Page 6 of The Devil's Weakness

Carefully, we roll Iron over onto the cot. I don’t miss the slight inhale from Hawk upon seeing the bloody gash on his forehead.

That’s not a good sign.

Hawk secures Iron’s head and neck within a brace to keep it from moving. Then he fastens the restraints around his torso and legs. Stone joins in, and we grab the hand-holds on each side of the cot. We lift Iron from the ground, walking as quickly as we can without causing more damage. When we’re back at the top of the embankment, we place him on the stretcher that Hawk pulled out of the back of his van. He hits a button, and the hydraulics lift the stretcher up and back inside. I climb in with Iron so that I can ride home with him.?

“Something had to have hit him,” I hear SoCo tell Stone. “There’s a dent in his front fender that he wouldn’t have gotten from hitting the asphalt. Also, there are traces of light blue paint etched into the metal. And…”

“And what?” I demand, losing my patience.

SoCo finally looks at me.

“We noticed a blue hatchback a little up the road when we got here. We can’t tell if they were fleeing the scene or not, though. We thought nothing of it until seeing that paint.”

Motherfucker.

“We need to get out of here before the fucking cops show up,” Stone advises.

Hawk shuts the doors, closing me in the back of his van with Iron. My eyes lock on the wound on his head, and anger shoots through me. Fire, hotter than I’ve felt in a long time, fills my veins and right then, I make a vow to myself, to my Club, and to Iron.

I’m going to find who did this to him, and I’ll make sure they die a slow and painful death.

* * *

Hawk pullshis van behind the building and parks right outside the service entrance when we return to the clubhouse. I’m not a very religious man, but Iron is. So, the entire drive from the scene of the accident back to the clubhouse, I kept a tight grip on his hand and asked a few favors of the man upstairs.?

Hawk tears the doors on the back of the van open and wheels the stretcher out. I’m worried about what he’ll find when he finally examines Iron properly.

“What can I do to help?” I ask Hawk as he wheels Iron toward the clubhouse.

The rest of the guys fall into line behind us.

“I can’t be sure until I get a better look at him,” Hawk informs me.

“Well, whatever you need, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I know how close you and Iron are, Blade. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he’s okay.”

I nod, but that’s the end of the conversation.

There is a set of double doors in the rear of the clubhouse that leads directly into the infirmary that Hawk installed once he joined the Club. We wheel Iron through them, and Hawk asks everyone other than Stone and me to stay out. He explains that he’ll give them an update as soon as his examination is complete.

After Hawk officially patched in, this was the first room he set up, even before his own living quarters. It’s on the first floor of the clubhouse, and it’s the furthest room from the part of the house that leads to The Devil’s Lair. That’s the name of the bar that our Club owns.

Hawk separated the room into two parts; a procedure area and a recovery area. It’s nothing fancy, but it keeps us out of mainstream hospitals, so we make do with the care that Hawk can offer at all costs.

Hawk locks the stretcher into place in the recovery area, which immediately makes me feel better. If he doesn’t need to operate, maybe Iron’s injuries aren’t as severe as I initially thought.

“Here.” Hawk hands me a pair of oddly shaped scissors. “Cut his clothes from his body, but make sure you don’t move him. I need to get an IV setup.”

“I don’t know if I can, man. I don’t want to fuck anything up,” I explain, looking between Hawk and Stone.

“Blade, you can do this. You asked me what help I would need; this is it. Just cut a straight line up his jeans, same with his shirt. We need the clothes to stay behind when we move him off the stretcher, so cut away anywhere you see clothing wrapped around him.”

Looking at Stone once more, he nods at me.

I take a deep breath as Hawk gathers some additional supplies. Turning my attention to Iron, I cut a straight line up his left pant leg, just like Hawk explained. Then, I do the same on the right side. I’m extra careful when I get to his junk. If Irondoessurvive this, he’ll never forgive me if I nick a giblet by accident.?

“What about his belt? Do I just unbuckle it?” I inquire.

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