Page 11 of Bound by Affliction
Scared. Yes. I’m completely and utterly scared that what I just told Leah is a full out lie. Over the years, I’ve learned to control my emotions, but I can’t get my leg to stop bouncing as the fear and anguish takeover.
She has tolive.
She has to beokay.
Leah has an IV in her arm and a tube of oxygen around her nose. Her eyes are slits because they’re so swollen, and I can’t tell if they are open or closed at this point. I keep giving her soft words until the ambulance stops and chaosensues.
The doors fly open and the hospital team rushes Leah out and through the doors like we’re on some sick as fuck television drama, while a nurse tries to check me out when I climb out too. All I want is to be close to Leah, but I’m not allowed back. They said something about surgery as they rushed her through two steel doors. The nice brunette nurse leads me to a waiting room which is another hell in and of itself. Each second I sit here is another second I don’t have Leah in my arms. It’s another second that she could possibly be taken from me. The ache in my heartexpands.
Sitting in the waiting room, the urge to make those motherfuckers pay eats at me. The only thing keeping me here is Leah, who is in surgery and doesn’t know I’m even here. But I do and that’s what matters, and I’ll send her every bit of strength that I have to get her through this. Revenge is a painful thing when you’re not there to give it, and those fuckers deserve theworst.
Pulling out my cell, I dial Tug. “Yeah.” He answers on the first ring, which means he’s not busy. That is not a good thing because he should be taking care of those motherfuckers who hurt mygirl.
“Update!” I bark roughly into the phone, moving to the furthest corner in the wide room. When we got the call from Cooper to roll out, we did and fast. Made it to Crest, Florida in half the time and by some miracle didn’t get pulled over by the cops. We broke off with me going to Leah’s house with Tug following and the rest of the guys going to getCooper.
Everything was fucked up, but Cruz had a plan rolled out immediately and knowing my connection to Leah, he sent me to her knowing I would goanyway.
“We have the packages.” Anger bubbles, my grip on the phone getting tighter, people passing by looking my way curiously. I need to calm my shit, but it’s fucking hard when there is nothing I can do to help her. This absolute no control shit is for the birds. “They’re being moved with great care. We’ll deal with exporting as soon as possible.” The Ravage MC will do this clean with no blowback, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be there with every fiber of mybeing.
Fuck. This means that I won’t get to see these assholes take their last breath. I won’t get to make them pay for every mark on her beautiful body. Everything in me wants to go teach these assholes a lesson and give them exactly what they did to Leah, only make it a thousand times more painful. But I won’t, I can’t leaveher.
“Last time the package was torn up on both ends and practically destroyed,” I mumble into the phone. “I wouldn’t want that to happenagain.”
Tug gives a cough into the phone, “We’ll take care of the packages and make sure they’re processed and deliveredpersonally.”
“Good.” I swipe the phone off and go back to my post, the lonely chair in the far corner where no one bothers me, but I have a view of everyone coming and going. It smells like alcohol and Pinesol mixed with sick people in here. It’s almost choking, so damn uninviting. I’m surprised the Devil himself isn’t picking people to take with him. I fucking hate waitingrooms.
Wait.
That is a special kind of hell to simplywait.
The only update I’ve had is she needed emergency surgery. I don’t even know why or what they’re doing. Since I’m not the next of kin, they can’t tell me much anyway, Iimagine.
Helpless. That’s what this is. A helpless kind ofhell.
I stroll up to the nurses’ station. “Sir, she’s still back in surgery,” the gangly nurse with blonde hair tells me for the millionth time before I’m able to say a word. It’s been two and a half hours, and I need something here; there’s only so much a man cantake.
“Still? How much stitching up did they have todo?”
She gives methe look, that one where she’s not coming right out and accusing me of doing this to Leah, but it’s what she wants to say. Fucking bitch. I’d never touch Leah like that, let alone hurt a fucking hair on her head. I’m not stupid. I know what this shit looks like, and I’m expecting cops at any time to questionme.
When I talked to Cruz, the game plan was that Leah called me crying, and I raced over there finding her like that. We are saying some assholes broke into her home, tied her up to the bed, and attacked her. She was covered in blood when I got there and then passed out. We’re keeping the names of the three men from the cops because jail time won’t be enough for them. No, more like acid in their cuts from ragged, jagged knives that can sheer flesh. The tricky part is talking to Leah before the cops do, but I can’t worry about that until I know she’salright.
“I’ll let you know as soon as the doctors contact us,” she dismisses, turning her attention to the computer in front ofher.
Not letting it go, because fuck that, I challenge, “I didn’t fuckin’ touch her, but thanks for the stereotypical looks just because I have a cut on my back and tattoos on my arms.” On that, I turn and go back to my spot, my foot bouncing wildly. Much longer and I’m calling Buzz to hack into the hospital system to get me some damninformation.
“We’re here for Leah Donaldson.” Her name has my head popping up, zeroing in on an older man and woman. From the back, the woman has Leah’s silky brown hair, cut short, but still identical. Her parents. I surge up and move tothem.
“Sir, Ma’am, I’mGreen.”
Recognition flashes in their eyes. Thank Christ Leah talked about me. “Hello,” the mother says, going back to the nurse, not dismissively like the bitch behind the counter, but more of anI have to find out what’s wrong with my daughter. That one I can hack because I want to knowtoo.
My attention goes to her father saying, “They keep telling me she’s in surgery.” His eyes are red-rimmed and puffy, which is to beexpected.
“Whathappened?”
Fuck. Not the question I want to answer, but do anyway running my fingers through my hair and remembering everything that Cruz said. Keeping my tone level and fear in check, I speak, “I got a call from her crying, and I raced there.” I look at him to see if he can hack it, and when it looks like he can I continue as the mother talks to the nurse, getting the same response from the witch. At least I know she’s not lying anymore. Fuck, it kills me to have to tell them this shit. I haven’t been this scaredsince…
