Page 19 of From the Darkness

“Thank you, Steven,” I whisper.

The smile on his face and the look in his eyes make my insides melt. I could swoon off the way this man is looking at me.

“Hey, pumpkin, how are you feeling?” my dad asks, slowly approaching my bed.

“I feel like I got hit by the fire truck,” I groan and put my head back on the pillow. How the heck can you call it a pillow? It’s like sleeping on bunched up sweaters.

“I suppose so after everything that happened. Do you remember what happened to you?” Dad asks with a shake in his voice.

“Yeah, pops, I do. I didn’t see them until the last possible second, and by that time, it was too late to do anything,” I mumble.

“Can you identify them if need be?” Lucas asks, his voice getting lower as he finished.

I look at him, and I can already tell that if I tell them that one of the guys was a friend of Carl, then they will beat the crap out of Carl to hand over his friends. It won’t matter that Carl wasn’t there, he will be guilty by default in their eyes. I can see it not only on Lucas’s and Steven’s faces, but the look on my dad’s face confirms it.

“I know one of them, but I want you three to promise me that you will let the police handle this. I can’t. No, I won’t have you guys going off and doing something that will take you away from me,” I state firmly.

“How about we say this? We will sit with you through what the doctor has to say and through your recount to the police. After, what we do does not come down on you or your family. This isn’t up for discussion, Fire. You haven’t seen how you look or didn’t have to sit here for days until you woke up. The look on your father’s, mother’s, and sister’s faces was like a gut punch. Factor in that your niece and nephew have no clue why they were suddenly taken from school and held up in a hospital waiting room, not knowing what to expect. Yeah, you just let me and Eagle handle what happens after,” Steven states.

I start to object when my mom and sister walk into the room and see that I am awake. All conversation is stopped when my mom screeches, “MY BABY IS AWAKE!”

The nurses came rushing into the room after my mom screeched. I smiled at my mom and shook my head, figure her to lose her head when in a hospital. The last nurse that came in to do the vital check told me that the doctor was coming in to see me and would explain to me what was happening. “I see our patient has finally decided to join the land of the conscious. I am Dr. Bays and I have been treating you since you were brought in unconscious and severally beaten.” Dr. Bays states from inside the door. He is a gorgeous looking doctor. I’m pretty sure he would make a gorgeous underwear model. “Have you ever modeled Dr. Bays?’ I ask as if my filter was broken from the beating I took. He chuckles and states, “Nah, I haven’t got the time to sit in front of a lens. If I am not working, I am at home with my family.” Dr. Bays states

”Oh, okay.” I grumble.

“Okay, Ms. Mackenzie.” Dr. Bays starts and I interrupt him by stating, “Please call me Amelia.”

“Okay Amelia, so you were brought in two days ago after being found unconscious at your place of employment.” He states. I listen as my heart rate starts to speed up. “Keep calm Fire. You are safe and protected.” Drills whispers into the top of my head.

“I assure you Amelia, Steven and Lucas have you so well protected that all the nurses and any doctor that might or may have to deal with your recovery have been vetted by the motorcycle gang.” Dr. Bays says.

“Club Dr. Bays. We are a group of men who have come together to form a family. We protect our family with the fierceness of a rock splitter when it splits a rock. Our bond is Buried Deep.” Drills states.

“And Riding Free!” Eagle and the other two members finish.

“I got you.” Dr. Bays says and then continues. “Amelia are you ready for this. I need to warn you I have to describe everything to you so you understand.”

I look at Drills and Eagle, who have moved into my sides. My dad is at the foot of my bed with my mom tucked into his side. My sister, Rosey, is standing by herself with her arms wrapped around her middle protectively.

“Rosey, where are the minions? I don’t want them to hear this.” I whisper.

“Don’t worry Amie. Drills had someone come and take them out of the hospital.” Rosey sniffles.

“Okay, Dr. Bays break it down then please. No one is leaving.” I state, straightening my back as best I can. “Are you sure? Some of it is personal, and I can make these people leave.” He states.

My dad, Drills, and Eagle all growl. I raise my hand to silence them and say, “The way I look at it Dr. Bays if they hear it right from the horse’s mouth that I will survive, then the only person I’ll need to convince is the crazy voice in my head that’s telling me ‘this is what death feels like’. So please, let’s get on with this rodeo.”

“You are being extremely brave, Miss Mackenzie.” He states, looking over the top of his glasses.

“Give me time and I’ll show you how not okay I really am.” I whisper.

He nods, then starts. “Miss Amelia Roseanna Mackenzie was rushed in via ambulance after being found by Chase Gustave and Carl Ramore.” At Carl’ name, I start to shake. “when brought in upon immediate assessment, we documented a large hematoma on your forehead with a deep laceration that required six stitches to close up the wound. Your face, legs, rear end, and arms have various levels of contusions, with both your eyes being the largest, causing the capillaries in your left eye to burst. With time, the bruises will disappear, to keep the swelling down put ice on them. You have two broken ribs on the left side, as well as a broken collarbone. The ribs will be wrapped and stay wrapped for six weeks. You have to have your arm in that sling for at least six weeks while the bone heals. Now comes the hard part. You were put through a violent sexual assault. We have taken a rape kit and bagged the clothing you had on and handed them over to the police. As a result of the sexual assault, you have a small anal fissure which will heal on its own. You have a severe bladder infection as cause from whatever they used on you during the rape. We have started you on an intravenous of Azithromycin to fight the infection. Once you leave the hospital, we will provide you with a prescription which must be taken in its entirety. We are treating this like you have had the infection for days. While you were unconscious, we drew blood to test for sexually transmitted diseases and your labs have come back negative. However, I ask that you come back in two weeks to have your blood tested again to make sure. Now that the description of your injuries is out of the way, I need to examine you, so I will need the two gentlemen on either side of you to move so that I can do my job.” Drills and Eagle give Dr. Bays a narrowed look before kissing my cheek and leaving my side.

When I look around the room, I finally take in the state of my family. My mom is shaking and sobbing into my dad’s chest. My dad has his eyes to the ceiling, but you can see the tears streaking down his cheeks. Rosey is wrapped up in some guy’s arms while she sobs into his t-shirt. He has on a leather vest with the same patch as Drills and Eagle.

When I finally gain the courage to look at Steven and Lucas, I am taken aback.

Steven, or Drills as people call him, is staring at me, but his body is extremely tight and Lucas or Eagle has his fist clenched, his back straight and his eyes to Dr. Bay’s like he is trying to steal from him.

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