“You good to go on the bike?” I asked because I needed to get there as fast as possible but I also wanted to keep her safe.
“Yes,” she replied then turned the hat around so she could fit the helmet on.
Damn, that was cute.
She wasted no time climbing on behind me and wrapping her arms around my waist.
Once we got there, I parked and bolted to the doors. I was half worried about leaving Laurel behind, but I heard her shoes pounding the pavement behind me.
Iron wasn’t in the first emergency waiting room. I dragged Laurel down the hall and found him tucked away in a corner of the second waiting room on his phone, his eyes watching the doorway.
“Can you tell me what exactly happened? I mean I heard the explosion part,” Laurel said in a hushed voice as her eyes swept the surrounding area.
“Some brothers were checking out the house where you were kept. Someone hit a tripwire and the place blew up. But I don’t know how bad it is.”
“Oh, God,” she said and her hand came up to cover her mouth. “I…”
“No, don’t fall apart on me now, baby.”
“Okay. Alright.” By the bobbing nod she was giving me, I didn’t think she was going to be able to hold it together.
“Sit here.”
I pointed to a chair and helped her lower down into it. I could tell she was still hurting and I hated that she’d come along. She needed to be in the damn bed, recovering and getting as much rest as possible. But I knew she’d never listen to me if I said such things.
“They got Blade out but it doesn’t look good. Mouse is riding with him. Fire and rescue said it didn’t look good for the others, but they are trying to find them.”
Other brothers started coming in about that point. Cami ran right over to Laurel and wrapped her in a tight hug. I was glad she wasn’t alone.
Over the next hour, we didn’t learn much. Mouse came into the room looking more shaken than I’d ever seen him before. Tripp had been outside when it happened and looked much the same. One of the prospects was pronounced dead at the scene and the other didn’t even make it to the hospital. Dade arrived in critical condition. As far as we knew, he was in surgery, fighting for his life just like Blade was.
“He saved my fucking life,” Mouse said to no one in particular. “It should have been me. Fuck.”
“Go get some air, brother. Don’t think about that shit now. He’s gonna make it,” I said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“You didn’t see him,” he whispered.
I sent a chin lift to Lake and he made his way like he knew what I needed right away. Then all but forced Mouse to take a walk outside with him.
Alone, at least partially, I let out a heavy sigh. We were scattered all over the waiting room and the hall. Some of the brothers were down in the cafeteria trying to find some coffee and drinks for everyone.
I felt her delicate hand on my back the moment her sweet scent hit my nose.
“Hey,” she said softly then wrapped me up in her arms.
It was everything I needed at the moment and yet, I felt I didn’t deserve it at all.
“Lost at least two people tonight. Might lose two more.”
I wasn’t sure why I had the need to say it out loud. I had a feeling that she already knew this.
“I know,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry.”
I may have been a selfish bastard right then, but I didn’t give a damn as I pulled her body tighter into me and buried my face in her neck. I felt a sense of strength as her scent filled my nose. And when her thumb gently brushed back and forth against the back of my neck, there was a calm that settled all the way into my bones.
“It could have been you,” I breathed out against her neck.
That house had been rigged. She could have been in it when shit went down. What if she hadn’t escaped on her own? What if we had been there to rescue her? She would have been trapped in a cage and blown to bits. Or crushed by the crumbling house.
