Page 29 of Finding Jeremy
Squealing and the slamming of multiple doors drew their attention, and they stood to see several cars in the parking lots and children with brightly colored hats, horns, and balloons, hollering like banshees as they raced towards the park near the base of the lookout.
Yup, time to get going.
Winding around the base of the lookout tower, Gray struggled to process all the new information he’d learned. The nuts and bolts had come as a shock, but something nagged at the back of his mind as they wound their way around the base of the mountain.
He hadn’t handed his compartments to Gerald; he’d handed them to Wilson.
He had a moment to process that when he was nearly deafened by a horn and the rattle of a truck and trailer roaring past.
“Look out!” Gray bellowed, knowing it was useless.
For one tense moment he was certain it was going to sideswipe Reggie, who gunned it, narrowly missing getting clipped. Chaos wasn’t so lucky. With nowhere to go, he jerked the handlebars, back end fishtailing before the front end of the bike clipped the metal crash barrier, the back end coming off the ground as Gray braked and dropped his bike into a skid as the rear of the truck blocked out his view of everything. For several long seconds metal grinding against gravel was the only sound he heard as the world spun, and he came to a stop with a bone-rattling thud.
Heart hammering in his chest, he lay there focused on breathing, the growling rumble of his engine muffled by his helmet as the machine vibrated against his leg. All he could seewas sky through the visor as he struggled to work shit out, kill the engine, and figure out if he was injured or not. Then even the sky was blotted out as a face swam into view.
I’m good!” Gray struggled to grit out. “Go check on Chaos!”
“Told me…check on you!” Reggie huffed, sounding out of breath.
Words faded in and out. Shit, that probably wasn’t good.
What was that Reggie was saying?
Chapter 12
(Jeremy)
Skidding around the corner, Jeremy nearly crashed into a cart on his way to the admit desk in the ER of the rural hospital, heart pounding in his chest. He could hear Haven’s footsteps squelching on the tiles behind him and the loud bang when he hit the cart and sent cleaning supplies flying. Something bounced off the side of Jeremy’s head, and another hit him in the back, not that he gave a shit as he slammed his hands on the counter, startling a nurse who’d been busy typing.
“My dad and my boyfriend were in a motorcycle wreck!” Jeremy announced.
“Where at, sir? Have you already called for an ambulance?” she asked, clearly rattled. “Give me the address, and I’ll get dispatch on the phone for you.”
“They’ve already been brought in,” he snapped. “Like, I don’t know, maybe an hour ago, we had to drive over from Foggy Basin!”
“Oh, okay,” she replied, easing back down in her chair. “Give me their names, and I’ll see what I can find out for you.”
“Grayson Brooks and Chaos…er…Charles Miller.”
“Are they okay?” Haven asked, flushed, as he staggered up beside Haven and leaned heavily against the counter.
“I don’t know yet,” Jeremy replied, shaking despite how warm he was.
“Over here, kid; stop wrecking the place!”
His old man’s bellow was the most welcome sound in the world. Jeremy didn’t wait for permission; he just raced towards the sound, throwing back the curtain to see his dad covered in scrapes and abrasions, lying in bed with one arm immobilized, and Reggie and a battered-looking Grayson, dressed in a hospital gown, seated in chairs next to Chaos’ bed.
“Wasn’t the one wrecking it, pops,” Jeremy said as he carefully leaned over to hug him. “That was all Haven. What happened? Are you okay?”
“Waiting for x-rays to come back,” Chaos grumbled as Jeremy turned him loose so he could turn and hug Gray, who pulled him down to sit on his lap. “I keep trying to tell those sons of bitches that my goddamn arm ain’t broke. Just banged up and hurting like a son of a bitch, the same as my head.”
“What happened to your leathers?” Jeremy asked as he rested his head against Gray’s shoulder and settled into his embrace.
“Shredded to hell, but it’s a good thing I was wearing them, or I’d be stuck in a bed with a bad case of road rash,” Gray said, heaving a heavy sigh. “As it is, the side of the bike is scraped to hell, and who knows what the fuck got messed up on it.”
“Where did it happen?” Haven asked. “We brought the flatbed, just in case, and left Loki-Bear with River with a message to let Maddox know what was going on.”
“Coming down from Lookout Point,” Gray explained. “Pretty sure they’ve already been hauled away by now. Heard the cops calling for a wrecker when they were loading us in the ambulance. As for what happened, it was an idiot in a truck trying to fly around us instead of downshifting on the way up the hill. The stupid son of a bitch ran us off the road trying to swing back in our lane to avoid a collision and wiped us out and the pickup truck on the opposite side. I hope they take his license and burn the goddamn thing. Ain’t no job worth risking other people’s lives over.”
