Page 7 of Patching Over

“Not done yet, Brother,” he replies as he carefully gets out of the truck, the blonde wrapped up like a burrito snug in his arms.

“Then let me get you into the clubhouse and to my room,” I reply.

Only the officers have keys to get into the side entrance, although everyone can exit from there. As we make our wayinside, I see Banshee did what I asked and there’s a wall of Royal Bastards at the end of the hallway not letting anyone down. Quickly unlocking the door to my suite, I open it so Angel can get inside with the girl.

“Should I turn on my heated mattress pad?” Voodoo snickers but nods. “Listen, fucker, it gets cold around here at times and even with a generator, if the power goes out, I’m gonna be warm.” Because I’ve got another, smaller generator for my room in the event that happens. All of the brothers do, actually. It’s something the originals decided was needed and while it isn’t an annual event where we lose power for any length of time, we’ve availed ourselves of the back-up generators a few times.

Angel unwraps her from the blanket once he has her settled on my bed. Seeing her covered in dried blood, her clothes ripped and torn, with obvious bruises everywhere skin is exposed has my anger ramping up again. “Who the fuck could hurt someone so small and fragile?” I ask, my fists clenching and unclenching.

“A dead motherfucker,” Banshee says, walking into my room. “Do we need to call Doc?” he asks, looking down at our unconscious guest.

“No,” Voodoo emphatically states. “May want to get someone you trust to come in and clean her up though or she’s going to have questions when she wakes up. You good, Brother?” he asks Angel who appears to sway unsteadily on his feet.

“Yeah, almost done. Fuck, it’s a damn miracle that she’s still breathing,” Angel quietly says, his focus and concentration solely on the tiny woman taking up minimal real estate on my big-ass bed.

“Ban, send everyone back to the party. No sense in all of us being tied up, we’ve got more than enough reason to celebrate. I’ll stay with her, and I’m sure Voodoo, Phoenix, and Venom will watch over Angel once he’s done.”

“If you need one of us, holler,” Banshee replies. “Otherwise, I’m going to make sure everyone’s behaving but having fun.”

Chuckling, I wave him away as I mentally think of who could possibly be trusted enough to help me take care of her.

“You’re going to do it yourself, aren’t you?” Voodoo asks, smirking at me.

Nodding, I reply, “We don’t have any ol’ ladies around here now that some of the old timers have retired and moved away. I sure as fuck ain’t gonna trust the club whores to clean her up. Right now, I’m wishing some of y’all had brought your women.” At that, he laughs out loud.

“Yeah, no. While ours trust us, they had no desire to hang out in bedrooms while club whores were prancing around all the men.”

“Gotcha. I can respect that fact, especially, since I suspect the single guys are going to party harder than usual. Your ol’ ladies don’t need to see that shit. Well, it’ll be me cleaning her up then. She’s tiny enough it shouldn’t take too long. Jesus, Angel, warn a brother when you’re gonna do that shit!” I mutter when Angel practically falls out at my feet. Thankfully, my reflexes are good, so he didn’t faceplant, but still, I could’ve been better prepared.

“Let me get Venom in here so we can get him to his room. Your woman should be just fine, but she’s likely going to sleep for some time. I don’t claim to fully understand what all he does, just know that if something was wrong, what he did should have fixed it.”

I nod, focusing on keeping myself and Angel upright at this point. Dead weight is just that, dead weight, and Angel sure as fuck isn’t a lightweight by any means. “Once she wakes up, I plan to find out who the fuck did this to her so they can pay the piper.”

“I’m sure there’ll be a few other brothers willing to assist you there,” he replies, slipping his phone back into his back pocket. “Venom’s on his way. He’s a heavy fucker, ain’t he?” he asks,pointing to Angel. “You wouldn’t think it to look at him, but I’ve been where you’re at a few times. Gotta wonder if it’s all the shit he takes on from those he helps. Guess I could always ask my grandmother.”

“You plan to call and let her know we found the girl?” I question.

“She probably already knows, but yeah, once I get Angel sorted, I’ll give her a call.”

“Little one, I’m sorry I can’t give you the privacy you deserve,” I murmur, as I carefully begin to remove what’s left of her clothing. I may be hardened to blood and gore, but seeing her, so tiny and defenseless, covered in bruises, gashes, and cuts, has me feeling murderous for reasons I’m not ready to examine.

She’s obviously been malnourished; I can count her ribs, and every joint bone is protruding. She’s emaciated. I wince when I see the boot print bruise across her ribcage. She was wheezing pretty badly when I first picked her up, but whatever Angel did seems to have fixed that issue. Even as I watch, I see the evidence of further healing; the bruises are still quite dark, and the cuts are obvious, but they’ve stopped oozing blood.

“How on earth could someone do this to another human being?” I whisper, my gaze briefly moving down her body while I catalog each and every injury she sustained. I note that some scars appear old as opposed to the fresh red lines. “When you wake up, Iwillfind out who did this to you. They’re going to pay,” I quietly vow to the unconscious woman who has captivated me. Anger courses through me at what she’s endured, which obviously started long before this latest beating.

She’s so filthy, I briefly wonder whether or not she had access to a shower then realize in the big scheme of things, it truly doesn’t matter. Because I know she’ll feel better once she’s clean, I start out with a bowl of water, a bar of soap, and a rag, but there is so much dried blood as well as dirt, it’s impossible.

So, I covered her up, drew a warm bath, carried her into the bathroom and have been studiously avoiding looking at anything other than her face, using my hands and the washcloth to gently wipe all the blood and grime away. I’ve already had to empty the tub twice. The first time it was a disgusting shade of gray tinged in red. The second time, it wasn’t quite as bad, but I washed her hair, so the water was crimson by the time I was finished. This last time, as I wash her once more, it’s more what I would consider normal. Still, the sight of so much marred skin on a body so small has my blood almost to the boiling point.

“Death might be too good for them, little one. Perhaps a bit of reciprocation? I’ll think about it but first, I need to get you out of here then back to bed so you can heal.”

Taking the handheld showerhead, I turn the water on, adjust the temperature, then quickly rinse her off before grabbing the towel I’ve had on the warming bar and wrapping her inside. She never makes so much as a sound. If Voodoo hadn’t warned me that she’d sleep like this, I’d be concerned, but instead, I’m glad she’s not awake to realize that a stranger has seen her like this, injured and exposed. As I wrap her securely in my arms to take her into the bedroom, I look down and notice a ring of dirt lining the tub, angering me further than I already am. How long had she been neglected? Refusing to allow her to wake up and see the ire on my face, I revert my attention and place it solely on her and continue with the task at hand.

Once I have her dried off, I slip a pair of sweats on her even though they dwarf her tiny frame. My socks are the same way, but I figure it’s better that she's warm, so fashion isn’timportant nor a necessity, right now. I probably could ask one of my smaller brothers for a pair of sweats, but feel extremely territorial over her. Seeing her in my clothes, in my bed, has something strange and foreign flowing through me. Something I don’t want to define or even look at right now. Tucking her in, I smooth the hair away from her face. “I know you’ll have questions when you wake up, but we do as well, Sprite. Just know that you’re safe now, no one willeverhurt you again. Not as long as I’m around.”

CHAPTER

FOUR

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