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“I wish you could talk more, man. There’s a lot we need to discuss,” Crusher says.
I ignore him. I hold my head down as anger and grief war inside of me. A plan forms in my mind. I need to find a way to get the doctor to understand me enough to get a fucking test ran and then I need to be able to talk. Rory and I have a lot of things to discuss and I’ve got a lot of shit to make up to her. My priorities have changed. Ryan and Rory come first, and once I have that squared away and Rory back with me—I’m going to hunt down the ones responsible for all of this.
Which leads me to look at Crusher, take a breath and force my next words out.
“Tell me a…bout… King.”28RoryI look around the hospital room, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. I don’t want to be here. If it wasn’t for the need to be wherever Ryan is, I wouldn’t be. They need to get him out of Montana, but no one is listening to me. They don’t take King as a serious enough threat, but they’ll learn. I just have to make sure Ryan doesn’t pay for them being stupid.
“Rory?” Diesel asks. He doesn’t talk plain, but somehow when he says my name, it never fails to send chills running down my spine. I squash down the memories that threaten to bubble to the surface with that thought.
“I’m sorry?” I ask, having no idea what Diesel just said. I’ve spent my time in this room ignoring the fact that he’s here. It hasn’t worked great, but it’s better than the alternative.
“Thank… you… for com…coming,” Diesel says.
It’s been almost three weeks since he woke up. This is the first day I’ve been back. Always before, Crusher takes Ryan to see his dad and I stay with Gunner or Rebel at the hotel. They stay all day, but I’ve never asked what they did. Diesel is on regulated visiting hours and he’s only truly allowed two visitors an hour at a time, three times a day. Being here today it’s clear that they’re not following the rules—which is annoying, because I don’t truly want to be here. I had been hoping a nurse would make me leave. It’s disappointing that it hasn’t happened. I think Gavin arranged it so Crusher and the others can be here longer. I can’t be sure—mostly because, like I said, I haven’t been here.
“I didn’t exactly have a choice. I hear you ordered I show up,” I grumble. “Besides I wanted to stay close to Ryan. You really need to get him out of Montana, Diesel. It wouldn’t pay to take my brother lightly.”
“We need… talk.”
I look over at a sleeping Ryan who is curled up against his father. His face is totally relaxed and he manages to look happy in his sleep—something he hasn’t been since the day King tried to kill Diesel.
“We’ve nothing to say to each other, Diesel.”
“No-ah,” he growls. He doesn’t like me calling him Diesel and that’s been another change. I’ve forced myself to stop thinking of him as Noah, but as Diesel. I refuse to allow myself to call him Noah—even in my thoughts. He recognized the change at once, but I’ve held strong and I’ll keep doing it... I have to.
“Diesel.”
I don’t give an inch. I think if I gave him an inch, he’d demand even more. He huffs out a breath, but doesn’t respond. He does however stare at me as if he’s waiting for me to capitulate to his will.
He’ll be waiting until hell freezes over.
I cross my arms at my chest and I hold his stare. He sighs.
“We need… talk.”
“We need to get Ryan out of Montana,” I argue. “We need him safe.”
“Talk.”
He’s like a damn dog with a bone.
“Maybe your memory is affected by the coma, so I’ll try and catch you up. Everything we had to say to each other was said. There’s nothing more to discuss.”
“Bullshit,” he says, and it’s really annoying that he gets that one word out without a problem and you can hear the disbelief in his voice.
He stares at me and I know he has more to say, but suddenly I’m thankful he has trouble talking.
“I—”
“Ryan will… go home tomorrow,” he says and he stumbles over the words, but he’s definitely getting better at them and that means bad things for me. I only worry about that for a second, before what he says registers. Tomorrow. I wanted him out of Montana, but Ryan going home, surrounded by Diesel’s men and his family… I won’t be needed.
“I’ll say goodbye to him tonight,” I whisper, my voice trembling, even though I try to keep my emotion out of it. This is what’s best for Ryan and that’s all that matters. I need to try and figure out a way to stop my brother. It’d be safer that I do that without Ryan close to me.
