I miss?”

I jumped and clutched my chest. “Axel, what the hell? I thought you’d crossed over!”

He smirked. “Nah, apparently, I get to see everyone’s reaction to me dying. Not gonna lie—seeing Amber break down was the cherry on top of the fuckin’ sundae. She’s regretting not moving in with me now.”

I shook my head. “You’re happy that she’s distraught over your death? That’s sick. I adore Amber.”

He pulled me into a side hug. “Ah, Neve. Think of it as getting to witness karma in action. I asked her to move in; she suddenly had to rethink our entire relationship.”

I frowned. Amber hadn’t mentioned any of that to me. She and Axel had been high school sweethearts; ending things now made no sense. In all honesty, nothing in my life was making sense at the moment.

He continued, “Now, what’s going on with the lying douchebag murderer? Did Charm kill him yet?”

I shook my head and watched as Joker typed feverishly on his phone. A moment later, Charm’s phone dinged. He pulled it from his pocket and read it over before nodding.

“One? You’re sure?”

Joker nodded and held up one finger.

“I can’t be certain, but I think that Joker just told Charm that there’s still someone out there who knows what really happened to me. Now, we wait and see how long it takes for the trail to lead back to Blade.”

Axel stretched his arms over his head and looked around the room. “Well, what better place to wait than a waiting—”

I held my hand up. “Stop. That’s never going to be funny.”

He rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, “Get trapped with Neve in the afterlife, I said. It’ll be fun, I said.”

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